Imperial 3-1/4" x 10" R2 Premium Range Exhaust Hood, White, VT0500

I bought this to install with my new Chef PS18 range hood. The existing hole in the wall from the old vent hood for this cap was already the same size so removing the old one and installing this one wasn't too difficult. This exhaust cap is a premium product, there is nothing cheap about. The metal is thick and the length of the square duct part of it that goes inside the wall is 10 or 12 inches, long enough to go through the thickest wall. I have regular 2 x 4 walls so I had to cut it down to the right length with a hack saw. The painted surface on the head has a good layer of paint on it and isn't easily scratched, it's was probably primed before being painted. The damper inside is also well balanced and opens easy with a little draft, and closes snug when there is no air flow. Since my new range hood also had an exhaust damper on it I decided to remove one of them so the exhaust fans didn't have to force two dampers open. I removed the one from the range hood and left this one for three reasons, one I wanted the damper as close to the outdoor exit as possible to keep critters out, two - if this damper ever gets stuck, I can easily work on it by reaching up the exit opening outside, where if the damper on the range hood got stuck it might be quite an ordeal to get to. Three - this damper was the better made and most likely to remain trouble free of the two. Some things that I would suggest to anyone installing one of these vent exhaust caps is to use the damper in this cap, and remove any other damper in the path such as one that may come installed in the range hood. I would also put a good layer of long lasting caulk or silicone around the inside of the the galvanized rectangle end of this cap where they join and this one slides over the rectangle piece on the back of the range hood. This will seal the two rectangle exhaust pieces together and prevent any accumulation of grease, smoke or other smell from accumulating in the wall.

TL;DR:This is hands down the best exhaust vent you can buy (especially over what’s available in the big box stores). The sheet metal is a thicker gauge than most vents and the weather stripping with weighted vent door makes this very good product. I highly recommend, if installing on vinyl siding, that you take the time to install it behind the siding. It will last for the lifetime of the house, (probably) maintenance free.Install notes (doesn’t include any instructions for the microwave - consult your manufacturer’s instructions):As others have decided to do, I installed this exhaust vent behind my siding. Overall, to complete the project, it added a day’s worth of work and $50 for tools & supplies.Check out the HouseImprovements YouTube channel for any questions on removing siding, cutting siding or installing j-channel. Note that this project doesn’t require window lap drip trim.1. Materials: Tyvek (housewrap) seal tape, Malco SRT2 siding removal tool, 1 1/2” roofing nails, 1/2” or 5/8” white vinyl J-channel (depending on your siding thickness, 1 1/2” wood or sheet metal screws.2. Tools: tape measure, hammer, razor blade, keyhole (manual) or reciprocating saw, extra long drill bit, speed square, pencil, aviator/sheet metal snips, 6” and 2’ carpenter’s level.3. Per your manufacturer’s instructions, mark out the interior dryall per the specifications. Designate the exact center of the rectangle once drawn.4. Drill a hole through the exact center of interior rectangle with extra long drill bit, taking care to keep the drill level and plumb.5. Remove exterior vinyl siding with SRT2 tool, as needed (3 rows, total: row with hole, above and below.6. Cut out the designated interior rectangle drywall, remove excess insulation, and install the microwave with wall vent adapter per manufacture specifications.7. Measure a rectangle on the exterior housewrap exactly 3.5” x 10.25” (1/4” tolerance above exact measurements), based off the exterior drill hole.8. Cut the Tyvek/housewrap per the exterior measurement above and cut out the measured rectangle with saw.9. Measure depth of exterior hole in wall to the base of the microwave wall adapter (not the lip of the adapter, but the edge that touches the back of the he microwave ).10. Reduce (cut) the exhaust vent shaft to the exact measurement as above with aviator/sheet metal snips.11. Insert wall vent into exterior hole, carefully guiding the shaft onto the microwave adapter. When set correctly, you’ll feel it lay freely and the back of the trim of the vent will lay flush with the wall. Secure with sheet metal/wood screws.11a. You can verify the adapter seated itself into the vent shaft by taking a photo with your phone inside the vent, with flash on, as shown in the attached photo.12. Tape the trim of the vent, covering the screws, with housewrap seal tape, starting with the bottom, then the sides, then the top. Conservatively overlap all edges with each previous piece of tape (as shown in the attached photo).13. Cut and attach J-channel to all sides of the vent trim, covering the trim completely (including screws).14. Tape the top j-channel piece, covering the screws. Build up additional tape layers by two, for a total of three taped rows.14. Trim siding as needed and reinstall.15. Turn on microwave exhaust fan to verify functionality.Overall experience:Honestly, do yourself a favor and don’t cheap out. There’s a reason you’re looking for this vent - you recognize the problem with cheap, readily available materials at the big box stores. Take the time to do it right and you’ll have a great, leak-free experience with this wall vent for the lifetime of the house (or at least the microwave). Hopefully you’ll even have your wife say “Wow, that looks like it was always there!”.I will update this review after I have a chance to test its functionality and durability

This vent assembly was exactly what I needed for my application. Very well made, sturdy and was long enough to customize my installation. I bought a new home and the option for a through the wall kitchen range hood option was $995.00….I knew it was an easy install because my kitchen was on an outside wall.The builder uses GE range hoods. They all are made to be a top vent top , rear or recirculate w/o any exterior venting. In this case I did the rear vent so I did not sacrifice the cabinet above the range. It is a straight shot outside with no obstruction on the exterior of the house.I did have to contact GE to get the damper assembly for the back of the range hood. Once I received it I installed the damper, I had to measure the vent depth from the outside wall to the back of the range hood.Luckily the vent assembly was plenty long enough for me to cut and fit it exactly to the depth I needed.I cut about 2 1/2” off and cut multiple 1/2 depth around the vent duct so I could slightly flare the duct so I could fit it to the damper on the back of the range hood.My range hood comes with a stainless steel filler assembly that is 30” wide and 3 inch depth to fill the gap between my hood and the wall, so I was working blind on the connection of the duct to the range hood.I was working alone so I set up a ledger board on the rear wall and set the hood on the ledger board to hold the rear of the hood while I slid the range back into place AND Bang a it was perfect fit.The only negative thing I would say is, I wish it had an integrated “bird screen “ to keep potential bird or insects From entering the home through the duct.It took me all of about 2 hours to install this unit. Heavy duty materials and very well made,Purchased on Amazon , would recommend this vent use.

I have a mobile home and the microwave vent was warped and not closing - this is a perfect fit , comes with tabs to close the door in winter, door works well, easy to install, no more drafts