Kitchen and bath
Range hood installation cost
Swapping an under-cabinet range hood on a duct that already goes outside is about $550. Putting in a new vented one is $1,423 through the wall or $1,875 through the roof, because the duct — rigid metal, the hood's full outlet size, out to a cap — is most of the job. Size the hood to the range, 100 cfm a foot against a wall and 150 on an island, and past 400 cfm add the makeup air the code requires: a 36 in pro gas range with a 900 cfm hood is $3,092. This prices six kinds of hood on your range, by the way the air gets out.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-24 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Range hood installation cost calculator
The range, the hood, and the way out
The range sets the air; the air sets the duct; the duct is most of the job — and past 400 cfm the code wants air let back in.
The old hood down, the new one hung and connected to the duct and the power that are there.
Hangs under the cabinet over the range; the duct goes up through the cabinet or straight back through the wall.
30 is standard; 36 and 48 for pro ranges.
Electric or induction.
This kitchen wants about 250 cfm.
An outlet or wiring is there.
About 2 hours, at $85.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
Under-cabinet hood, replace
$550
250 cfm · 6 in duct · the hood is 64% of it
The duct is already there
On the duct that is there, a hood swap is $350 of hood and about 2 hours. Check the duct goes outside and matches the new hood's 6 in outlet; many old hoods vent into the cabinet above.
Over 400 cfm
250 cfm: no makeup air needed.
A hood that moves more than 400 cubic feet a minute has to have air let back in when it runs — a damper on a duct from outside, interlocked with the hood. Without it, a tight house pulls the air down the flues of the water heater and furnace. A bigger fan is not a better hood; the right width and height catch more smoke than extra cfm.
This kitchen, each kind of hood
Same range, same job, each hood sized for it.
What the installer charges for
- Under-cabinet hood, 250 cfm
Hangs under the cabinet over the range; the duct goes up through the cabinet or straight back through the wall.$350 - 2 hours
The old hood down, the new one hung and connected to the duct and the power that are there.$170 - Up to the installer's minimum
An installer's minimum.$30
What it costs
National average. A under-cabinet hood at 250 cfm over a 30 in electric range, replace — existing duct to outside. Not included: a custom hood enclosure around an insert, backsplash or tile repair, or patching siding and roofing beyond the cap.
The same fan-and-duct physics in a bathroom is on the bath fan page; the dishwasher beside the range, on the dishwasher page.
Worth knowing
- 30 in of electric range against a wall wants about 250 cfm — 100 a foot of width. The 250 cfm hood here needs a 6 in duct the whole way out.
- On the existing duct the job is the hood: the old one down, the new one hung, wired and taped to the duct — about 2 hours. Check the duct is the new hood's outlet size and goes outside; plenty of old hoods are ducted into the cabinet above, or recirculate.
- Width and height do more than cfm: a hood at least as wide as the range, better 3 in wider each side, mounted within the manufacturer's height above the cooktop — usually 24 to 30 in — catches what a bigger fan mounted high lets go.
On this page — 5 sections
The duct is the job
The short version
- A hood swap on an existing duct: $550. The hood is most of it.
- A new vented hood: $1,423 through the wall, $1,875 through the roof. The duct is most of it.
- Over 400 cfm the code adds makeup air, about $1,200.
- Size to the range: 100 cfm a foot on a wall, 150 on an island.
Hanging a range hood is two hours. What makes one expensive is getting its air outside. On a kitchen that already has a duct to a wall or roof cap, a new hood is the price of the hood and the hanging. On a kitchen that had a recirculating hood, or a microwave venting into the cabinet, it is a hole through the exterior wall or a run up through the attic to the roof, rigid metal duct the full diameter of the hood’s outlet, the elbows it takes to get there, and the cabinet cut to let it through. That is where $665 of the $1,423 goes on a new under-cabinet hood.
