Vent for Range/Cooktop

lornaschinske · 08-18-2012, 05:51 PM

Ventline V2215-2CW 115 Volt Exhaust Fan with Grille

Just got this installed today. We installed it in a "window" section that we had blanked out. I was a bit concerned that it needed a thicker wall (as in standard 4" stud wall) and thought we would need to build a frame to mount it on. No need. We knew we would be installing a thru the wall vent over the gas range so we used 1/2" thick plywood with a piece of metal veneer. I have a 1" thick piece of foam insulation in place on the interior. The backsplash substrate and ceramic tile has not been installed yet. With just the 1/2" ply wood & 1" foam board, I have a 3/4" gap with the interior vent cover screwed as tight to the fan housing as possible. If anyone uses this type of range vent, I would suggest that you drop it lower than I did. I have the exterior hinge at the top of the vent slightly UNDER the eyebrow of the window eaves. So we could not screw the top to the sidewall. No biggie. Just an FYI. The vent and the electric part of my gas range will be powered off the batteries using a small inverter. What I like about this type of vent is I can close it when not using the vent. The range hood vent in the Class C let cold air in during the winter because it was open to the exterior with only a grill that I finally added fiberglass screen to keep the NM roaches out. BTW, the white exterior vent section looks pretty good! The interior grill work is painted with a metallic silver grey paint with a clear coat. Not the colour I wanted but I really like this type of vent for a range. Nice vent for $54.50 Best price I found was on Amazon.

Down side is now I have no excuse for not cooking on the range anymore.

I was saying that it was too hot to cook inside. We had been cooking everything outside on the gas grill or in the microwave if it was too windy to use the grill. David tends to do all the grilling. We are having burgers on the grill tonight. Guess I will make au gratin taters on the stove top to go with.

bansil · 08-19-2012, 05:32 AM

Nice vent...so...how did it work?was it real loud?

lornaschinske · 08-19-2012, 08:15 AM

It's pretty quiet. Much quieter than the vintage fan on the Class C. Moves a lot of air but doesn't affect the flame on the burners. I'll take a couple pics. It rained yesterday so I didn't get any pics outside.

lornaschinske · 08-19-2012, 09:19 AM

No nasty comments on my unfinished galley! There was no way we were going to button all that up only to discover we had to build out the backsplash to accommodate the vent! BTW, my backsplash will be a standard 18" high. this will allow me to set things like my bread machine on the countertop. I will not have a hood over the range. The microwave will sit on a shelf above the range (just like it is now) with a light rail running under the shelf and cabinets to shield the under cabinet lights.

lornaschinske · 08-19-2012, 09:44 AM

BTW, yes my range is large. It is a standard 30" LP gas home style and is much more economical to operate than the 22" RV gas range in the Class C. I've had it a few years but not used it much as I was rarely "home". It bakes great.

I have a GE Profile with a glass top like this one (but without the continuous grate used on later models and the controls are configured differently). Expensive (in our opinion) but we got a fantastic deal since it was a floor display and the store was changing out their displays for new models. Downside to the unit.... black glass not only shows every drop of dirt and dust but will scratch from common use... I have to store the cast iron burners and flame diffusers in the pullout drawer as these things just sit on top of the burners... I have to come up with a way to lock the bottom drawer while traveling (long patio door bolt under the cabinets in the toe kick area that slides into the side of the drawer)... while the top burners can be lit with a match if no power, the oven burner will only light with electricity powering the ignition. This is why the range will be on the inverter and actually running off the batteries. Means I can bake while there is no power. Also if the power goes out while I am baking something, it will be unaffected.

keith · 08-19-2012, 09:59 AM

man ilike that vent ,but try to fine one is hard...what size metal did u use in the window covers to cover them ? i got a bird and want to cover mine..

thanks

lornaschinske · 08-19-2012, 10:56 AM

The vent is fairly easy to find. I was watching prices at several places. They tended to be.... MOBILE HOME PARTS
Do a search for the same model I used (Ventline 2215 Thru The Wall Exhaust Fan). Prices had a $30 range(high to low). It was the shipping that was the bugger. Amazon also charged me sales tax as well. Not every place sells the interior grill with the exterior vent/fan. So you may be buying two separate pieces.

Here's four to start you off...
http://www.discountmobilehomeparts.c...op/pid_188.htm
http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/Order9-exhaust.html scroll down
http://mobilehomepartsstore.com/Merc...tegory_Code=EF scroll down
http://www.starsupplyusa.com/catalog...l?catId=195652

The metal we used on the windows was a thick flashing we bought at ACE Hardware. It was the tallest (widest) roll we could find (This is how we did it). One roll covered all of our windows (19 whole side windows & 1 partial - shower stall window) plus blanking the rear windows. The flashing was much cheaper than anything else we priced out. We figure it should hold up okay since it is painted to protect from the elements. I only used 1/2" plywood in 3 of the blanks. All three have vents installed in in them (refrigerator, freezer and range) so we needed the plywood to screw the vents to. All the rest were backed with 1" thick foamboard.

