Broan downdraft with external Fantech duct fan?

10 years ago

I'm renovating a kitchen and adding a downdraft hood to a gas cooktop. It seems reasonable that I could purchase the Broan 283603 without a blower, then purchase a Fantech FG8 duct fan to install inline in my crawl space. Seems that would be fairly quiet (instead of having the blower in the cabinet below the cooktop). Also, much lower price than buying one of the Broan external blowers. I'm making some assumptions that the Fantech could be wired into the Broan controls fairly easily. Anyone see any issues with that approach?

Comments (3)

kaseki
10 years ago
Ignoring the relative deficiencies of down-draft hoods, control compatibility is a "maybe." If Broan used a triac type control and the Fantech uses a straight-forward induction motor, and the Fantech is approximately the same power draw as the Broan fan, then they should be compatible. Other types of controls might also be compatible.

You may not want to experiment without first contacting Fantech to determine the FG8's compatibility with different control devices, and technical support at Broan to find out what type and rating of control is used with their hood.

kas
cookncarpenter
10 years ago
Agree with kas, it's the control compatibility that's key. For example, when purchasing my Prizer hood, I had asked if it could mate with an Abbaka remote blower. The answer was no, since Prizer uses three speed controls, and the Abbaka blower motor is variable speed.
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live_wire_oak
10 years ago
Not a good bet. From either the compatibility standpoint, OR the functionality of a strong fan sucking on a gas flame. If you've got to have downdraft (there ARE other options) then induction would be the better cooking source as at least it doesn't have a flame to be pulled to the side or pulled out.