6 Best Ductless Range Hoods (Honest Picks, Filters and Running Costs)

A ductless range hood cleans grease and smell out of the air. It does not take away heat or steam.

That one fact decides whether the best ductless range hood is right for you. If you rent, live in a condo with no outside wall, or simply cannot cut a duct, recirculating is a real improvement over nothing. If a duct is possible, a ducted hood is better every time.

The short version: For most small kitchens, buy the Broan-NuTone GLA2303SS and add its HPF30 charcoal filters. It is rated at just 1.5 sones, it runs ducted or ductless, and you can add a duct later if you move. The one buying rule: match the hood width to your cooktop, then budget for new charcoal every six months.

What a Ductless Hood Can and Can’t Do

A recirculating hood has a fan, a metal grease filter and a charcoal filter. The fan pulls the plume from your pan up through the grease filter first. Then the air passes through the charcoal, which holds on to odor molecules. Clean air blows back out into the room.

So grease and most cooking smells drop out. Heat, steam and the gases from a gas burner stay in the kitchen, because there is nowhere else for them to go. A pressure cooker’s steam release shows this fast: the hood catches the smell, but the window still fogs. The Home Ventilating Institute puts it plainly: range hoods should be ducted outside, and high BTU gas cooking should always be ducted.

That is not a reason to skip a hood. A ductless model still keeps grease off your cabinets and cuts the smell that drifts into a studio’s bed and sofa. Our small-kitchen guide to range hoods and cooking smells covers the other half of the job, from window fans to lids on pans.

Our Picks at a Glance

• Best overall: Broan-NuTone GLA2303SSJump to review ↓
• Best true ductless for renters: Broan-NuTone 413004Jump to review ↓
• Best value wall-mount: Empava EMPV-30RH06Jump to review ↓
• Best wall-mount with ARC-FLOW Filters: Cosmo COS-63175SJump to review ↓
• Best warranty and speed control: ZLINE KB-30Jump to review ↓
• Best insert for custom cabinets: Cosmo COS-30IRHPJump to review ↓

Hood	Mount	Rated Airflow	Noise (Maker Figure)	Charcoal Filter	Runs Ducted Too?
Broan-NuTone GLA2303SS	Under-cabinet	350 max blower CFM	1.5 sones (working speed)	HPF30, sold separately	Yes
Broan-NuTone 413004	Under-cabinet	Not listed	3.5 sones	41F, one included	No
Empava EMPV-30RH06	Wall	400 CFM	Not published	ACC-YS22, sold separately	Yes
Cosmo COS-63175S	Wall	380 CFM	From 45 dB on low	CFK1-TM, sold separately	Yes
ZLINE KB-30	Wall	400 CFM, 4 speeds	51 to 61 dB	CF1, sold separately	Yes
Cosmo COS-30IRHP	Insert	380 CFM	From 45 dB on low	CFK1-TM, sold separately	Yes

1. Broan-NuTone GLA2303SS: Best Overall

This is the hood that suits the most people reading this. It runs ductless today, and it can be ducted through the top or the back if you ever get the chance. That matters in a rental, because the next kitchen may have a duct.

The quiet rating is the headline. One sone is roughly a quiet refrigerator, and the scale is linear, so 1.5 sones is only a little louder than that. Hoods are easy to leave off when they drone. A quiet one gets switched on, and a hood that runs is the only kind that filters anything.

Broan fits two dishwasher-safe micro mesh grease filters and three fan speeds with tap-touch controls. The LED lighting has two levels, and the hood is ENERGY STAR and HVI certified. For ductless use you add the HPF30 pack, which Broan lists at $44 for two filters and says to replace every six months.

At 5.9 inches tall, it also leaves room under the cabinet. That helps if you already organize your small kitchen cabinets right up to the hood line.

Who should buy it: Renters and condo owners who want a quiet hood now and the option to duct it later. It is also the safest pick if you are not sure what is behind the wall yet.

2. Broan-NuTone 413004: Best True Ductless for Renters

Broan built this one for kitchens with no duct at all. There is no damper, no vent collar and nothing to cut. It screws under the cabinet and runs on a 120-volt supply.

The charcoal filter does the heavy lifting here, so treat it as a running cost from day one. The 41F replacement fits Broan’s 41000 series, and Broan lists it at $24. Its own advice is to replace it every six months, or sooner if your cooking is greasy.

Keep expectations fair. At 3.5 sones it is louder than the GLA2303SS, and it only has two speeds. It is best over light cooking: pasta, eggs, a quick saute. For searing on a wok on an electric stove, it will catch grease but not the heat.

