How to Install a Cooktop Vent

Remove the screws that hold the fan assembly, light and filter inside the vent hood. Pull out the fan, light and filter and set them aside.

Hold the hood in position over the cook top and trace on the wall the hole for the duct opening and electrical wiring in the back of the hood. Set the vent hood aside and drill a hole where the electrical wiring tracing sits on the wall.

Turn off the power to the kitchen at the house’s electrical panel. Pull the electrical wiring from a nearby junction box through the hole you drilled in the wall.

Drill a hole in the perimeter of the duct’s tracing. Insert a jigsaw’s blade into the hole you drilled and cut along the lines of the tracing. Cut all the way through the exterior of the house.

Insert the duct cap into the hole on the exterior of the house. Drive mounting screws through the holes on the perimeter of the duct cap. Apply silicone caulk to the edges of the duct cap.

Strip two inches of the insulation off the wires coming out of the wall. Feed the wires through the opening in the hood’s electrical box. Twist the same-colored wires together clockwise and twist wire nuts clockwise onto the twisted wires.

Hold the hood in position again while you drive screws through the mounting holes in the back and sides of the hood and into the wall and cabinets. Replace the hood's filter, light and fan assembly, tightening the screws you removed to hold the parts in place. Turn on the power to the kitchen at the house’s electrical panel.