The purpose of a cooker hood is to prevent cooking odor and air pollution in your kitchen while cooking. This appliance is installed directly over the stove to trap the pollutants such as grease, moisture, fumes and heat through duct work to the house exterior. It takes less than two hours and virtually no prior experience to install a cooker hood. You can direct the fumes out the top or back via cooker hood ducts. However, for optimal range hood efficiency, run the duct to your home’s exterior through the wall directly behind the unit in the shortest straight distance possible.
Step One
Place the hood upside down on a flat surface. Remove the filter, fan, duct connector-damper and the electrical box cover on the inside of the hood unit. Wear safety glasses and gloves.
Step Two
Choose a plugged opening that fits with your plans for the exhaust vent; most cooker hoods come with more than one opening on the side and at the top. Use a screwdriver or hammer to punch out the plug. Reinstall the duct connector-damper to the hood.
Step Three
Get an assistant to hold the hood in place while you use a level to adjust its position before marking it on the wall. Trace the opening onto the wall with a pencil.
Step Four
Make holes on each corner of the reference lines with a long-bit drill. Drill all the way through the exterior wall.
Step Five
Go to the outside wall and connect your drilled holes by drawing lines between them, using a marker or pencil. Cut the exterior wall with a long saw (i.e. saber saw), reciprocating saw or keyhole saw. Discard any insulation and debris between the walls that would interfere hood installation.
Step Six
Push the duct cap onto one end of the duct and then insert the duct into the wall, with the cap facing toward you. The duct should reach your cooker hood exhaust opening. If not, you will need to purchase a longer duct. You may need to have the duct go around a wall stud if it is in your way, using duct tape to seal the joints. Fasten the duct cap to the exterior wall with screws. Apply silicon caulk all around where the duct cap and the wall meet.
Step Seven
Turn off circuit breaker to the kitchen. Attach electric cable to your cooker hood from a nearby junction box or receptacle through the hole in the wall. An extension cable may be needed if the wall cable is too short. Strip the cable sheathing to expose the wires, using electrical clamp and pass the cable through the electrical knockout on your cooker hood.
Step Eight
Have your assistant hold the cooker hood in place while you secure it by driving screws into nearby cabinets or wall studs.
Step Nine
Splice the black wire from the power source to the black lead, the white wire to the white fixture lead, and the ground wire to the green lead. Attach a color-coded wire cap on the exposed lead of each spliced wire. Tuck the wires into place before replacing the electrical box cover.
Step Ten
Reinstall the fan and filter to the hood. Turn on the power and test your cooker hood.