It is cold in the cabinet above my stove. Any ideas why?

Question

I live in a rental apartment, on the ground floor, and I have a small kitchen, and the stove is against an inside wall facing the living room. The refrigerator is next to it (don't know if that makes a difference) and there are small cabinets above both the stove and the fridge. The stove has an air vent thing above it, and that duct goes into the cabinet above before dissapearing into the wall I am guessing. I use the cabinet above the stove to store nonperishable food items, and every time I reach in there to take something out, I get a blast of cold air. The only time it's warm in there is when I've been cooking and using the air vent thing. Does anyone know why this is happening? Is there anything I can do about this that doesn't involve my landlord, and is relatively cheap? Thanks.

Answer 1

It sounds like cold air is coming down the vent, likely from the point where the exhaust leaves the building (backdraft). I am guessing that this is a vent that does not use an exhaust fan?

I had a problem with my vent, in that I was continually getting everybody's cooking odors coming into my apartment. I could smell fish and garlic for days, so I blocked the vent by taping a piece of cardboard over it. When I painted the kitchen, I painted over the cardboard and nobody would know there is a hidden vent. I have no more problem with odors. Frankly, I didn't find the vent was that great for removing any odors from my kitchen, so I just open a window if I need to remove fumes.

But if you don't want to block the vent, then ask the landlord if he has any ideas. It might be something that is very simple to fix.

Answer 2

It sounds like your air vent thing is a vent to the outside. Cold air must be coming back down the vent.

One solution may be to have someone install a damper in the vent. The damper would open when you use the exhaust fan and then close when the fan is off. This should help stop SOME of the cold air.