Range Hood Repair

💨 Blowers, Dampers and Duct Runs 📐 IRC M1503 and ASHRAE 62.2 Requirements 💰 $99 Diagnostic · Applied to Repair 🛡️ 90-Day Parts and Labor Warranty

Written by Bozmanfix Team Reviewed by Eugen, Appliance Repair Technician · 5+ years Published: September 1, 2026

A range hood has fewer parts than any other appliance in the kitchen — a blower motor and wheel, a switch or control board, a light, a backdraft damper and a filter — which is why most range hood complaints are not a failed part at all. They are airflow: a duct run that is too long or too kinked, a backdraft damper stuck shut or stuck open, a recirculating hood whose charcoal filter died two years ago, or a hood that was never rated for the cooktop underneath it. If the unit runs but the food stays cold: why a microwave stops heating.

Two published standards settle most arguments here. The International Residential Code requires cooking exhaust to discharge outdoors through a smooth, airtight duct with a backdraft damper, independent of every other exhaust system, and specifically forbids terminating it in an attic or crawl space. ASHRAE 62.2 sets the minimum for a vented range hood at 100 CFM.

This page covers what fails, what the standards require, and where the honest line is between a repair and a replacement.

Hood Not Pulling, Rattling, or Dead at the Switch?

Blower, damper, control or duct — they present almost identically from the kitchen and they cost very different amounts. The $99 diagnostic tells you which one you have before anyone orders a part, and the fee is applied to the repair.

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An Honest Note Before the Numbers

Most of our pages lead with medians from our own service records. This one cannot, and we would rather say so at the top than bury it.

Across 65,924 completed jobs in our records, range hoods appear six times. That is not a rounding error, it is roughly one job in eleven thousand.

Range hoods are simply not a large part of residential appliance repair volume: they fail rarely, many failures are duct or installation issues that belong to a different trade, and a great many owners replace rather than repair because a basic hood costs less than a service call plus parts.

We will not publish a Bozmanfix median built on six jobs, because a figure like that would read as authoritative and mean nothing. Everything cost-related below is either a published national figure with its source named, or our own standard visit price. Everything technical below is standards and mechanism, which do not depend on sample size.

What Is Actually Inside a Range Hood

Understanding the parts list is most of the diagnosis, because there are so few of them.

Blower motor and blower wheelThe only moving assembly. In most under-cabinet and wall hoods the motor and squirrel-cage wheel sit in a housing behind the filters. Motors fail from bearing wear and from grease that has bypassed a loaded or missing filter and built up on the wheel. A grease-caked wheel goes out of balance, which is where most hood noise comes from long before the motor itself dies.

Control switch or boardOlder hoods use simple rocker or rotary switches for fan speeds and light. Newer ones use a membrane keypad and a small control board. Membrane keypads above a cooktop live in heat and grease, and dead buttons on an otherwise healthy hood are common.

Backdraft damperA gravity flap in the duct or the hood outlet, required by code, that opens when the fan runs and falls shut when it stops. Two failure modes and both are misread as a dead fan: stuck shut, so the blower runs against a closed door and moves nothing; or stuck open, which lets cold outside air and street noise come down into the kitchen.

FiltersMetal mesh or baffle filters catch grease and are washable. Charcoal filters, used only on recirculating hoods, absorb odor and cannot be washed — they are replacement items. A loaded grease filter does not just smell; it strangles airflow and passes grease onward to the blower wheel.

LightingHalogen, incandescent or LED depending on age. On LED hoods the lamps are often not user-replaceable and come as a module with its own driver, which is why a dead light can be a bigger job on a newer hood than an older one.

The duct, which is not part of the appliance at allAnd which causes more complaints than everything above combined. It belongs to the house rather than the hood, and no amount of appliance repair fixes a bad one.

Ducted or Recirculating: the Question That Decides Everything

Before diagnosing anything, establish which kind of hood you own, because the same symptom means completely different things in each.

A ducted hood pushes air out of the building through a duct. It removes heat, moisture, grease and combustion products from the kitchen entirely, and it is the only arrangement that genuinely ventilates. Its failure points include everything in the duct: length, bends, crushed flex, a blocked or stuck exterior damper, and a termination cap screened so finely it clogs with lint and grease.

A recirculating or ductless hood pulls air through a grease filter, then through a charcoal filter, and blows it straight back into the kitchen. It removes some grease and some odor. It removes no heat and no moisture, and it cannot remove combustion products, which is why it is a compromise rather than an equivalent.

Its performance depends almost entirely on the charcoal filter, and a charcoal filter that has not been changed in years is doing nothing at all.

The most common false alarm we hear about range hoods: “the fan runs but it does not pull anything.” On a recirculating hood that is usually a dead charcoal filter plus a loaded grease filter, and it is maintenance rather than a repair. On a ducted hood it is usually the damper or the duct rather than the blower. In both cases the motor everybody suspects is the least likely culprit, and it is also the most expensive one to replace on a guess.

