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In a planned kitchen remodel, one upgrade is to install an outside vented range hood. My choices are to vent vertically up through the roof or up and then horizontally (8') out the kitchen wall. The vertical option is considerably more difficult and costly. Are there drawbacks to the horizontal option?

The vertical option is not simple as it will need to go through a second floor and an attic in a 1934 house. Provided that building codes don't force that option, I'm hoping for the horizontal option as long as there are no serious drawbacks.

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Your neighbors might get mad if you cook something stinky, and blow it in their window. – Tester101♦ Sep 3 '10 at 20:18
@Tester101 - Not an issue for the location. – wdypdx22 Sep 3 '10 at 22:30

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It shouldn't be a problem to vent the range hood out the wall, just make sure you check your local codes before doing so. I wouldn't think this would be a problem, but there could be different laws in densely populated areas as apposed to rural regions. And laws/codes can vary depending on your locale.

Make sure you install the vent properly, and include a back flow prevention device (unless you like cold/warm air coming in from outside).

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Ah, back flow prevention! I'll be checking the building codes once I'm further along in the process. At the moment I'm in initial stages and pencilling in costs of various scenarios. Mainly I have a little concern for needing to clean the duct. But, it's not going to have dense clouds of anything flowing through it with any frequency... Thanks. – wdypdx22 Sep 3 '10 at 22:35
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In Massachusetts, the building code says that range hoods “shall discharge to the outdoors through a single-wall duct” (780 CMR 6502.1). I am not sure what that means.

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That's too bad, I always wanted a stove with dual exhaust. – Tester101♦ Sep 3 '10 at 20:15
it means the duct can pass through a single wall only. – longneck Sep 3 '10 at 21:09
@longneck: Does that preclude running the duct up into and attic and then through the roof or an exterior wall? That would be consistent with the lack of duct length restriction in the code—but ridiculous, as it's not uncommon to have the range on an internal wall or in a kitchen island… – Vebjorn Ljosa♦ Sep 3 '10 at 21:13
Single wall ducting is simply a piece of tin (sheet metal) bent into shape (round, rectangle, etc). Not like a gas applicance B-vent which has double walls for heat resistance, etc. – kkeilman Sep 7 '10 at 23:02

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