$550
Swap on the old duct
2 hours
$1,423
New, through the wall
Hole, duct, cap
$1,875
New, through the roof
Attic and roof cap
$550
Ductless
+ $60 a year of filters
MaterialsEstimator, Range hood and over-the-range microwave installation price survey · checked 2026-09-24
Sized to the range, capped at 400
A hood needs about 100 cfm for every foot of range against a wall, and 150 on an island, where nothing behind it steers the smoke up. A gas range adds a little; a high-output one — burners totalling more than 60,000 BTU — is sized at 1 cfm per 100 BTU. The code draws a line at 400: above it the house must get air back in, through a damper that opens when the hood runs, because a sealed house exhausting 900 cfm will draw its air down the water heater’s flue. So the choice for a big range is between a hood that keeps up and pays for makeup air, and one at 400 that does not quite.
| 400 cfm or less | Over 400 cfm | |
|---|---|---|
| 36 in, 90,000 BTU gas, chimney hood through the wall | $1,658 | $3,092 at 900 cfm |
| Duct | 6 in | 10 in |
| Makeup air | Not required | $1,200 |
| Keeps up with | Normal cooking | Every burner on high |
| Island hood, 36 in electric | — | $4,601 at 600 cfm |
International Code Council, International Residential Code, Section M1503, Domestic cooking exhaust equipment · checked 2026-09-24
Six ways to put a hood over a range
| 30 in electric range | Swap, old duct | New, through wall | New, through roof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under-cabinet hood | $550 | $1,423 | $1,875 |
| Wall-mount chimney hood | $955 | $1,658 | $2,110 |
| Hood insert in a custom hood | $855 | $1,558 | $2,010 |
| Island hood | $1,725 | $2,778 | $3,230 |
| Over-the-range microwave | $650 | $1,523 | $1,975 |
| Downdraft vent | $1,805 | $2,508 | $2,960 |
Each sized for the range; the island hood at 150 cfm a foot, and with makeup air where it passes 400.
Home Ventilating Institute, Kitchen range hood sizing and installation guidance · checked 2026-09-24
Before the hole is cut
On the list
- Where the air goes now — up the old hood with a flashlight.
- The range's width and burner BTU.
- The new hood's outlet size, and a duct that size all the way out.
- The shortest route: back through the wall if the range is on one.
- Rigid metal duct, taped joints, a damper at the cap — not flex, not the attic.
- Over 400 cfm: makeup air on the quote.
- Power at the hood: an outlet in the cabinet or a hard-wired box.
- The mounting height from the hood's instructions, not the old hood's.
What goes wrong
01Ducting into the attic or soffit
Grease and steam condense in the attic or blow back in through the soffit vents.
Instead — A duct to a wall or roof cap with a damper.
02Flex duct
Its ridges catch grease — a fire risk — and cost the fan much of its air.
Instead — Smooth rigid metal, taped.
03Reducing the duct
An 8 in hood choked to a 6 in duct moves a fraction of its rating and roars.
Instead — The outlet size all the way out.
04A 900 cfm hood with no makeup air
The house pulls its air down the gas appliances' flues.
Instead — Makeup air — or a hood at 400 cfm.
05Buying cfm to fix capture
A narrow hood mounted high loses smoke however hard it blows.
Instead — Wider than the range, at the listed height.
06A microwave over a big gas range
About 300 cfm and a shallow front edge: the front burners are uncaught.
Instead — A real hood where the cooking is serious.
- 01Find where the air goes nowLook up through the old hood: a duct to a wall or roof cap, into the cabinet, or nothing. That decides whether this is a swap or a new route.
- 02Size the air100 cfm per foot of range against a wall, 150 on an island; a high-output gas range 1 cfm per 100 BTU.
- 03Size the ductThe hood's outlet diameter all the way out: 6 in up to about 400 cfm, 8 in to 600, 10 in above.
- 04Plan the routeStraight back through the wall is shortest; up through the roof is next. Every foot and elbow costs air.
- 05Check the thresholdOver 400 cfm, add makeup air — or choose a hood at 400.
- 06Check the powerAn outlet in the cabinet above, or a hard-wired box. If neither, add a circuit.
A bath fan is a small range hood: sized to the room, choked by long flex duct, and useless if it dumps into the attic. The bath fan page counts the equivalent length.
The same physics in the bathroom- CFM
- Cubic feet per minute: how much air the blower is rated to move, before the duct takes its share.
- Capture
- How much of the smoke and steam the hood actually catches. Width, height and shape matter more than cfm.
