# Air filter for kitchen **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950 "2020-09-18T22:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/1 "2020-09-18T22:01:52Z")
My son has had a house built with no stove or vent fan. What kind of free-standing air cleaner might he need? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/2 "2020-09-18T23:16:18Z")
Some stove filters are just metal mesh that vents back into the room, basically a grease trap. So what does he need one for? Grease, odor, smoke? all could have different answers. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/3 "2020-09-19T03:12:46Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > My son has had a house built with no stove or vent fan. What kind of free-standing air cleaner might he need? Offhand, if there’s no stove, I don’t think he needs a vent fan. But he built a house without a stove in the kitchen? Does he have a microwave oven or any other cooking appliance? ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/4 "2020-09-19T12:20:15Z")
Funny Dewey. Dan ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/5 "2020-09-19T14:50:25Z")
Well, I wasn’t trying to be funny. The OP says their son had a house built without a stove (or presumably even without a built-in cooktop and separate oven). That sounds weird to me since that’s so standard, at least in the US. (Perhaps there are countries where kitchens commonly don’t have built in cooking appliances.) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/6 "2020-09-19T15:25:54Z")
New houses may not have a dedicated kitchen fan that vents to the outside, which many older homes used to have. A stove hood which provides light and a fan can be bought separately and installed or an over the stove microwave will also have a fan and light. But as mentioned earlier it’s just a grease trap and for air circulation. Pricey ventilated hoods do exhaust to the outside and are usually a built in feature. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/7 "2020-09-19T23:08:43Z")
We’ve been in our house 34 years. We have an electric stove with a microwave over it that has a fan with a mesh filter underneath. Just change it every few years. Air just circulates back into the room when cooking. Works just fine, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/8 "2020-09-19T23:21:52Z")
I wish I knew. My house doesn’t have a hood and it totally sucks (I mean, it doesn’t suck. But I want it to suck. And it sucks that it doesn’t suck.) The lack of ventilation changed how and what I cook. I had to invest in splatter screens and I’ve resorted to tenting a kitchen napkin over stuff that spits and pops like sausage and hot sears. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Offhand, if there’s no stove, I don’t think he needs a vent fan. But he built a house without a stove in the kitchen? Does he have a microwave oven or any other cooking appliance? I think a more likely interpretation is this: “My son has had a house built with no stove fan or range hood.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/9 "2020-09-19T23:29:54Z")
That does make more sense. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/10 "2020-09-22T21:54:08Z")
He has an electric skillet. No stove. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/11 "2020-09-22T22:16:39Z")
Is this some sort of tiny house? Because building a normal, normally sized house in the United States without a stove seems weird to me. For just the skillet, a recirculating exhaust fan may be enough. Or, if the climate allows, just cooking near a nearby open window. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/12 "2020-09-22T22:21:27Z")
It’s a small house designed to his specications. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/13 "2020-09-22T22:23:50Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > He has an electric skillet. No stove. Just so I’m clear, you mean there is no cooktop and no oven? That he plugs an electric skillet into the wall and does whatever cooking he is going to do on that? I think many folks here, me included, would like to know more about the why of this choice. Anyway, to try to answer your question, we still need to know what he needs to get out of the air: smells, grease, smoke, all of the above? For smells and smoke, just having a box fan in the window, facing to blow air out, should do the trick, and it would help if there’s some kind of cross-draft from somewhere for clean air to come in. For grease he would need more than that. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/14 "2020-09-22T22:31:23Z")
Ok, here’s the whole story. He had an ICF home built (insulated concrete foam). Very energy efficient, fire and tornado resistant. His original plan was no windows at all. He has no use for a stove. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/15 "2020-09-22T23:34:33Z")
I think you know this but between the unusual construction method and the lack of a stove, it’s going to be a little difficult if he ever wants to sell the house (and _really_ difficult if he stuck with the no windows plan). And given the house is that tight, even without cooking odors and grease, he needs to think about ensuring that the inside air is healthy. Some sort of air-to-air heat exchanger may be needed. I hope he had a good HVAC contractor. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/16 "2020-09-23T20:48:18Z")
He has windows. He had to make a lot of concessions to get financing. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/17 "2020-09-23T21:55:19Z")
I am glad he has windows but even if he never cooks anything at home, ever, the air is going to get stale and unhealthy unless he does something to exchange it with outside air. For most of the time people built houses this wasn’t a problem because houses were always very leaky. But modern houses can be built so tight that an artificial means of exchanging air may be necessary. His HVAC contractor can advise him, if they haven’t already. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/18 "2020-09-23T21:56:54Z")
Thanks. I wasn’t really involved in the design or construction, but I’ll talk to him about this. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/19 "2020-09-27T13:21:44Z")
It will depend on the municipality, but there are code regulations regarding ventilation and air exchange. New homes are very air tight and in Canada have to provide for regular air exchange. The typical solution is a Heat Recovery Ventilator. I would be very surprised if the home got built without some arrangement for air exchange, but if it did, some holes will need to be bored for an HRV or something similar. If the only issue is cooking fumes, all over the range microwaves and most hood fans come with a recirculation option. Even with ICF walls it is not as big a deal as one might think to install a gooseneck on the roof and duct a vent through the attic. Hard to beat ICF for soundproofing, but it presents a lot of challenges and inconveniences when building or renovating. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950/20 "2020-09-27T13:33:42Z")
We bought a house with a useless recirculating filter over the cooking surface. I got a contractor and had a 900 cu ft/min hood installed. They built a soffit above the cabinets and ran the vent to an exhaust under the eaves. It works great and cost was about $850 for the installation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-filter-for-kitchen/920950.md?page=2)