Broan lists it at $129 with a one-year warranty. It is ADA compliant, and the bulbs are not included. Smoky tabletop gear such as a smokeless indoor grill will test it, so run it on high for those.

Who should buy it: Renters on a tight budget who cook lightly and just want the smell gone. If you mostly use an air fryer under $100 and a kettle, this is plenty.

3. Empava EMPV-30RH06: Best Value Wall-Mount

Not every kitchen has a cabinet over the stove. Open shelving, a tiled wall or a window can leave you with bare wall. If you have swapped cabinets for vertical storage, this is likely you. A chimney hood like this one fills that gap, and Empava prices it well under most wall-mount hoods.

It comes set up for a 6-inch round duct, and it converts to ductless with the ACC-YS22 charcoal filter pair. That filter also fits Empava’s 30RH05 and 30RH07, so replacements should stay easy to find. Empava’s touch panel has a digital display and three airflow levels.

The curved canopy is more than a style choice. A wider, deeper canopy gives rising smoke a bigger target, which helps capture. For a ductless setup, capture is most of the job.

Empava does not publish a noise figure for this model. That makes it harder to compare with the Broan and Cosmo hoods, which do.

Who should buy it: Anyone with a bare wall over the range who wants a proper chimney hood on a modest budget. Empava sells it direct as well as on Amazon, and the price moves between the two.

4. Cosmo COS-63175S: Best Wall-Mount With Stainless Filters

Cosmo’s pyramid hood has been around for years, and Cosmo still lists it with retail links. The draw is the filters. It uses washable stainless steel stainless ARC-FLOW filters rather than aluminum mesh.

Stainless filters like these work by making the air turn sharp corners. Grease droplets are heavier than air, so they cannot make the turn and hit the metal instead. They also clean up well in a dishwasher and do not tear. In a ductless hood, that matters twice, because a better grease filter keeps the charcoal behind it from clogging early.

The ductless kit is the Cosmo CFK1-TM. Cosmo sells a set of two for $25 and says it lasts about six months with normal use. The same kit fits the COS-30IRHP insert further down this list.

Cosmo quotes its 45 dB figure on the lowest speed with rigid ducting. Running ductless changes the airflow path, so treat that number as a best case.

Who should buy it: Cooks who fry or sear often and want stainless filters doing the grease work. It suits an open kitchen where the hood is on show.

5. ZLINE KB-30: Best Warranty and Speed Control

ZLINE publishes a noise figure for every speed, which is rare. That makes it easy to see what you are signing up for. The lowest speed moves 120 CFM at 51 dB, which suits a pot of simmering soup.

Four speeds help more on a ductless hood than on a ducted one. You can run it on low for the whole meal without the noise wearing on you. Steady low airflow during cooking often captures more than a blast on high at the end.

It uses dishwasher-safe stainless stainless ARC-FLOW filters, a 3-minute delayed shutoff and two LED lights. For recirculating, you add ZLINE’s CF1 charcoal filters. ZLINE lists the hood at $386.99, and its warranty is the longest here.

Who should buy it: People who cook most nights and want a hood built to last. The fine speed control suits an open-plan flat where noise carries.

6. Cosmo COS-30IRHP: Best Insert for Custom Cabinets

An insert is the fan and filter part of a hood with no outer shell. You build it into a wood or plaster hood, or a cabinet box, so the kitchen shows cabinetry rather than steel. It is the choice when looks matter as much as airflow.

Cosmo’s insert uses two stainless stainless ARC-FLOW filters, push-button controls and two LED lights. The body is 430-grade stainless at 26 gauge. If gauge numbers are new to you, lower means thicker, the same rule as in our guide to which stainless steel sink gauge is best.

For ductless use, the hood needs somewhere to send filtered air. In a custom hood, that means leaving a vent gap in the surround. Plan this with whoever builds the enclosure, before the finish goes on.

Who should buy it: Anyone doing a kitchen refit with a custom hood surround. It is not for a quick rental swap.

Charcoal Filters: What They Cost and When to Change Them

Charcoal is the part people forget. It works by holding odor molecules on its huge inner surface. Once that surface fills up, it stops working, and washing will not empty it.

Every maker on this list sells the charcoal separately, except Broan with the 413004. Here is what the genuine filters cost from the maker, and how often they say to change them.

Hood	Charcoal Part	Maker Price	Maker’s Schedule	Rough Yearly Cost
Broan-NuTone GLA2303SS	HPF30 (2-pack)	$44	Every 6 months	About $88
Broan-NuTone 413004	41F	$24	Every 6 months	About $48
Cosmo COS-63175S	CFK1-TM (set of 2)	$25	About 6 months	About $50
Cosmo COS-30IRHP	CFK1-TM (set of 2)	$25	About 6 months	About $50
Empava EMPV-30RH06	ACC-YS22 (2-pack)	Varies by retailer	Check manual	Check before buying
ZLINE KB-30	CF1	Varies by retailer	Check manual	Check before buying

Broan’s 41F filter page says to replace it every six months, or more often if your cooking makes extra grease. Treat that as a ceiling, not a target. If the kitchen smells after cooking with the fan on, the charcoal is done.

