How to Measure and Replace a Vent Hood Filter

Hood filters are very easy to replace, especially when someone shows you how to replace them, but without a visual guide, it can be difficult to know what you should be measuring, and what to add in for margin.  Here's a few pointers to make sure you measure for the perfect fit.

Hood filters come in 3 types of material: galvanized, stainless steel, and aluminum. Before choosing what type of hood filter you want to get, you'll need to check with your local health code and health department to see what type of material you need to use.

If you have a showroom kitchen, you're going to want to check the filter every day for grease build-up. 

If you run a restaurant, you'll want to check for grease weekly (at a minimum monthly).  Depending on how much grease has built-up, you can judge if cleaning the hood filter would be best or if replacing it would be better.

Before measuring for a new hood filter, you should always make sure the baffles are aligned vertically to you.  If not aligned correctly, your measurements will be off.

The first number that you measure is the vertical dimension of the baffle, i.e. as the baffle is in front of you, measure from top to bottom.  Add in a half inch room for margin, i.e. if the hood filter is 16 inches vertically, you'll be looking for a hood filter that is between 16 1/4 to 16 1/2 inches wide. 

If you don't have a hood filter to measure from, you can also measure the opening of the vent where the hood filter goes, and add in an inch for your vertical measurement.  Again, you'll want to start your first measurement vertically as this is the way the hood filter will go back in.

When measuring the hood vent horizontally, again, remember to leave room for margin.  If the vent measures 24 1/2 inches across, you'll want to get a vent that measures 25 inches across - always go up with your measurements.