A range hood is not a plug-in afterthought. It is a listed motor and light on a kitchen circuit, sometimes a microwave-hood combo with a much larger draw. In a San Diego remodel the circuit has to exist before the cabinets close. Bright Pro Electric matches you with a licensed electrician. We do not hang the hood.
Cabinet layout and the rest of the kitchen circuits sit on kitchen electrical remodel. This page is the hood circuit.
Read the nameplate, not the box art
Copy voltage, amperage, and whether the unit is hardwired or cord-and-plug from the listing. A slim under-cabinet hood and a 30-inch microwave-hood combo are different loads. Do not land a microwave combo on a lighting circuit because the old hood was a two-wire switch loop.
Some listings want a dedicated circuit. Some allow a shared small-appliance run. The sheet wins. This page does not invent a countywide amp number.
Make-up air, duct routing, and the hood body are not electrical scope. The electrician lands the circuit and the switch or the listed receptacle. If the walls are open, ask whether that run is cable or conduit.
Older Lemon Grove and National City kitchens often have a switched lighting lead in the hood cabinet and nothing else. A microwave combo will not live there without a new circuit. Newer Carlsbad and 4S Ranch kitchens may already have the receptacle. Measure.
A 20-amp kitchen breaker that trips when the microwave-hood and the toaster overlap is a load problem on that run, not a reason to upsize the breaker.
Permits
A new hood circuit is permit territory. City of San Diego Development Services publishes a Simple permit at $176.57 for adding the first five 15- to 45-amp circuits. Unincorporated County electrical-only is $392 on PDS-613 effective 07/10/2026. Other cities use their own schedules. The electrician pulls the permit when that is in the written scope. Bright Pro Electric does not.
Like-for-like replacement of a listed hood on the same circuit can be a different question. Confirm with the office for the address.
The 2025 California Electrical Code took effect January 1, 2026. Check the contractor on the CSLB license lookup.
This page does not publish a hood-circuit labor figure.
Frequently asked questions
Does a range hood need a dedicated circuit?
Only if the listing says so. A microwave-hood combo often does. A small under-cabinet hood sometimes shares. Copy the nameplate.
Can the hood share the under-cabinet lighting circuit?
Usually a poor match. Lighting and a motor on one switch is how people lose the lights when the hood trips. Ask the electrician.
Who pulls the permit?
The electrician, when the contract says so. Owner-builder filings exist in the City of San Diego. Hired electrical work still needs a licensed contractor for most installations.
When to call us
Call when the hood is on order and the cabinet date is real, or when a microwave combo killed a kitchen circuit. Call (858) 988-5580. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm. After hours, leave a message on the contact page.