Two habits stretch a filter’s life. First, wash the metal grease filter often, because grease that gets past it coats the charcoal. Our guide on how often to clean a range hood filter has a schedule for mesh and baffle types. Second, cook with lids on where you can, since less vapor reaches the hood.

Many grease filters can go in the dishwasher. If yours leaves a film behind, it may be time to clean the dishwasher filter too.

Why CFM Matters Less on a Ductless Hood

CFM means cubic feet per minute. It is how much air the fan can move. On a ducted hood, more CFM pulls more smoke out of the house.

On a ductless hood, the story changes. Charcoal is dense, so it slows the air down. That means real airflow in recirculating mode is usually lower than the number on the box.

Higher CFM also has less to gain. The air is not leaving the room, so moving more of it faster just stirs the same warm air. What helps is capture: catching the plume before it spreads.

Capture comes from three things:

1. Width. The hood should be at least as wide as the cooktop. A hood wider than the cooktop catches smoke from the front and edge burners.
2. Height. Your manual lists a minimum and maximum mounting height. Mount near the low end, since a closer hood catches more.
3. Timing. Switch the fan on before the pan gets hot. A plume that has already hit the ceiling is hard to pull back.

So a 350 to 400 CFM hood like the ones above is plenty for a 30-inch cooktop in ductless mode. Paying for 900 CFM mostly buys noise.

Under-Cabinet, Wall-Mount or Insert?

Your kitchen usually makes this choice for you.

Mount Type	Where It Goes	Good For	Watch Out For
Under-cabinet	Beneath a wall cabinet over the stove	Most apartments and rentals	Cabinet depth and the gap above the cooktop
Wall-mount	On bare wall, with a chimney cover	Kitchens with shelving or tile over the range	Ceiling height and chimney length
Insert	Inside a custom hood or cabinet box	Refits and built-in looks	The enclosure must let air back out

Under-cabinet hoods are the most common, and the cheapest to fit. If your stove sits under a cabinet, start there. Our full roundup of the best under-cabinet range hoods covers ducted models too.

Wall-mount hoods need clear wall and enough ceiling height for the chimney cover. They usually have deeper canopies, which helps capture. They also pair well with a freestanding or slide-in electric range, since the range sits flush with the wall.

An over-the-range microwave is a fourth option for tight kitchens. It doubles as a hood, but it usually captures less smoke than a real hood. We compare them in our guide to the best over-the-range microwaves.

Convertible Hoods: Ductless Now, Ducted Later

A convertible hood can run either way. You buy it, fit the charcoal, and use it as a recirculating hood. If you later get a duct, you remove the charcoal and connect the pipe.

Five of our six picks are convertible. Only the Broan 413004 is ductless for life.

For a renter, that flexibility is worth paying for. You can take a convertible hood to your next place and use whatever venting it has. For an owner, it means you can fit a hood now and duct it during a later refit.

One caution: a convertible hood running ductless needs the charcoal fitted. Without it, the air just gets blown back out, and only the grease filter does any work.

How Loud Is Too Loud? Sones and Decibels

Hood noise comes in two units. Sones measure loudness the way people hear it. Decibels measure sound pressure on a log scale.

The Home Ventilating Institute says one sone is about as loud as a quiet refrigerator. Two sones is twice as loud. That makes sones the easier number to compare.

Maker Figure	What It Means in Practice
1 to 1.5 sones	Close to a quiet fridge; easy to leave on
3 to 4 sones	Noticeable, but you can talk over it
5 sones and up	Loud; most people turn it off early
45 to 55 dB	Quiet low-speed range on many hoods
60 dB and up	Normal conversation level or louder

Noise matters more on a ductless hood. You need to run it through the whole meal, and a noisy fan gets switched off. In a studio, the hood may be a few feet from where you sit and eat.

Check the speed each figure belongs to. Makers often quote the quietest speed. ZLINE is one of the few that lists every speed.

Match the Hood Width to Your Cooktop

Measure the cooktop, not the cabinet. Then pick a hood at least that wide.

Many apartments have a 30-inch range, and all six picks here come in a 30-inch size. A 24-inch cooktop, common in compact flats, needs a 24-inch hood or a 30-inch one if the cabinet allows. Pairing a wider hood with a narrow cooktop helps capture, as long as it fits.

