At Home with Lisa: Cleaning your range hood

Since I moved into my house, I’ve been doing a lot more cooking. Before the pandemic, I even hosted my first Thanksgiving.

While cooking that meal and many others, the fan over my stove was working double-time.

What I didn’t know was that you should clean the range hood filter often: grease can build up on them and like so many other appliances, dirty range hood filters make the fans work harder and use more energy. Once I took a good look at my hood range, I noticed a note that recommended cleaning the filters once a month, but some websites I looked at said once a year if you don’t do a lot of cooking.

Not only does a dirty hood filter make it work harder, but it also poses a fire hazard, can attract pests and it may not work as well.

I haven’t cleaned my filter since I moved in, so I looked up how to do it online. There are many suggestions of the right cleaner to use. I saw OxyClean, dishwashing pods, salt, baking soda and vinegar, and just regular dishwashing liquid. I used the liquid since that’s what I had at home.

It was easy to remove them from the hood—I had little tabs on the end and gave them a slight tug.

Fill your sink with very hot water. Some of the videos I saw online used a kettle to boil the water, or they set up a flat pan and heated the water on the stove before dunking the filters. Add the detergent and let your filters soak for about 30 minutes.

After that, make sure you give them a good scrubbing with a non-abrasive brush. Give them a rinse and let them dry completely.

Once clean, you can pop them back into their hood and enjoy cooking another meal.

Lisa, an Avista customer, bought her 1910 house because she loved the old-world character, some of which doesn’t make her house very energy efficient. Lisa is sharing her experience on taking some simple do-it-yourself improvements to inspire others to do the same. You’ll find her stories right here every Tuesday.