I am having a new house built. What are the pros and cons of venting or not venting a stove vent hood. I always thought that you should vent the hood to remove excess heat and odors (and occasional smoke) from cooking on the stove. The other method would be to recirculate the vent. It will cost me $350 to have a vent put in. Not including the price of the vent hood.

Thanks for your expert opinions!

You are talking about the difference between venting and filtering, and that is huge. Venting is monumentally more effective in removing odors, smoke and anything else you might create on your range besides food.

Definitely worth the price (in my opinion) now and will pay back itself in resale if your buyer is at all interested in cooking.

Edited to add that we got a quote of $900 plus hardware to have our kitchen retrofitted with venting...