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August 30, 2006
kitchen vent
I live in the front half of a 3rd floor brownstone co-op apartment. The kitchen is very small and windowless. There is a small vent in the ceiling of the kitchen which doesn't appear to do anything. I don’t know where the vent goes or how to locate the exit point. Whenever I cook the apartment gets smoky. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Should we call in a roofer or someone who specializes is HVAC or a contractor? Any recommendations would be helpful.
Comments
your vent, if done properly, should connect to the main vent stack of your building and should exit the roof. your bathroom vent fan (if you have one) should be connected to the same stack. most small bathroom style vent fans don't really have enough power to really pull smoke out of a kitchen (particularly if the vent has a long distance to travel before it exits the house). usually not a problem in a bathroom since they are there to remove humidity.
you could try getting a more powerful fan installed or get a fume hood for your stove and have it connected to the vent stack.
you could also try turning your fan on 10 min before you cook to get a draft going before the smoke starts.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 30, 2006 1:44 PM
How can we trace where the vent exists. I would like to call someone who knows what they would be looking for as prehaps the opening is blocked somehow. Do you know who we would contact?
thanks,
Posted by: Anonymous at August 30, 2006 3:54 PM
the vent stack usually runs near the bathrooms and kitchens of a building. i'm not sure who you'd call to investigate, probably a plumber with hvac credentials.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 30, 2006 4:17 PM
you can try a smoke test and blow smoke up the vent and have someone on the roof to see if it comes out. IF it does, then maybe you can put a mechanical exaust fan there.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 30, 2006 5:55 PM
We did the smoke test but the smoke did not exit anywhere on the roof. Is there someone who can come in and locate the opening? I know it must be somewhere on the roof but don't want to start ripping things up without a qualified person confirming that we are doing the right thing.
Thanks,
Posted by: Anonymous at August 31, 2006 6:34 AM
I am in the exact same position literally and figuratively. We tried a smoke test and it worked in the bathroom but not in the kitchen. We were able to detect where the pipe goes on the roof by using a coat hanger and pushing up the pipe but the opening had been covered over by roofing material. Now we are stuck with a roofed over exhauct pipe and no fan or range hood. If you find a good expert, please post their name here. Thanks!
Posted by: Anonymous at August 31, 2006 6:06 PM
LOL Jessie.. I posted this for you... I was hoping to find someone to help..Wish it were someone else. damn besides me who posted. Well i tried.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 31, 2006 7:53 PM
I have a soffit that a range hood was attached to and I am now remodeling. I would like to put a very small vent fan of some sort up into the soffit so I can have a bar behiind the cooktop. All the kitchen fans seem enormous and heavy. Is there a small size fan that would work? I don't use the fan a lot so I can sacrifice some power for a small size option. thanks.
Posted by: denise at September 24, 2006 9:58 AM
Hello Guys,
These days most large plumbing companies have sophisticated cameras that can be pushed through vents to see what they do without tearing into anything.
Posted by: guest at March 16, 2008 10:24 AM
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