Is it worth the trouble to vent our range hood outside?
Yes, god yes. If you’re not venting to the outside, you might as well not have the fan at all. Unvented range hoods — every one I’ve ever used, anyway — have been worse than useless. (Worse because people think they actually work and they seemingly just recirculate smoke throughout the room. Maybe they do something to airborne grease when brand new, but I doubt it.) I have the hood running almost all the time I’m using the stove. Even if you’re just boiling water it keeps the steam from rising up and condensing on your cabinets/walls/ceiling (if the house is cold); if you’re doing anything more than that, it does wonders for the food smell and for keeping surfaces in your kitchen from getting coated in a layer of built-up grease over time. I do all sorts of cooking that I’d never previously done inside now that I have a place with a good vent hood, too. In particular I’ll do meat and other grilled foods on a
