As it happens, I am a sucker for the look of this one, too. And the price is really good.

I hope you get helpful information for us both.

If you're in the DC area, I saw one in the Sears outlet last week (behind Wheaton Mall)

Ikea at Sears Outlet? I don't get why they'd have this brand. But, too bad I'm not in the area; I'd jump at it.

Just came back from Ikea and taking another look at it (and listening to it). We picked up the brochure on the 5 year limited warranty while there so will see exactly what it covers.

400 cfms is weak. What range or cooktop will you have under it? 600 cfms is good for most purposes, but many people get more than 600 cfms if they will be frying or grilling often. Flat hoods do not capture as well as canopy-shaped hoods, but many people make that compromise because they want the flat-hood look.

The depth of 18-7/8" is shallow. More commonplace is 20" in this price range.

Does the encircling bar have a purpose, or is it decorative? As to the two bars on either side, I am not a fan of hoods with sidebars to hang utensils. The utensils may get in the cook's way depending on how long they are, but even if they don't, they may get greasy from being directly in the path of the exhaust. That's just my personal opinion.

I would also check out Costco. Every once in a while they have awesome hoods for a great price. And you'd have Costco's great return policy.

How did it sound, needinfo1? The nearest IKEA is 3500 miles away, so it makes this tricky for me to check out.

Yes, this is a retrofit in an older home where we used to have a downdraft. We do not want to go the make up air route (our state has quite strict guidelines about this), and we also have size constraints including width and depth. We lived with a wimpy downdraft for all of those years and have now been living without any ventilation for a month or so with our new AG range. We don't do a lot of frying or grilling. What we mainly want the hood to do is to draw hot air from the range out of the kitchen in the summer (the heat it puts out now in winter is pleasant).

I never did think about the cleaning aspect of having the extra pieces on the hood, so that is something to consider. Supposedly the top rail allows one to put spices up there, something I'd never do since this would be the worst place in the world for spices. I just like the look of the hood being a bit more decorative than most unless you get up into the mega buck price range.

Noise level didn't seem too bad in the store even when on high, but it definitely was noticeable on high. But, the problem as I understand it is that in the store they don't have all of that extra piping and ductwork that most people would have, and that can be the cause of the noise. So, I don't know how one really knows about this.

I very rarely shop there, but we are lucky that Ikea is only tem minutes away. In fact, I never would have even considered Ikea for a hood but saw it there a while ago when I stopped in to look for something else.

Thanks, needinfo. I just love the look of this one. Something about those bars really appeals to me.

Unfortunately, it seems the minimum height requirement is over 47 inches, which is way too tall for our short ceilings. Argh.

I really like the look of this and we're probably going to get it- we have no ventilation at all right now so anything would be a huge improvement. I haven't looked very much though, so I suppose I should!

>Unfortunately, it seems the minimum height requirement is over 47 inches, which is way too tall for our short ceilings. Argh.

Don't go by the ikea website, which is notoriously inaccurate. If you really like it, I'd check with ikea first, or ask someone at ikeafans.

Thanks, writersblock. I'll do that. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks, writersblock. I'll do that. Thanks for the heads up.

FYI that front panel is stuck on with DOUBLE SIDED TAPE! If you DO actually cook, the heat an moisture eventually cause it to pop up, making you use a stick to get at the buttons. Returning ours... not getting another.

We have been happy with ours that has been in for about 3 years but the method for changing the light bulbs isn't obvious. Mine needs a change now and if anyone has a suggestion as to how to remove the old bulb, that would be appreciated.