If your kitchen runs on a portable burner or a small induction plate, the same rule applies. Center the hood over where the pan actually sits. Our reviews of the best induction cooktop for the money and the NuWave induction cooktop cover those burners.

Ways to Help a Ductless Hood Do Its Job

A hood is one tool. Small habits make it work better. Clear counter space near the stove helps too, and our countertop organization ideas show what to move.

• Put lids on simmering pots. Less steam and grease reach the air, and a stockpot with a good lid makes this easy.
• Cook on the back burners. The hood covers them better than the front ones.
• Use less smoky methods where you can. An air fryer with the right oil makes far less smoke; see our guide to the best oil for an air fryer.
• Keep the air fryer clean. Old grease in the basket smokes, so clean the air fryer basket after oily foods.
• Run the fan for a few minutes after cooking. Many hoods, like the ZLINE, have a delayed shutoff for this.
• Wipe the hood and wall behind the stove weekly. Our guide on how to clean stainless steel pans works for hood shells too.
• Open a window when you sear or fry. The hood cannot remove heat, but a window can.

Cooking style matters as much as hardware. If you often cook a full meal on only two burners, you already make less steam than a busy four-burner setup.

Energy use is small either way. A hood fan and LED lights use little power compared with the stove itself. ENERGY STAR hoods like the GLA2303SS fit well alongside other compact Energy Star appliances for small kitchens. If you want to trim more, our tips on how to reduce kitchen energy use in a small apartment go further, and the most energy-efficient small kitchen appliances list helps too.

Grease buildup also draws pests. Clean filters and a clean hood are part of keeping pests out of a small kitchen.

Which One Should You Buy?

Start with the duct question. If you can vent outside, buy a ducted hood and use it that way.

If you cannot, pick by your kitchen:

• Cabinet over the stove, and you might move: the Broan-NuTone GLA2303SS. It is among the quietest here and converts later.
• Tight budget, light cooking, no duct ever: the Broan-NuTone 413004.
• Bare wall and a modest budget: the Empava EMPV-30RH06.
• Lots of frying or searing: the Cosmo COS-63175S or ZLINE KB-30, for their stainless ARC-FLOW filters.
• Custom hood in a kitchen refit: the Cosmo COS-30IRHP insert.

Whatever you buy, order the charcoal filter at the same time. A ductless hood without fresh charcoal is only a grease screen with a light.

Related Guides

• Best Under-Cabinet Range Hoods
• Small-Kitchen Guide to Range Hoods, Ventilation and Cooking Smells
• How Often to Clean a Range Hood Filter
• Best Over-the-Range Microwaves
• Best Compact Energy Star Appliances for Small Kitchens
• Vertical Storage Ideas for Small Kitchens
• Best Slide-In Electric Range

Frequently Asked Questions

Do ductless range hoods actually work?

Yes, for grease and odor. A ductless hood pulls cooking air through a metal grease filter and then a charcoal filter, and the charcoal holds on to many smell molecules. What it cannot do is remove heat, steam or the gases from a gas flame, because the air comes straight back into the room. It helps a lot in a small kitchen with no duct. It is not a substitute for venting outside when venting is possible.

How often should you replace the charcoal filter in a ductless range hood?

Broan-NuTone and Cosmo both say every six months, or sooner if you cook a lot of greasy food. Charcoal cannot be washed back to life, because the odor molecules stay stuck inside it. Budget roughly $50 to $90 a year for genuine filters, depending on the brand. If the kitchen starts smelling after cooking even with the fan on, the charcoal is probably full, whatever the calendar says.

What CFM do I need for a ductless range hood?

Less than most spec sheets suggest. For a recirculating hood, the rated CFM is a ducted number, and the charcoal filter adds resistance that cuts real airflow. A hood in the 300 to 400 CFM class is plenty for most 30-inch cooktops. What matters more is capture: a hood as wide as the cooktop or wider, mounted near the low end of its allowed height, running before the pan gets hot.

Can any range hood be converted to ductless?

No. Only hoods the maker lists as convertible or non-ducted can run without a duct. They have a place to hold charcoal filters and a way to send air back into the room. Convertible hoods need the maker's charcoal kit, which is usually sold separately. A hood sold as ducted only has nowhere to put the charcoal, so the air would just blow out of the top of the hood unfiltered.

Is a ductless range hood OK over a gas stove?

It will catch grease and odor, but it will not remove heat, moisture or combustion gases from the burners. The Home Ventilating Institute says high BTU gas cooking equipment should always be ducted outside. If you cook on gas and cannot duct, run the hood every time, crack a window when you can, and consider a convertible hood so you can switch to ducted later.