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My husband and I are in a process of buying a newer home, built in 2008, in Houston TX. Its a wonderful house except..
We have already had an inspection and the inspector noted that the HVAC intake is right above the vent hood for the gas stove in the kitchen.
The kitchen is open to the living and dining areas(you know, the big open floor plans) but its basically right above the stove...maybe a foot over, and codes state it has to be "10ft from the vent of gas appliances" which is probably only 6-7ft above the vent hood.
I have the read that this can cause smoke, and worse, CO2 to be sucked into the air intake and circulated through the house.
How much of a concern is this really?
I would honestly rather have electric, but the kitchen doesn't have a 220 plug for one. Gas makes me very nervous(we had a gas leak in a childhood home) but the owner of the place doesn't seem to think we should be concerned and isn't offering to move the intake or put in an electric stove.
We would be willing to change out the stoves ourselves, the rest of the house is in great shape and is in a location we didn't think we could afford, but our realtor got us an "in" so to speak, so we don't want to just pass the house up.
The fact that there is a return AT ALL is suspicious. Why a return in the first place? Could it possibly be a supply with a return grill? Or could it be an access point for something?
Either way, I frankly don't think it's a return; and after 7yrs. and no deaths (that you're aware of), it's probably no much of a concern.
The fact that there is a return AT ALL is suspicious. Why a return in the first place? Could it possibly be a supply with a return grill? Or could it be an access point for something?
Either way, I frankly don't think it's a return; and after 7yrs. and no deaths (that you're aware of), it's probably no much of a concern.
Our inspector called it a "Return Air Chase"
I don't know if I attached the picture right...but I attached the picture of it from our report, whatever it is lol
Sorry, we know very little about this sort of stuff, first house and all. But we are learning!
All you're risking with the return location is distributing kitchen odors throughout the house. Kitchens and baths don't typically have returns for that reason, just exhaust fans
I hope you have several returns scattered around the house as the one pictured would be inadequate by itself.
If that is a return air grille then...Yes, it is a code violation- there are a few reasons: some stated above.
M1602.2 Prohibited sources.
Outside or return air for a forced-air heating or cooling system shall not be taken from the following locations:.......
....................4. A closet, bathroom, toilet room, kitchen, garage, mechanical room, furnace room or other dwelling unit.
Actually, knock on wood, nothing else on the inspection came back. And we assumed the same thing, so we got the roof, HVAC and heater all looked at as well. Nothing else came up but a few small things, this window needs a new lock and the drain pan needs to be cleaned.
I agree it is very ugly though, I want to at least change the vent cover out.
Did your inspector actually confirm this was the return for the HVAC?
I have seen some weird hack jobs for venting of kitchen ranges that were not the typical overhead vent exhaust fan. I saw a similar set up a couple years ago where they installed a return grill in the ceiling, but in the attic they had installed a exhaust fan over it. It wasn't connected to the HVAC system at all.
Like someone else said, return air can not be in a kitchen, per code.
Not only dumb but SUPER dumb. A high return in the kitchen will not only move odors around, if you do ANY frying it is going to coat the intake filter AND coil with grease. That means an insulative coating and reduced efficiency, more coil cleaning, and constant smells.
Frankly, I'd make it a condition of sale that the defect be corrected AND INSPECTED as well as the air handler cleaned and guaranteed for five years. Otherwise, I would walk.
I highly doubt it's a return vent. Do you know if the house has been treated for termites? The termite company may have had to cut into the ceiling to treat and instead of sealing the opening up, they put a grille on it that can be opened for inspection. If the house is EFL compliant, the grille may be there to adjust the air weight between the kitchen and another room. Considering when the house was built, I highly doubt any builder, even in Houston, would be so stupid as to put an A/C return in a kitchen. You might also ask if the home owner installed this thing. If so, he gets to fix it.
FWIW, this is a recognized fire hazard. Have a grease fire and this puppy will spread the fire like gasoline, IF it's an air return.
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