If you’ve been using your range hood for a while, you might be wondering: how often should I replace my kitchen hood filters? Great question! You don’t want heavy grease and food debris to build up and block airflow to the outside of your home.

If you own a ductless hood with charcoal filters, replace them about every one to three months or after 120 hours of cooking. If you don’t cook as often, change out your filters at least twice a year. Avid cooks or those who cook high-heat, greasy, or fried dishes should check the condition of their filters every one to two months.

You don’t need to replace filters on a ducted cooker hood. In fact, ducted hoods do not have charcoal filters. The most popular filters for ducted hoods are stainless steel baffle or mesh. Clean them every month or so depending on how often you cook.

Why is it important to clean range hood filters?

Kitchen hood filters must be cleaned or replaced regularly for your hood to work efficiently. They trap the grease, dirt, and food particles produced from your cooking. Without clean filters, the grease accumulates on the inside and outside of your hood.

Second, a clean range hood filter keeps unwanted contaminants and chemicals out of your kitchen. This helps you maintain great indoor air quality. It’s important to have a comfortable, safe living space for your family.

Third, the filters neutralize cooking odors. It even vents the strongest odors from Asian cooking.

Make cleaning your kitchen a breeze with our best kitchen degreaser recommendations.

How do you know when your kitchen hood filters need to be replaced?

First, if you can’t remember the last time you cleaned them, your filters probably need cleaning.

Second, you might find that smoke stays in your kitchen, even after you’ve run your hood for several minutes. This might be because you need to replace the filter.

Third, your filters might not be trapping odors. Over several days of cooking, if you notice that cooking odors linger, check on your range hood filter.

Fourth, your walls, ceiling, or surrounding cabinets are starting to accumulate grease.

When you get a chance to check your filters, look for any damage. Look for dents, warping, corrosion, excess grime, food debris, or holes.

If your range hood filter has been warped and does not fit in the hood, you need to replace it as soon as possible. You don’t want that grease building up inside your hood and in the range hood duct.

How could I make my range hood filters last longer?

Hood filters can be much more durable with dedicated care and maintenance. Regular light cleaning with soap and warm or hot water can extend the life of your kitchen hood filters. But, never use strong chemicals or bleach when cleaning a grease filter. This can cause corrosion.

Proline’s range hood baffle filters are dishwasher-safe. The dishwasher is a quick and easy solution to cleaning that saves you time and effort.

If your kitchen hood comes with aluminum filters, this type of metal is particularly more vulnerable to corrosion. When cleaning, handle the exhaust hood filters gently.

What is the best way to clean range hood filters?

The best way to clean a range hood filter is to soak it in warm water and soap. Stainless steel filters are dishwasher safe, so you can save time by putting them in the dishwasher too. If your hood has carbon filters, those need to be replaced every month or two – not cleaned.

For step-by-step deep cleaning methods, check out this article.

How do I change the filter on my range hood?

Charcoal filters sit inside the range hood blower. Follow these steps to change out your charcoal filters.

1. Remove baffle or mesh grease filters to access the range hood blower.
2. Unscrew the plastic housing on the blower.
3. Remove the greasy carbon filter.
4. Wipe off the cover with some glass cleaner or a kitchen degreaser.
5. Insert a new charcoal filter.
6. Reattach the plastic cover.
7. Insert baffle or mesh filters in your vent hood.

How often should you clean your range hood?

There’s no exact formula to tell you how often to clean your hood. It depends on your cooking style. The main thing to watch out for is grease buildup in your kitchen exhaust system. Excess grease buildup blocks airflow and reduces the efficiency of your hood. So, clean your range hood at least once a month. You can use glass cleaner or acetone for a light to medium clean. They cut grease and leave a beautiful shine on the outside and inside of your hood. 

What is a kitchen hood filter?

A kitchen hood filter is the part of your cooker hood that filters unwanted contaminants and grease from the air.

The range hood filter is crucial to keeping your air clean and your hood efficient. It keeps grease and dirt from building up in your vent. This buildup can decrease the power of your cooker hood and even break it if too much grease builds up. 

If you have a ductless model, you will also have a charcoal filter that removes contaminants and then circulates the air back into the kitchen. Charcoal filters do not need cleaning. Instead, they must be replaced every one to three months, after about 120 hours of cooking, or if cooking smells linger in your kitchen.

How do I change the carbon filter on my AKDY RH0327?

The carbon filters are located inside the hood, attached to your range hood blowers. To get to the carbon filters, you need to remove the stainless steel filters. Some have a latch, while others do not. For filters without a latch, just lift the back edge up and slide the front edge out of the range hood. 

Unscrew the existing carbon filter on your blower by turning it counterclockwise. There should be one on each side of the blower. Then attach the new one by turning it clockwise.

Some hoods have carbon filters that you can screw on, while others have notches or tabs that you line up and attach at the end of the blower.

Here’s a quick video on how to install your carbon filters.

Recap

That wraps up our article on how often you should replace your kitchen hood filters. Replacing or cleaning a range hood filter or two shouldn’t take a lot of time out of your day. The most important thing is consistency. Make a schedule like every month on a weekend for example and stick to it. This way you can always be sure that you are getting the most out of your vent hood.

While you’re checking your grease filters, you might as well inspect the grease tray (not all hoods have these). Also, see if the inside and the outside of the hood are clean. That way, you can finish all the cleaning at one time.

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