Is a kitchen range hood necessary?

Well, that depends. Do you actually cook?

Kidding, yes, you must have a range hood of some type, even if it's just one of the cheap 'recirculation' hoods, where the air is (allegedly) filtered instead of ejected outside. Some jurisdictions require them to exhaust out. Check your local code.

Personally, I never install a recirculation hood unless the client insists or I simply can't exhaust out, since you can't really get rid of (greasy) smoke that way. However, for people who seldom cook, never fry, are on a limited budget, or have serious problems venting to the outside, a recirculation hood works (sort of).

Otherwise, I'll say Yes, absolutely it's necessary because even if you don't use it much, the next owner might, and eventually you will use it.

I will say you don't need to buy the big fancy jobs. A good quality (check Consumers Reports) exhaust hood can be found for $200-300. CR had a good article last year (I think) about range hoods you should read before making a decision.

Last year, my own kitchen needed a new hood, and I picked one up from Sears for under $300, replacing the unvented one (I hated) with an exhaust model. I ran the exhaust outside and it's made a huge difference in the amount of grease buildup we have (much less). We still fry some foods, even grill indoors some so this was a 'must have'.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck on your remodel!

Yes, they work wonders at keeping the bad smells out of the rest of the house. I use to rent an apartment and they did not have any kind of range hood. Everytime I cooked with grease all my clothes would need to be washed b/c it would go everywhere in the apartment. Gosh it smelled nasty. Thank goodness it was just a rental that was furnished. I would have hated to have my furniture smelling like that.

It does not vent out of the home, It traps grease when cooking meats mostly,Then you need to change the filter monthly!

If you do not use a hood your cabinets will get "GREASY" feeling!

I suggest you use a hood but maintain the filter as often as requested by manufacturer!

Yes definately is required. You need to either get one that recycles the filtered air, or one that vents the fumes and steam to the outside,