What the Standards Actually Require

Range hood problems sit at the boundary between appliance and building, so the codes are worth knowing — they explain a great deal of underperformance that no repair will fix.

It has to go outdoors, and only outdoorsUnder IRC Section M1503, domestic cooking exhaust equipment must discharge to the outdoors through a duct that has a smooth interior surface, is airtight, is fitted with a backdraft damper, and is independent of all other exhaust systems. Ducts serving range hoods must not terminate in an attic, a crawl space, or any area inside the building. A hood venting into an attic is a moisture and grease problem, not a ventilation system.

Duct material is specifiedSingle-wall ducts serving range hoods must be galvanized steel, stainless steel or copper. Flexible foil duct is not that, and it is a frequent reason an otherwise good hood moves almost no air.

There is a minimum airflowASHRAE 62.2 requires a user-operable vented range hood installed above the range to move at least 100 CFM, and it must meet a certified sound level of 3.0 sones or less. The standard’s verification route is to check the installed model against the Home Ventilating Institute directory of certified products rather than the box copy, because manufacturer CFM claims and HVI certified ratings are not always the same number.

Powerful hoods need make-up airThis is the requirement almost nobody knows about. Where a dwelling contains a fuel-burning appliance that is neither direct-vent nor mechanically drafted, any exhaust system capable of moving more than 400 CFM must be provided with make-up air at roughly the same rate, through a gravity or automatic damper that opens when the exhaust runs. Without it, a big hood can pull hard enough to reverse the draft on a water heater or furnace. If your professional-style hood underperforms in a tight house, insufficient make-up air is a genuine suspect and not an appliance fault.

Matching the Symptom to the Likely Cause

Fan does not run at any speed, light worksPower is reaching the hood, so the suspects are the speed switch or control board and the motor itself. On membrane-keypad hoods, a dead fan with a working light very often turns out to be the keypad rather than the motor.

Nothing works, no fan and no lightSupply side: the breaker, or on some installations a switched outlet inside the cabinet above the hood. Worth confirming before anything else, because it is the cheapest possible answer.

Fan runs but almost nothing is capturedAirflow, not power. Loaded grease filters, a dead charcoal filter on a recirculating hood, a backdraft damper stuck shut, a crushed or overlong duct run, or an exterior cap blocked with grease and lint. Also, honestly, a hood that is simply too small or mounted too high for the cooktop below it.

Loud rattle, hum or vibrationUsually the blower wheel: grease buildup unbalances it, or a mounting screw has loosened. Bearing noise from the motor itself sounds different, a constant whine or growl rather than a rhythmic rattle, and it gets worse rather than varying with speed.

Cold air, street noise or insects coming down the hoodThe backdraft damper is stuck open or has lost its flap. A pure damper problem, and one people live with for years without realizing it is fixable.

Fan runs at one speed only, or speeds do not changeSpeed control: the switch, the board, or on some designs a motor winding. This is a diagnosis with a meter rather than a guess.

Light out, fan fineLamp or lamp socket on older hoods, which is straightforward. On LED hoods the light may be a sealed module with a driver, and the part cost can be surprising relative to how small the problem feels.

Safe to Check Before You Call — Then Stop

Pull and wash the grease filters, and find out whether you have a charcoal filter. Metal mesh and baffle filters come out by a handle or catch, wash, and go back. If your hood is recirculating, there is also a charcoal filter behind the grille that cannot be washed and is a replacement item. This single step resolves a meaningful share of “it stopped pulling” complaints at zero cost.
Watch the damper while somebody switches the fan on. With the filters out you can usually see the damper flap in the hood outlet. It should lift when the blower starts and drop shut when it stops. Stuck shut explains no airflow; stuck open explains cold drafts and outside noise. Just look — this is an observation, not a repair.
Check the breaker, and check for a switched outlet in the cabinet above. Hoods are often fed from a receptacle hidden in the cabinet, sometimes on a wall switch nobody remembers. If everything is dead, this is the first thing worth eliminating.

Where it stops, and why the line is firmer here than on most appliances. Beyond those three checks, a range hood means working on live 120-volt wiring inside a cabinet directly above a cooking surface, usually overhead, often with a gas line within arm’s reach, and on a unit heavy enough that dropping it damages the range underneath. Blower motors, control boards, keypads, damper assemblies and any work on the duct itself are technician work. Duct modifications in particular are not appliance repair at all — they are subject to the code requirements above, and getting them wrong vents grease-laden air into a wall or attic.

What Range Hood Work Costs

As set out at the top, we publish no Bozmanfix median for range hoods; the sample is six jobs and a number from it would be noise. What we can give you is our own visit price, published national figures with the source named, and an honest sense of which repairs are small and which are not.

