FHB Logo Facebook LinkedIn Email Pinterest Twitter X Instagram Tiktok YouTube Plus Icon Close Icon Navigation Search Icon Navigation Search Icon Arrow Down Icon Video Guide Icon Article Guide Icon Modal Close Icon Guide Search Icon Skip to content
Subscribe
Log In
  • How-To
  • Design
  • Tools & Materials
  • Restoration
  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Forum
  • Magazine
  • Members
  • FHB House
  • Podcast
Log In

Fine Homebuilding Project Guides

Kitchens

Guide Home
  • Kitchen Planning & Design
  • Featured Kitchen Projects
  • Cabinets, Built-Ins, & Pantries
  • Kitchen Islands
  • Countertops & Flooring
  • Appliances, Fixtures, & Lighting
How-To

How to Provide Makeup Air for Range Hoods

If your kitchen has a powerful exhaust fan, it may be making your indoor air worse.

By Martin Holladay Issue 232 - Dec 2012/Jan 2013
  • X
  • facebook
  • linkedin
  • pinterest
  • email
  • add to favorites Log in or Sign up to save your favorite articles

Synopsis: Range hoods are a necessity for evacuating kitchens of the smoke and odors that can accompany cooking. Most of the time, the indoor air the hood is exhausting is replaced by air entering the house through random spaces around doors, windows, or mudsills. With some big appliances and in tightly built, energy-efficient houses, though, range hoods can be detrimental because they have no air leaks to draw from. That can lead to the danger of backdrafting, or the introduction of exhaust gases from flues and chimneys. In this article, energy nerd Martin Holladay outlines various solutions that allow range hoods to function well in tightly built houses. You can bring makeup air into a tight house in three ways: through the HVAC system using dampers; through wall- or ceiling-mounted grilles; or through mechanized makeup-air solutions. Some tight homes also can benefit from the use of a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) or an energy-recovery ventilator (ERV). Perhaps the most important consideration is to size the range hood properly from the start. A small range hood is often adequate.


When Cheryl Morris moved into her new home, she realized that the kitchen exhaust fan was probably too powerful. Whenever she turned on the 1200-cfm fan, strange things happened. “It pulled the ashes out of the fireplace, halfway across the room, right up to my husband’s chair,” she says. Those dancing ashes demonstrate an important principle: Large exhaust fans need makeup air.

The air that fans remove has to come from somewhere

Most homes have several exhaust appliances. They can include a bathroom fan (40 cfm to 200 cfm), a clothes dryer (100 cfm to 225 cfm), a power-vented water heater (50 cfm), a woodstove (30 cfm to 50 cfm), and a central vacuum-cleaning system (100 cfm to 200 cfm). The most powerful exhaust appliance in most homes, however, is the kitchen range-hood fan (160 cfm to 1200 cfm).

Although tightening up homes is a good way to make them more energy efficient, builders need to remember that plugging air leaks makes it harder for air to enter a home. Every time an exhaust fan removes air from your house, an equal volume of air must enter. If a house doesn’t have enough random air leaks around windows, doors, and mudsills, makeup air can be pulled through water-heater flues or down wood-burning chimneys, a phenomenon called backdrafting. Because the flue gases of combustion appliances can include carbon monoxide, backdrafting can be dangerous.

One important way to limit backdrafting problems is to avoid installing a wood-burning fireplace or any atmospherically vented combustion appliance. Appliances in this category include gas-fired or oil-fired water heaters, furnaces, and boilers connected to old-fashioned vertical chimneys or flues. Instead, install sealed-combustion appliances with fresh-air ducts that bring combustion air directly to the burner. Most sealed-combustion appliances are practically immune to backdrafting problems.

Small exhaust fans—those rated at 300 cfm or less—usually don’t cause backdrafting problems. Anyone planning to install a big fan (400 cfm or more), though, needs to provide a dedicated source of makeup air. As a stopgap measure, it’s possible to open a window every time the range-hood fan is turned on, but this solution won’t satisfy most homeowners. Moreover, builders who suggest this remedy may still be legally liable for future backdrafting problems.

A ventilation system isn’t a makeup-air system

Most U.S. homes include a forced-air distribution system for heating or cooling. Just because your house has ducts, though, doesn’t mean that you have a makeup-air system. Some new houses (especially tight ones) also have a mechanical ventilation system to bring fresh air into the house—for example, a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), an energy-recovery ventilator (ERV), or an outdoor-air duct connected to the furnace’s return-air plenum. If you’re wondering whether your home’s ventilation system can provide makeup air for your range hood, the answer is no.

For more photos, drawings, and details, click the View PDF button below:

View PDF
Previous: The Basics of Makeup Air Next: Breathe Easy With the Right Range Hood

Guide

Kitchens

Chapter

Appliances, Fixtures, & Lighting

Sign up for eletters today and get the latest how-to from Fine Homebuilding, plus special offers.

Signing you up...

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
See all newsletters
See all newsletters

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Sign up Log in

Become a member and get full access to FineHomebuilding.com

Kitchens

Kitchens

A complete resource for designing, building, or remodeling the kitchen of your dreams

View Project Guide

View All Project Guides »

Become a member and get unlimited site access, including the Kitchens Project Guide.

