du u keep the exhaust fan switched on throughout your cooking

I don't have to use the exhaust at all. Theres a window in the kitchen that tempts a lovely breeze nearly all day and night. :)

HI knihjtrider, my friend, yes, i keep my exhaust fan on all the time when i am cooking especially now a days as i am having a small baby who is just four months old. and when i cook things which are spicy she feels suffocated. sometimes she sneezes, sometime she coughs. so i am not at all comfortable in cooking certain things without keeping the fan on. otherwise i will cook item where there are no such vapours which give problem to my baby.

I usually only turn it on if I'm cooking something that smokes/steams a lot or has a strong smell like onions, cabbage, curry, etc and I don't leave it on long. I also sometimes open the window a bit to help.

I use mine everytime I use the oven to pull the heat out. I live in southeast Georgia and it's hot here in the summer. I can't afford not to use it if I don't want my air conditioner to grind nonstop. I'll start it on high while the oven is on then switch it to low for awhile after the oven if off. What I noticed is my gas oven seems to put out more heat then my electric oven did when I had it. The oven comes in handy in the winter though, it helps warm the kitchen and den while I'm baking and stuff. In the spring and fall I have a little window fan in my kitchen window. Those are the only times of the year I can have my house open.

yes i need to use it every time im cooking because the window in my kitchen is not big enough to suck the smell or smoke in my kitchen and if i dont use the exhaust fan the house smelly like hell.