cold air coming in from new range hood

[onepixel]

Good afternoon all,

Yesterday I had a range hood installed in my new house. I can feel cold air coming in from the filter area. Is this supposed to happen? It is a lot of cold air coming in and I can't imagine this is right.

[MacGyver]

The backdraft damper is either stuck open or missing completely. It gets installed on the top of the hood outlet.

[onepixel]

Thank you, I will take a look and see if I can see it. I just googled it after you kindly suggested that so I know what it looks like lol I will let you know.

[CSK'sMom]

Yep to what MacGyver said. Probably a cheap, crappy vent fitting on the outside as well...

[sunnybono]

I had the same problem about 3 weeks ago when I had all the exhaust fans running (due to extreme condensation) in the house for a long period of time. I noticed a cold draft coming thru my kitchen exhaust fan too. I installed it myself and yes the damper was installed correctly, but I realized afterwards that due to the other fans running for hours, it caused the the backdraft in the exhaust fan. I guess these newly built houses are built very tight!!!

sk

[dgmorr]

Make sure the louver on the exterior of the house is caulked around the edges too.

[YeemJeem]

I don't get cold air but weird disgusting smells from my neighbor's cooking. Greedy builder only gave us a 4 foot gap inbetween our houses and both of our kitchen exhausts vent out there. Thinking of installing a good damper like this one and hopefully that would get rid of the problem.

http://www.aeroflo.com/bdraftlg.jpg

[jumacher]

There could be two things causing the cold air coming in.
1- The pipe venting to the outside might not have expandable foam insulating the gap, therefore the cold air will get in through the space between the wall and the pipe.
2- The cap for the outside vent used may not have a spring loaded lid. This lid has a light tension spring that shuts it tight to keep cold air from coming in when the fan isn't used. When the hood is activated, the presure generated by the fan is enough to push the spring and open the lid to let the exhaust out.
Take a look outside where the vent is. If you don't see a gaping hole around the vent, most likely it's a vent without the spring loaded lid.
Good luck!

[onepixel]

Just thought I would update you on my cold air issue. I noticed on the outside wall there was nothing attached so cold air was just rushing in. I contacted the builder and they put the correct outside attachment on and everything seems good so far. I have not had a good look yet due to the snow outside but will check it when I can.
Thanks for all the help.