Item	What it involves	Cost
Diagnostic visit	Fault identified and priced, applied to the repair if you approve it	$99
Grease filters	Washable, no service call needed	Maintenance
Charcoal filter, recirculating hoods	Replacement item, not washable	Maintenance
Backdraft damper	Small part, most of the cost is access	Diagnostic first
Control switch or membrane keypad	Part cost varies widely by brand and age	Diagnostic first
Blower motor or blower wheel	Largest part in the appliance, overhead labor	Diagnostic first
Replacing a hood like for like, national	HomeGuide 2026, existing duct reused	$300–$850
New hood installation, national	HomeGuide 2026, including running ductwork	$650–$2,500

National installation and replacement figures from HomeGuide’s 2026 range hood installation cost data. The $99 diagnostic is the Bozmanfix standard service call, applied to the repair if you approve it. Rows marked “diagnostic first” are shown that way deliberately: we would rather quote your actual part after seeing the unit than publish a range wide enough to be useless. Veterans and seniors save $30, new customers save $20.

The practical arithmetic on a range hood is unusual, and worth stating plainly.

Because a basic under-cabinet hood is one of the cheapest appliances in the kitchen, a blower motor on a low-end unit can approach the cost of a new one — while on a wide wall-mount, island or professional-style hood, where replacement means matching a chimney cover, a duct transition and a wall mount, the same repair is obviously worth doing. The deciding factor is the hood, not the fault.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my range hood run but not pull any air?

Airflow rather than power, almost every time. On a ducted hood the usual causes are a backdraft damper stuck shut, loaded grease filters, a crushed or overly long duct run, or an exterior termination cap blocked with grease and lint. On a recirculating hood it is normally a charcoal filter that has never been changed, since that filter is what the whole system depends on and it cannot be washed.

The blower motor everyone suspects first is the least likely and the most expensive thing to replace on a guess.

What is a backdraft damper and how do I know if mine has failed?

It is a gravity flap in the hood outlet or duct, required by code, that opens when the fan runs and falls shut when it stops. It fails in two directions. Stuck shut means the blower is running against a closed door and moving nothing, which reads as a dead fan.

Stuck open means cold outside air, street noise and sometimes insects come down into the kitchen when the hood is off. With the filters removed you can usually watch the flap lift and drop as somebody switches the fan on and off.

How much CFM does a range hood need?

ASHRAE 62.2 sets the minimum for a user-operable vented range hood installed above the range at 100 CFM, along with a certified sound level of 3.0 sones or less.

The standard’s verification route is to compare the installed model against the Home Ventilating Institute directory of certified ventilation products rather than relying on the manufacturer’s claim, because box-copy CFM and HVI certified ratings do not always match. Larger cooktops and heavy cooking justify more, but 100 CFM is the floor.

Can a range hood vent into the attic?

No. IRC Section M1503 requires domestic cooking exhaust to discharge to the outdoors through a duct that is smooth inside, airtight, fitted with a backdraft damper and independent of all other exhaust systems, and it specifically states that ducts serving range hoods shall not terminate in an attic or crawl space or any area inside the building.

A hood venting into an attic deposits grease and moisture in the structure, which is a building problem rather than an appliance one.

Why does my powerful range hood not work well in a tight house?

Very likely make-up air. Where a home contains a fuel-burning appliance that is not direct-vent and does not use a mechanical draft system, the code requires any exhaust system capable of moving more than 400 CFM to be provided with make-up air at approximately the same rate, through a gravity or automatically operated damper that opens when the exhaust runs.

Without it a large hood is trying to pull air out of a sealed box, and it can reverse the draft on a water heater or furnace in the process.

What makes a range hood rattle or hum loudly?

Usually the blower wheel rather than the motor. Grease that has bypassed a loaded or missing filter builds up unevenly on the wheel, which puts it out of balance and produces a rattle or vibration that changes with fan speed. A loose mounting screw does the same.

True motor bearing failure sounds different: a constant whine or growl that gets steadily worse rather than varying. Keeping the grease filters clean is the direct prevention for the first cause.

How much does range hood repair cost?

We deliberately do not publish our own median for this: across 65,924 completed jobs in our records range hoods appear six times, and a figure built on six jobs would look authoritative and mean nothing. Our diagnostic visit is $99, applied to the repair if you approve it, and we quote the actual part once the unit has been seen.

For comparison on the replacement side, HomeGuide’s 2026 data puts a like-for-like hood replacement using existing ductwork at $300 to $850 and a new installation including running duct at $650 to $2,500.

Is it worth repairing a range hood or should I replace it?

It depends almost entirely on which hood you have rather than which part failed. On a basic under-cabinet unit, a blower motor plus the visit can approach the price of a new hood, so replacement often wins. On a wide wall-mount, island or professional-style hood, replacement means matching a chimney cover, a duct transition and a wall mount, so the same repair is clearly worth doing.

Filters and dampers are worth fixing on any hood, because they are cheap and they are what most complaints actually turn out to be.

Tell Us What the Fan and the Light Are Doing

Fan dead with the light working, or both dead, or the fan running with no pull — those three answers point at three different parts. $99 diagnostic applied to the repair, 90-day parts and labor warranty. Veterans and seniors save $30, new customers save $20.