Start Free Trial

Kitchen Planning & Design
Featured Kitchen Projects
  • Kitchen Remodels
Cabinets, Built-Ins, & Pantries
  • Choosing Kitchen Cabinets
  • Installing Kitchen Cabinets
  • Cabinet Hardware
  • Breakfast Nooks
  • Pantries
Kitchen Islands
Countertops & Flooring
  • Countertops 101
  • Concrete Countertops
  • Kitchen Flooring
Appliances, Fixtures, & Lighting
  • Appliances
  • Range Hoods
  • Sinks & Faucets
  • Kitchen Lighting

Fine Home Building

Newsletter Sign-up

  • Fine Homebuilding

    Home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox.

  • Green Building Advisor

    Building science and energy efficiency advice, plus special offers, in your inbox.

  • Old House Journal

    Repair, renovation, and restoration tips, plus special offers, in your inbox.

Signing you up...

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
See all newsletters

Follow

  • Fine Homebuilding

    Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.

    Start Free Trial Now
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X
    • LinkedIn
  • GBA Prime

    Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.

    Start Free Trial Now
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • Old House Journal

    Learn how to restore, repair, update, and decorate your home.

    Subscribe Now
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X
  • Fine Homebuilding

    Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.

    Start Free Trial Now
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X
    • LinkedIn
  • GBA Prime

    Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.

    Start Free Trial Now
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • Old House Journal

    Learn how to restore, repair, update, and decorate your home.

    Subscribe Now
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • X

Membership & Magazine

  • Online Archive
  • Start Free Trial
  • Magazine Subscription
  • Magazine Renewal
  • Gift a Subscription
  • Customer Support
  • Privacy Preferences
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Terms of Use
  • Site Map
  • Do not sell or share my information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • California Privacy Rights

© 2025 Active Interest Media. All rights reserved.

Fine Homebuilding receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

  • Home Group
  • Antique Trader
  • Arts & Crafts Homes
  • Bank Note Reporter
  • Cabin Life
  • Cuisine at Home
  • Fine Gardening
  • Fine Woodworking
  • Green Building Advisor
  • Garden Gate
  • Horticulture
  • Keep Craft Alive
  • Log Home Living
  • Military Trader/Vehicles
  • Numismatic News
  • Numismaster
  • Old Cars Weekly
  • Old House Journal
  • Period Homes
  • Popular Woodworking
  • Script
  • ShopNotes
  • Sports Collectors Digest
  • Threads
  • Timber Home Living
  • Traditional Building
  • Woodsmith
  • World Coin News
  • Writer's Digest
Active Interest Media logo
X
X
This is a dialog window which overlays the main content of the page. The modal window is a 'site map' of the most critical areas of the site. Pressing the Escape (ESC) button will close the modal and bring you back to where you were on the page.

Main Menu

  • How-To
  • Design
  • Tools & Materials
  • Video
  • Blogs
  • Forum
  • Project Guides
  • Reader Projects
  • Magazine
  • Members
  • FHB House

Podcasts

  • FHB Podcast
  • ProTalk

Webinars

  • Upcoming and On-Demand

Podcasts

  • FHB Podcast
  • ProTalk

Webinars

  • Upcoming and On-Demand

Popular Topics

  • Kitchens
  • Business
  • Bedrooms
  • Roofs
  • Architecture and Design
  • Green Building
  • Decks
  • Framing
  • Safety
  • Remodeling
  • Bathrooms
  • Windows
  • Tilework
  • Ceilings
  • HVAC

Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Magazine Index
  • Subscribe
  • Online Archive
  • Author Guidelines

All Access

  • Member Home
  • Start Free Trial
  • Gift Membership

Online Learning

  • Courses
  • Project Guides
  • Reader Projects
  • Podcast

More

  • FHB Ambassadors
  • FHB House
  • Customer Support

Account

  • Log In
  • Join

Newsletter

Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

Signing you up...

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
See all newsletters
See all newsletters

Follow

  • X
  • YouTube
  • instagram
  • facebook
  • pinterest
  • Tiktok

Join All Access

Become a member and get instant access to thousands of videos, how-tos, tool reviews, and design features.

Start Your Free Trial

Subscribe

FHB Magazine

Start your subscription today and save up to 81%

Subscribe

You have 1 free article remaining.

Get complete site access, including thousands of videos, how-to tips, tool reviews, and design features.

Start your FREE trial

Already a member? Log in

We hope you’ve enjoyed your free articles. To keep reading, become a member today.

Get complete site access to expert advice, how-to videos, Code Check, and more, plus the print magazine.

Start your FREE trial

Already a member? Log in

Privacy Policy Update

We use cookies, pixels, script and other tracking technologies to analyze and improve our service, to improve and personalize content, and for advertising to you. We also share information about your use of our site with third-party social media, advertising and analytics partners. You can view our Privacy Policy here and our Terms of Use here.

Cookies

Analytics

These cookies help us track site metrics to improve our sites and provide a better user experience.

Advertising/Social Media

These cookies are used to serve advertisements aligned with your interests.

Essential

These cookies are required to provide basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website.

Delete My Data

Delete all cookies and associated data