We've had this range hood for about 8 years, and like it very much. However, we've never had one of the more high-end models to compare to; our previous range hood was extremely loud but barely pulled any air in.

The normal speed for the Allure II isn't too loud; the highest speed seems plenty powerful when you need it, but sounds pretty loud. The delayed turn-off button is handy. It's very easy to clean the mesh screens in the dishwasher. The lights have three brightness settings, which is useful; we use them as a night-light in the kitchen sometimes. It's fairly unobtrusive compared to some of the other models we looked at.

Just realize that if it's quiet you're after, the Allure line is mostly about specsmanship. To get the specified low noise, you get an especially low speed that hardly moves any air. At higher speeds, the Allure is at least as noisy as any other hood. As long as you know what you're getting, these are fine hoods but not high enough CFM to get much interest here in what really is a high-end appliance forum. That's why you're not seeing many responses.

I have had the Allure III since 2003. Unlike nessas I've owned another hood before - a Kenmore $75 basic that was easily twice as powerful as this $300 lemon. I cook a great deal and a lot of grease goes up in smoke, between the wok and the searing.

My old Kenmore got grungy filthy but did pretty well, but was horribly noisy (surprise! - cheap fans get noisier over time, we've found). The Broan is quieter than the Kenmore at high speeds but not by much, and the cfm pull is pathetic. Unlike the Kenmore, grease now drifts sideways and lands on my side counters.

The trouble with the mesh screens is that even with regular DW cleaning, they don't trap everything and you can't clean the motor. And believe me, that thing gets REALLY filthy. It's basically made, I think, to be thrown away every 8-10 years and replaced.

So no, I wouldn't buy one of these again. It's a mediocre hood, as confirmed by Consumer Reports (which I should have checked before I bought this thing, I know). The lighting on it is excellent, probably the only good thing about it for the price.

I'm looking for one of these, too, and was considering the Allure III. I wonder if the newer ones are any better, jkom? What would you buy now instead?

The latest CR rating of vent hoods was three years ago. I doubt if any of the models listed are still available (I haven't seen them in my search).

Also haven't seen any of these things actually hooked up at a retail store, so there's no way to tell how well they work or how much noise they actually make. Maybe it's time for a field trip.

CR published a kitchen 'Planning and Buying Guide" issue in 2008 and gave some updated range hood test results. Not sure if you can find that issue anywhere, but if they do it annually the new one should come out soon. My 2008 issue says "display until June 30th" which means it must have come out around April or May, which is right around the corner.

My setup's a bit limited because I've got an upper cab I can't change out so I need as slim a hood as possible (for maximum height between the hood and the range). Much as I'd like quiet, smoke removal is #1 with me, so the two slim-profile undercabs that tested best were the Maytag UXT5430A and the Air King Vision VH1303.

If you can spare the 10 inches it takes to house the motor up inside the cabinet, the Best by Broan U1021 (others here have commented on how much they like their hoods in this particular model line) rated highest for both smoke removal and quiet operation. But it was also the most expensive!

Ok, if the Broan Allure series isn't very good then what is?

We are looking for a 30" wide, stainless under cabinet hood, 9-18" in height (we can adjust the cabinet height to compensate), externally vented range hood for $500 or less.

I finally called an actual B&M appliance store and had a conversation with a live person about vent hoods. This is what he told me:

1. Because ours will be venting directly behind the wall, it will be noisy no matter what. The only way to mitigate the noise would be to vent up through the cabinet and to the second floor (~15 feet up), which would be ~$1,000 job. The noise level would probably be about the same, high or low.

2. More expensive vents will probably not be any quieter for this reason. The cost is based on external styling; the same couple of companies make most blower motors.

3. Any vent that moves 400-500 cfm (this is based on the type of range we have and the size of our kitchen) should be fine for our venting purposes.

So there you have it.

Yes, venting directly behind will be noisier than venting upwards. Performance also suffers, and diameter of duct means a lot as well.

We have two PowerPlus burners on our range, which max out at 14.5K - well under what GE Monogram, Capital, Bluestar, etc., now offer.

The Broan Allure III is inadequate for my way of cooking, no matter what any salesman assured me (which they did). If I could get a Futuro Futuro in here, I'd do it, but I have very few uppers and can't afford to lose one to a chimney-style hood, unfortunately!

A large problem is what kind of stove do you have, and where will the most steam/smoke/grease come from? If you have your power burners in front, the Allure won't capture a good percentage of it because it's designed for the strongest suction to occur a mere 7" from the back wall.

It does a great job (on high) capturing heat escaping from the oven vents, which are on the back panel of my range. But no fan 7" from the wall is going to do a good job capturing steam/smoke/grease from a 12-qt pot on a front burner with a front edge over 14" past the exhaust duct.

It is basically a poor design, built for stoves that have no power burners or power burners located on the back instead of the front. Motors are not the problem; design is what makes a hood efficient at capture or not.

luclin999, if you didn't know before, you know no there is no shortage of opinionated people around here. You've heard from the "capture area is everything" contingent here. In my opinion, capture area is nice but CFM is more important. My Zephyr Hurricane captures quite nicely from the front burners, despite having what capture area fans would describe as inadequate. 695 CFM, around $400 or so, but only around 7 1/2 inches deep, so not as deep as you asked for in the other thread. Easy to clean, good lighting. Or look at similar Kobe models.

After attempting to research this for a couple of weeks, I think we're going to buy a 30" Zephyr Hurricane for 30" gas range. markw, if you happen to see this, how loud is yours? It sounds like you're happy with it.

harrie, I'm very happy with my Zephyr. At 695 CFM for $400 or so, it delivers great bang-for-the-buck. It was CR's top-rated hood a few years back, their only complaint being the lighting, which was upgraded and is excellent. Very easy to clean. My only quibble would be that there's no really low speed. You don't move 695 CFM silently, of course, but even the lowest of the three speeds isn't that low and although noise decreases, I would appreciate a lower speed. Kobe has something they call "QuietMode" that is a special low-noise low speed in a similar hood that would be another option, although I think Zephyr does a better job of making the grease cups less obtrusive - they're built in, don't hang down like they do on the Kobe. As I say, though, that's a minor issue - of course, silent would be good but for me the functionality is the main thing and that's excellent.

One review I read of the Zephyr said that the when you turn the fan off, the light goes off too. Can you have the light on without the fan being on?

If both light and fan are on and you turn the fan off, it turns the light off too. But yes, you can turn the light on and off by itself. The delay feature is nice, too - push the button and the fan runs on low for something like 5-10 minutes, then turns itself off. It's nice to be able to leave the fan running for awhile while sitting down for dinner, then have it turn off on its own.

Okay -- just ordered the Zephyr Hurricane from a local dealer. I hope it is sufficently superior to the Broan Allure III to justify the extra hundred or so bucks. There do seem to be more happy customers for it.

I was just remembering that in my last kitchen, I had a basic cheapie hood over the range that I rarely used. I didn't cook as much then, though.

I have the XOP pyramid shaped hood over my 30 inch Wolf rangetop. It's 600 cfm and that's plenty for us. I rarely use all 4 burners at once. I can see the steam and smoke getting sucked up even on low setting (it has 3 settings). The light is also quite bright, which I like.

Here is a link that might be useful: range hoods