How to Make Your Kitchen Exhaust Quieter

Kitchen exhaust fans are great for keeping the air clean and fresh around your cooking area, but they can also be very loud. If your kitchen exhaust is so loud that it drowns out your conversation, you may need to perform some maintenance or repairs to fix the underlying problem.

Here’s how to make your kitchen exhaust quieter:

1. Clean your kitchen exhaust fan.
2. Lubricate the motor.
3. Straighten the air ducts.
4. Tighten the mounting hardware.
5. Insulate your kitchen exhaust fan.
6. Replace an old fan.

Let’s dive into the details so we can fix your kitchen exhaust together. I’ll discuss some of the most common issues that can make your fan louder. I’ll also guide you through each step you need to take to make your fan quiet again.

How loud should a kitchen exhaust fan be?

Most fans produce some level of noise, and that’s normal. However, if your fan is so loud that you can’t hear others talking about it, you may have a problem.

So, how loud is too loud? Well, that might require some background information.

The sound of a kitchen exhaust fan is measured in a unit called sone. The best kitchen exhaust fans generate somewhere between 4 to 8 sones of sound. In decibels, that’s between 27 and 58 dB, the standard volume of a conversation.

Depending on how loud your kitchen fan is, you may need to perform some maintenance and repairs or replace your fan.

1. Clean your kitchen exhaust fan

Kitchen exhaust fans are prone to dirt and buildup as they are located so close to your stove.

When oil, smoke, dust, and food particles enter your kitchen fan, the oil and moisture stick to its parts, creating large accumulations that can affect the fan’s volume and performance.

Since exhaust fans use a motor to turn the fan blades, these deposits can prevent the blades or motor from rotating, causing a clicking, knocking, or loud humming noise.

Fortunately, this common issue is one of the easiest to fix.

To clean your kitchen exhaust:

1. Remove the grill cover that protects your fan to open the interior lining.
2. Take out the filter and scrub it clean with warm water, dish soap, and baking soda.
3. Use a damp cloth and some vinegar or soapy water to wash the grill cover, interior lining, fan blades, and areas around the motor that have dust or dirt.
4. Use a toothbrush or the corner of your cloth to gently scrub the fan blades.
5. Use a duster or a fine cloth to remove any remaining residue.
6. Put the grill cover back in place.

Cleaning your fan is a crucial step to make your ventilation last as long as possible, and it can prevent dirt from clogging your exhaust fan. Additionally, it helps reduce the noise of your fan, so clean it about once a month to keep your kitchen a peaceful place.

2. Lubricate the motor

Every motor needs lubrication to prevent it from drying out and becoming stiff.

Kitchen fans require special care as they come into contact with so much moisture and other dirt that can absorb or melt the lubricant and cause it to detach from the metal components in your fan.

If your exhaust fan needs to be re-lubricated, you may hear a grinding, squeaking, or deep buzzing sound when you rotate it.

To lubricate your fan motor, you’ll need some lubricant. I always use this spray can of WD-40 (available at Amazon.com) to lubricate and clean my fan as it’s so easy to apply and lasts a long time. You can use the straw attachment to get the lubricant into the tiny joints of your fan, so you consume less product.

So, here’s how to lubricate your fan motor:

1. Remove the outer grill plate of the fan.
2. Clean every fan component with a damp cloth to ensure the lubricant adheres to your motor’s metal.
3. Spray or apply your lubricant to the junction where the fan meets the motor, and try to get some oil inside the motor.
4. Put the grill cover back in place.

3. Straighten the ducts

Kitchen exhaust fans use ducts to remove the air from your stove.

These long and flexible duct tubes tend to bend, kink, or get crushed in your walls or ceiling. In this case, your fan may become louder as it requires more pressure to push the air out of your house.

Depending on how accessible your duct hose is, you may be able to fix this problem yourself. If your fan’s duct is accessible in your attic, crawl space, or another area, the job becomes easy.

So, here’s how to straighten your ducts:

1. Turn off your kitchen fan.
2. Locate the duct hose connected to your kitchen exhaust in your attic, crawl space, or another area.
3. Check your hose for any kinks and bends, then straighten it and gently pull to make it straight.
4. Inspect your hose for any breaks and cracks to ensure it’s tight.
5. If you find any cracks in the duct hose, use duct tape to seal it back.
6. Make sure the connection between your fan and the duct tube is sealed with duct tape.

4. Tighten the mounting hardware

If your kitchen exhaust’s mounting hardware was not installed properly or has become loose over time, you may need to tighten some screws to reduce the noise.

If the mounting equipment is too loose, your fan rattles when you turn it on, often causing a rattling, vibrating, or clinking sound.

So, here’s how to tighten your fan’s mounting hardware:

1. Remove the outer grill cover of your kitchen fan.
2. Use a screwdriver or hex key to tighten any screws and bolts you see inside the fan.
3. Make sure the screws on the sides of the fan are tight as they connect the unit with your hood.
4. Ensure the fan blades are straight and firmly in place by trying to shake them slightly.
5. Attach the grill cover back.

If you find anything broken while tightening the mounting hardware, you may need to purchase a replacement part or a new fan unit.

5. Insulate your kitchen exhaust fan

One way to make a noisy fan much quieter is by using soundproofing to prevent the fan’s vibrations from making too much noise.

You can use materials like Sorbothane rubber or mass-loaded vinyl to add some shock absorption to your fan’s motor if you want to reduce noises.

I recommend using Noise Grabber’s mass-loaded vinyl (available at Amazon.com) or Isolate It!’s Sorbothane rubber with 3M adhesive (available at Amazon.com). Both products do an excellent job of soundproofing your kitchen fan and are easy to apply.

So, here’s how to insulate your kitchen exhaust fan:

1. Remove the cover of your fan.
2. Thoroughly clean the fan to ensure the adhesive sticks to your motor’s metal.
3. Cut your sound-dampening material into 1-inch squares.
4. Stick the sound-dampening material directly beneath the motor among the fan blades on the interior lining of your fan, making sure not to obstruct the edges.
5. Turn on your fan to make sure the sound-dampening material doesn’t get caught on the fan blades.
6. Make any adjustments necessary.
7. Replace the cover.

6. Replace an old fan

If your fan is old or broken or if none of these other methods work to silence it, you may need to purchase and install a new fan.

When looking for a new fan, look for the sone units listed on the packaging and try to get one that generates five sones or less when turned on.

Depending on the size and location of your range hood, you may need a different hood. However, I generally recommend the CIARRA CAS75918B Under-Cabinet Range Hood from Amazon.com for people with under-cabinet setups as it is incredibly quiet yet efficient.