# Smell of food coming through heat vents



## ben's plumbing (Oct 6, 2011)

NotAgain said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm a bit lost here. I have a 3200sq ft two story home and its 4 yrs old. The problem i'm having is, everytime we cook and the heat is on the smell of food blows right through the vent in all the downstairs rooms. This only happens when the fan is blowing heat through the vents. Second level is fine. It's been like this since day one. I had no idea that it was coming through the vents until I was sitting next to it today. As soon as it started blowing heat in, I could smell the food like I was in the kitchen.
> 
> ...


 without seeing my guess is someone installed return air vents in the kitchen.... which would circulate food smell through house via furnace blower


----------



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That would be my fist guess also. Return air vent to close to the kitchen.


----------



## msaeger (Mar 1, 2011)

What's wrong with that


----------



## ben's plumbing (Oct 6, 2011)

msaeger said:


> What's wrong with that


with what???


----------



## qbert (Mar 23, 2009)

I guess it is better than the bathroom


----------



## how (Feb 26, 2011)

Hey NOTAGAIN.
When the return air is situated too close to the kitchen, it sucks up that smell laden air and spreads it through the whole heating system and out the heating vents. If you have a number of return air grills around the home, you might be able reduce the size of the one that's closest to the kitchen. You can do this test with cardboard covering a portion of that return air grill but you need to be doing a temp rise test on the furnace at the same time to make sure that you are not causing your furnace too run above the recommended temps. . 
The other consideration is to make sure that the filter on your kitchen fan is not dirty and thereby not working properly. A more powerful fan may be the better solution if your filter is clean.
I mounted mine on the outside of my house so I could use what ever size I wanted with minimal noice in the kitchen.


----------



## NotAgain (Jan 12, 2012)

Thanks to all you guys for that information. It makes alot of sense and I will look into it. And thanks for the funny comments also lol.


----------



## Tator1076 (Dec 22, 2009)

Worst calls are going to homes were India people are cooking. You have that smell on you all day long


----------



## how (Feb 26, 2011)

Hey Tator1076
That's because you never invited my very British mother to live in a basement suite that shares the same venting system with the upstairs where I live.
Imagine waking up in the morning to the smell of Kippers & milk, followed by Tripe (cow intestines) being slow boiled on a stove for at least 6 hours and topped perhaps at dinner with some bizarre sweet meat that makes you wonder about mad cow disease. I dream of smells as benign as curry.


----------



## hvac5646 (May 1, 2011)

oiy

i'll stick with Greek cuisine thank you.


----------



## harleyrider (Feb 20, 2007)

Tator1076 said:


> Worst calls are going to homes were India people are cooking. You have that smell on you all day long


I would rather smell curry in my sleep for a month, over the rancid smell of cigarette smoke.......


----------



## Doc Holliday (Mar 12, 2011)

Tator1076 said:


> Worst calls are going to homes were India people are cooking. You have that smell on you all day long


 
That is one of the best smells IMO. 

And of course I love eating good Indian food. Had some last week, think I'll go again today now that we're on the subject. :thumbsup:


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

One thing you guys missed... maybe there is a mouse on the air side of the heat exchanger and he starts cooking when the heat comes on. ;-)


----------



## Sharan10 (Feb 3, 2021)

Tator1076 said:


> Worst calls are going to homes were India people are cooking. You have that smell on you all day long


lol. I am Indian but not from India and my home doesn’t smell bad. What smells bad is when my tenants cook and they are not India ☺


----------



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Maybe after 9 years they learned better cooking techniques. When I worked for an airline catering company we had to service a Saudi King's aircraft with food prepared in our kitchens. Our chef happened to be Saudi, so no problem. It took a week to rid the place of that gosh awful smell. I wouldn't have eaten it with someone else's mouth.


----------