- Makeup air
- Outside air let into the house to replace what the hood exhausts. Required by the code over 400 cfm, through a damper that opens with the hood.
- Backdraft damper
- A flap in the duct or cap that closes when the hood is off, so cold air and pests stay out.
- Rigid duct
- Smooth-walled galvanised or stainless pipe. What the code requires for a range hood; flex duct is not.
- Wall cap / roof cap
- The fitting where the duct leaves the house, with a damper and flashing.
- Recirculating (ductless)
- A hood that filters grease and odour through charcoal and returns the air to the kitchen. Removes no heat, steam or smoke.
- Under-cabinet hood
- A hood hung beneath the cabinet over the range. The commonest and cheapest vented hood.
- Chimney hood
- A wall canopy with a decorative chimney up to the ceiling, where there is no cabinet.
- Insert
- The blower and filters built into a custom wood or plaster hood.
- Over-the-range microwave
- A microwave with a small fan beneath, installed where a hood would be. About 300 cfm and poor capture.
- High-output range
- A range whose burners total more than about 60,000 BTU. Sized at 1 cfm per 100 BTU.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to install a range hood?
- About $550 to replace an under-cabinet hood on the duct that is already there — $350 of hood and about 2 hours. A new vented hood is mostly the duct: $1,423 out through the wall, $1,875 up through the roof. A wall chimney hood is $1,658, an island hood with its ceiling duct and makeup air $4,601.
- How much does it cost to install an over-the-range microwave?
- About $650 on an existing outlet and duct — the microwave and two hours of mounting it to the wall plate and the cabinet above. With a new wall duct and a new circuit it is $1,773. It saves a cabinet, moves about 300 cfm and catches the back burners; the front ones are open air.
- Does a range hood have to vent outside?
- The code asks that a ducted hood go to the outside — not into an attic, a soffit, a crawlspace or the cabinet above — through smooth metal duct with a backdraft damper. A recirculating hood is allowed as an appliance, but it only filters grease and smell: heat, steam and smoke stay in the kitchen, and where the code's kitchen exhaust requirement is enforced it does not count.
- What size range hood do I need?
- About 100 cfm per foot of range against a wall — 250 for a 30 in electric range — and 150 per foot on an island, because an island hood has no wall to help it. A normal gas range adds a little; a high-output one over 60,000 BTU is sized at 1 cfm per 100 BTU: 900 cfm for a 90,000 BTU range. The hood should be at least as wide as the range, better 3 in wider each side.
- When does a range hood need makeup air?
- When it can exhaust more than 400 cfm. The code then wants air let back in at about the same rate, through a damper that opens when the hood runs — about $1,200. The 36 in pro range here needs 900 cfm and makeup air: $3,092. The same kitchen with a 400 cfm hood is $1,658 and will not keep up with every burner on high.
- Why is makeup air required?
- Because a tight house cannot give up 900 cubic feet of air a minute without taking it from somewhere — and the easy places are the flues of a gas water heater, furnace or fireplace, which then spill combustion gases into the house. Makeup air gives the hood its air from outside instead.
- Is a ductless range hood worth it?
- It costs the same as a swap — $550 — plus about $60 a year of charcoal filters, and it removes grease and some odour but none of the heat, moisture or smoke. It is the answer where no duct can be run, such as some condos; anywhere else, a vented hood does the job the ductless one pretends to.
- Can I install a range hood myself?
- Swapping one on an existing duct and outlet, yes: about 3.6 hours and $350 of hood. Cutting a new hole through the wall or roof and adding a circuit are where an installer earns the fee — the flashing and the wiring are what go wrong.
- How much does it cost to vent a range hood through the roof?
- About $650 for the route — up through the cabinet, ceiling and attic to a flashed roof cap, with the first 6 ft of duct — plus duct and elbows beyond that: $1,875 for an under-cabinet hood with 14 ft of duct and two elbows. Through the wall is cheaper when the range is on an outside wall.
- What is the right duct size?
- The hood's own outlet diameter all the way to the cap: typically 6 in up to about 400 cfm, 8 in to 600, 10 in above. Reducing it to fit an old duct chokes the fan; rigid metal, short and straight, lets it move what it was rated for.
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About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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