Rant: I just realized I've been using my vent hood wrong for 5 years

So I moved into this apartment in Chicago back in 2020 and it has a gas stove. I always just turned the vent hood fan on low whenever I cooked. Last week my buddy who is an HVAC guy came over and saw me doing that. He asked why I wasn't using the back burner vents and I had no idea what he was talking about. Turns out the hood has two separate fan speeds for each side of the stove and I never bothered to read the manual. Also the carbon filter was completely clogged with grease. I cleaned it out and now the thing actually works. How many other people are out there just running their vent hood wrong without knowing?

3 comments

3 Comments

martin.riley23d ago

Chicago has gas, not propane, so your buddy's right.

gavin36523d ago

Exactly but like... is there a legit difference in how the hookup works? I always thought propane and natural gas grills were basically the same but with different fittings. Like do you actually need to swap out the whole burner assembly or can you just get a different regulator and call it a day? I've heard some guys say you can just change the orifices but then others act like you're gonna blow up your deck if you try that. Seems like a lot of conflicting info out there honestly.

jakewhite23d ago

Oh man that reminds me of the first time I tried using a BBQ grill that ran on natural gas. I spent like 20 minutes messing with the regulator before my neighbor came over and just pointed at the gas line hookup. Felt like an idiot.