Nutone Outdoor Cover -- What's It For?

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rp2813

rp2813

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I noticed this thing on the exterior of a charming little 1941 house we're hoping to win (everything involves a bidding war around here).  My phone's camera wasn't able to capture it, but it says "Nutone" on it in raised lettering.  I estimate it to measure about 12" square.  I can't reach it without a ladder, as there's shrubbery below it that impedes access.

 

This is near the top of the kitchen's exterior wall below the eave, and although it appears to be hinged at the top, it seems too big and heavy to be a flap for an exhaust fan.  Inside the kitchen it's covered by a cabinet.  I don't know if the stove was originally located on that same wall.  The kitchen was remodeled a few years ago and the cooktop and oven are on the opposite wall from where this thing is located, and there's an exhaust over the cooktop that vents through the roof.

 

Any ideas on what purpose this might have served?

rp2813-2018031116151008861_1.jpg
 
that's a regular Nutone thru-the-wall stove vent

it had a pull chain that hung down and clipped in place to keep it closed.....but if you released the chain, it would also trigger a switch for the fan, and open to what you needed for venting....basically you could control air flow...

the nice thing about it, no flapping vent and whistling from high winds, no chance of pest coming in when closed, and it seals shut tight when closed....
 
Thanks Martin!

 

So it wasn't necessarily meant to be a stove exhaust, but just a general exhaust fan for the kitchen?  I guess the mechanics are long gone with a cabinet up there now.

 

Would it have been original to the home in 1941?  These were very well built homes, and even had forced air heating systems.  It's just a 1360 sf 2-BR 1.5BA, but has much nicer treatments than the mass-produced post-war stuff, which is what the majority of this area consists of.

 

I've provided a link to pictures and virtual tour (tour show more and is best viewed with touch screen, but still works without one).  Brace for sticker shock!

 
yeah, I would say a standard fan for exhaust of just about any area....

I have one in the city house, built around 1950, mine has the spring loaded flapper vent...not exactly a tight sealing fit....and not sure these did the best job versus a hood...granted the screen does get grease on it...so it must be pulling something through it...

I have seen this type of unit in a number of locations....

we had them in the darkroom at school, and in the locker rooms.....

best one I seen was in a residential bathroom near the ceiling.....probably one of the best and effective exhaust fans for this arrangement....it could clear out steam very fast...
 
I suggested to my brother that one of these be installed beside the toilet on the outside wall of his bathroom to muffle noise and whisk away odors.

Some of these had quite nice inside grills. Air-O-Pel was another brand name in this genre of ventilators.
 
I guess the grill is long gone.  I wonder if/how they patched the opening.  I'm not going to remove the cabinet to find out.  If I could reach the flap, I'd have checked to see if it moved.  I have a feeling it was sealed and painted shut. 

 

I'm going to check out other homes in the neighborhood to see if they have these flaps.  Since they'd have had to match the siding, it could be they chose to leave the flap in place instead.

 

These Nutones must move more CFM than their Air King counterparts.
 
I Wish the Nutone Was Still There!

How good are the systems that incorporate the exhaust unit into the microwave?  Do the CFM specs vary much between manufacturers?  It looks like I'll be stuck with that type of system unless a hood would fit right into the space if the microwave were to be removed.

 

We just accepted an offer on our place today, so it's time to get moving, so to speak.  The plan is to end up with about the same mortgaged amount that we have now.   The interest rate could be as much as 1% higher than on our current loan, but we can manage that since we'll be re-setting the clock at 30 years.    We can take our Prop 13 tax rate with us.  That's the only way we could even consider moving.  This is all because Dave's mobility issues are only going to get worse, and he's opting for a wheelchair more than he used to.  We need a one story house that's ADA-friendly and is easier for me to keep up.

 

I'm not thrilled with the all-GE kitchen appliances, but will have to deal with them until I know what else can be done.  Originally, these homes had gas stoves, so there's piping for it somewhere.  If I can get a kick-ass gas cook top in there without too much trouble, that will be the first order of business.  That's if we don't get blown away by much higher bids.

 

 
 
I can only say that the exhaust system that came with our over-the-range Maytag microwave (pre-Whirlpool takeover) is just marginally effective. Better than nothing, to be sure, but noisy and not very powerful.

I figured all remodeled California homes would have gas ranges and cooktops, considering the electric rates and rate structure in the Golden State, which heavily penalizes anything more than the lightest usage.
 
A long story--Lots of long stories on those FANS:

My parents' house as well as the next three houses on our block & seven houses across the street, and even seven houses behind them around the block on the next street had those fans--and I would ride my bike past them guessing which were "open" and which were "closed"--even slowly riding by on the side walk saying it to myself...

(Later, wonder if this guy riding on a ten speed in the street was saying "open", "close" mimicking me, but maybe it was my imagination--he could have been singing to himself on the newly-introduced Walkman)

I remember my mom first turning hers on "when she burned the cauliflower", so I asked my grandmother & even her sister, my great aunt... Of which, grandma "just opened a window", while my great aunt had a neat exhaust fan system over a built-in oven that she used--come to think of it, she might have even had a Roper Charm or Sears Kenmore equivalent--I don't remember what her stove/cook top/oven set-up was like--and her house when I'd last been in it, sort'a changed, even having a stackable washer & dryer as her only laundry--and I during the demonstration just bashfully gave out an "Oh, Wow!!!!"...

Our fan's chain broke--and I didn't have any clue how pulling it, much like how you simply pull a window shade, turned it on and off, so with that misunderstanding, had my mom probably routinely showing me, and enough to wonder if that is how it broke, and in-turn easily understood, how all those others might have fallen into similar disuse, as I never saw another Nutone door open, ever again...

A few other hoses have a duct sticking out which is not a door, just a simple-downward-turned vent, while I would otherwise just see a fan recessed right into the ceiling, often wondering if there were no wall switch how it turned on (I think one friend of mine's mother turned it on with the same switch that turned the light on over the kitchen sink--I remember both of those things being on)... (My sister playing house, once just said "oh, there's a STRING (well, really a chain, with a string--I was that technical about it) you pull--and of course, had never seen such on any of those fans... I believe she "burned something on the toy stove & turned hers on that way")...

-- Dave
 
Electric Rates

The city of Santa Clara operates its own electric utility, and its rates are much cheaper.  Back when we had the overloaded grid and brown-outs, electric service in Santa Clara was humming right along.

 

I don't like the bickering that has been historically a part of how things get done on the City Council there, but in spite of that Santa Clara is a well-run city.  Streets are paved and smooth, and I think the city takes care of sidewalk, curb and gutter repairs as well as street tree maintenance and removal, if necessary.  That would be a welcome change from where we are now.
 
Thanks Tom.  I'm hoping we don't have too much competition since it's too small to be a family home.

 

If the offer we present tomorrow is accepted, we're going to have to scale waaaaay back on almost every household level, but it's time to simplify.
 

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