Range hood height comes from the manual for the hood you choose, over the cooktop that sits under it. There’s no single number that covers every kitchen. Two hood makers publish two different windows, and the two don’t line up. So pick the hood and the cooktop first. Then draw the cabinets around the number the manual gives you.

That order matters. Cabinets set too low for the hood’s required height, or a hood hung where it captures poorly, can mean redrawing the cooking wall. As a general rule, that’s easier to settle on paper than after the cabinet boxes show up on site.

What Sets Range Hood Height Above a Cooktop?

The manual for the hood model sets the number, measured over the cooktop beneath it. That maker’s window is the one written for its own hood. Other makers publish their own windows, and they don’t agree. Pick the hood and the cooktop first, then read the manual.

Consider one hood maker’s mounting height guide. It places an indoor hood 28 to 36 inches above the cooktop. That maker calls 28 inches the minimum, because any closer risks heat damage. So its window has a floor, and the floor has a reason behind it.

Then take a second hood maker’s install height guide. It says the majority of hoods go 24 to 30 inches above the cooking surface, measured from the cooktop to the bottom of the hood. That maker also says where the measurement starts.

Put the two windows side by side. One runs 28 to 36 inches. The other runs 24 to 30 inches. They touch in a narrow band, and outside that band they disagree. Pull a number from the first guide and it can fall outside the second maker’s window. That’s a reason to follow the manual for the hood you choose rather than lift a figure from either guide.

The second maker says as much: the number that matters is the one in your model’s manual.

Do Gas, Electric and Induction Cooktops Change the Number?

The second maker says gas cooktops sit toward the higher end of its window, while electric and induction can sit a touch lower. Island hoods go higher still. That’s that maker’s read on its own hoods. The manual for your hood and your cooktop settles the number, so check the pair together.

A hood over an island is its own case. The second maker says an island hood goes a little higher, 30 to 36 inches above the cooking surface, because the cooking area is open on all sides. So a wall plan and an island plan don’t share one number. If the cooktop is moving to an island, that maker’s figure moves with it.

Bring the cooktop model and the hood model to the design team at the same time. One without the other leaves a hole in the drawing, since the manual ties the height to the pair underneath it. A designer can check the number against both, and can flag it early if the two don’t work together above the counter. Paper is a forgiving place to find that out.

Do the Cabinets Above the Cooktop Limit the Hood?

They can. The first maker says that if cabinets sit lower than 28 inches above the cooktop, there’s no room left inside its window. Then something has to give, either the hood model or the cabinet height.

Guthrie’s post on what the cabinets around a range decide takes up the opening around the range itself, which is a different question from the one above the cooktop.

Picture a cooking wall where the upper cabinets were drawn first, at a height that matched the rest of the run. The hood comes later, and its manual asks for more room above the cooktop than the cabinets left. Something may have to move: the cabinet above the cooktop, the hood model, or the run itself.

Ask the designer to draw the cooking wall with the hood’s required height and the cabinet heights on one elevation. Seeing both on the same drawing can catch the conflict while it’s still a pencil line.

How Wide Should the Hood Be?

Not narrower than the cooktop. The second maker points to a hood narrower than the cooktop as a cause of smoke left behind, rather than the height itself. So narrow is the thing to avoid. The exact width comes off the hood model’s spec sheet, and that’s a number worth bringing to the design team.

Whether the air leaves the house or passes through a filter is a separate question; Guthrie’s post on whether a ductless hood will clear your kitchen air handles that one.

Settle the Hood Before You Draw the Cabinets

As a general rule, the hood model and the cooktop come first. The manual gives the height. The cabinets and the chimney follow that number instead of setting it. Work the other way around and the drawing can look fine until the hood shows up with a requirement nobody left room for.

Bring the hood model you’re leaning toward, the cooktop that’ll sit beneath it, the height the manual gives for that pair, and the cabinet heights beside and above. Those are the pieces a designer needs to draw the cooking wall once. Miss one and the elevation is a guess. It’s a short list, and it’s the difference between a drawing that holds and a drawing that gets redone.

Frequently Asked Questions About Range Hood Height

How high should a range hood be above a gas cooktop?

A second hood maker says gas cooktops sit toward the higher end of its window. That’s a direction, not a figure. The manual for your hood model gives the number for that hood over that cooktop, and it can differ from what any published guide shows. So read the manual before the cabinet heights get locked in, and check that the window it gives still clears whatever sits above the cooktop.

Can a range hood be mounted too low?

One hood maker calls 28 inches above the cooktop its minimum, and says anything closer risks heat damage. That’s that maker’s guidance for its own hoods, not a rule covering every hood on the market. Your hood’s manual sets its own minimum, and the figure may not match. Read it, then compare it with the cabinet heights you’re planning above the cooktop. If the two fight, one of them has to change.

Where do you measure range hood height from?

A second hood maker measures from the cooktop to the bottom of the hood. That’s the reference point behind its window of 24 to 30 inches above the cooking surface. Confirm the starting point in the manual for your own model, since the number and the place it’s measured from have to travel together. A figure on its own can’t be checked against a cabinet drawing, and a drawing is where the conflict shows up.

Can a hood hang lower over an induction cooktop?

A second hood maker says electric and induction cooktops can sit a touch lower than gas within its window. Can, not will. That’s a tendency the maker describes for its own hoods, not a promise about yours. The manual for your hood and your cooktop settles the height. A designer can take that number and test it against the cabinets you’re planning, which is the part that decides whether it works.

Will Guthrie help me plan the cabinets around my hood?

Guthrie’s Pleasant View showroom lets you see materials in person, cabinetry included, which helps while the cabinet heights are still open. The team can design and install a project, or provide design and product selection if you already have your own installer.

Bring the hood and the cooktop you’re considering to a consultation, along with the height the manual gives for that pair, and the cabinets can be planned around it.

Bring Your Cooktop and Hood to the Showroom

At Guthrie’s Pleasant View showroom, you can see materials in person, from cabinetry and countertops to plumbing fixtures.

Settling the hood and the cooktop first makes range hood height easier to pin down, because the manual hands you a number the cabinets can be drawn around. Guthrie’s kitchen remodeling page invites you to see materials first-hand, cabinetry included.

When the hood and the cooktop are settled, talk with Guthrie’s design team about your cooking wall.