According to my entry in my Costs spread sheet...
02/20/2011
ACE HARDWARE
Aluminum Flashing 24”H x 50 ft Long
$66.99

keith · 08-19-2012, 11:35 AM

thanks but i don't want to remove my windows,so i need to fine someone thats coverd over the window glass but yours look good,, thanks keith

lornaschinske · 08-19-2012, 12:43 PM

We removed the glass from the windows because we knew a coach conversion that buried the glass behind riveted sheet metal. The bus was hit by a falling tree branch during a storm. The metal covering got beat up a bit, nothing serious (a little bondo fixed it) but the glass behind the metal was broken. The owners (who did the conversion) said the rattling glass drove them nuts while traveling. When they were telling us all the things they would do different, removing the glass was very high on their list. I would hate to have a piece of broken glass wearing a cut/break in an electrical wire over time. But that's a personal choice.

browncrown · 08-19-2012, 02:10 PM

Great looking fan and installation

bansil · 08-19-2012, 05:38 PM

Could you remove the window..ugh glass part of an upper window,sheet metal replacement and install vent?
Window would be non functional,but it "looks" like it will fit.

lornaschinske · 08-19-2012, 08:43 PM

9.5" x 9.5" cutout is needed. ON OUR BUS....The space between the window frame (upper moveable panel) is 10". While the part of the vent that goes thru the "wall" would fit, the flange would be too far up into the roofline. The flange at the top (hinge part) is 1.5 or 1.75 inches above the top of the cutout (I measured but forgot what I measured yesterday). I marked the cut a tad too high and getting the fan thru the opening was only accomplished with a few choice 4 letter words and some very careful insistent pushing. If the cutout had been 1/8" higher, I would not have gotten the fan in place. I think if you tried to install the vent into the BB window panel, it would be too high up and you would not get the fan in. I would suggest you bite the bullet and pull the one window as the flange extends well past the cutout. I think you would have difficulty screwing the top and bottom part of the flange to the window panel(panel frame would cause problems).

I broiled fish in the range this evening. Fan sucked out the heat and scorched/burnt parchment paper smell (I line my pans with parchment paper). The parchment paper tends to cook to a blackened crisp in the broiler. Sure does make the pan easy to clean tho. Fish was yummy even if I did have to cook.

cschlessman · 08-20-2012, 05:25 PM

Lorna, it looks like you have the flashing mounted to the inside of the bus. How/what did you use to seal it?
Thanks Chuck

bansil · 08-20-2012, 07:13 PM

Ok stupid question(I hate bees tho!)
I notice that chain pulled and "latched" vent is closed tight.
When you "release chain does vent spring open or does the airflow keep it open?
Just curios....if I turn vent off,but forget to latch it,will it stay open...hate things that fly and sting me because I'm so sweet(says the wife who is a bee swisperer)

lornaschinske · 08-20-2012, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cschlessman

Lorna, it looks like you have the flashing mounted to the inside of the bus. How/what did you use to seal it?
Thanks Chuck

On the window blank? this is how we rebuilt the windows. Used lots & lots of caulking. more pics Just click on "NEXT". I think that are 10 or 12 pics of the window rebuild.

After placing the sheet metal in the metal frame, I ran a heavy bead of on the outside between the metal and the frame so the metal was sitting in the caulk when placed facing down on a flat surface. From the backside, I shimmed the metal tight to the frame and let dry. Once the caulk was dry, I removed the shims and used canned foam (Great Foam) to fill the space the shims had taken up. This gave me a glued in "shim" that filled all spaces and I didn't have to worry about it falling out. I also "glued in" 1" foam sheathing with a couple shots of Great foam. Worked much better than Liquid Nails (which ate the foam board .. a few boards turned loose). Once the foam boars were dry in place, the window blanks were installed with LOTS of caulk (1 tube per window). Once all that dried, I filled in the empty spaces between the foam board and the edges of the frame work with canned foam so secure the whole mess together. Excess foam was trimmed flush with the walls because we will be adding an full sheet of foam insulation (1-1/2") over the existing side walls and blanked out windows.

lornaschinske · 08-20-2012, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bansil

Ok stupid question(I hate bees tho!)
I notice that chain pulled and "latched" vent is closed tight.
When you "release chain does vent spring open or does the airflow keep it open?
Just curios....if I turn vent off,but forget to latch it,will it stay open...hate things that fly and sting me because I'm so sweet(says the wife who is a bee swisperer)

Open vent, switch released and fan is ON. Pull chain in and hook, chain pushes on switch, fan turns OFF. So far the only downside I have noticed is the fan cover wobbles and bounces in a strong breeze. We will need to add weatherstripping to the vent cover so that wind doesn't catch the cover while traveling down the road. I do not think we will need to stiffen the cover. I will watch it and add later what we find. We get 70 MPH winds here pretty often.

chev49 · 08-20-2012, 08:46 PM

As long the cover is closed tight, it will be fine when traveling.

cschlessman · 08-20-2012, 09:22 PM

Lorna, Neat job on the windows Thanks
Chuck

lornaschinske · 10-02-2012, 08:39 PM

It's been well over a month. Used the range top and the oven. We really like the vent. It's not terribly loud (much quieter than the RV range hood vent). No bugs trying to get inside, no rain coming in. Even with hard blowing rain, the vent cover is securely closed & sealed. We've had it opened (running)with blowing rain and winds, no problems. And it flat get's the cooktop/oven heat out of the bus. We've already had a few cold spells. During those times, we only run the fan while cooking on top of the range. We don't run it for the oven when cold (keeping all the heat in) unless we are over heating. I will update this later in the winter in regards to running the vent when we have the heat on. I don't think it will suck all the heat out of the bus, but I will report on it. I really like this vent so far.

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