The KitchenAid Commercial-Style KXU8030YSS is really good because it is one inch deeper than the deepest model of most companies, has a 600 cfm internal blower, baffle filters and it is only $859 right now.

Here is a link that might be useful: LINK

Vent a Hood makes a 9" high Excalibur for under-cabinet applications. It is only 21" deep and has a unique blower system you could read about elsewhere.

The hood is beautiful and cost $1362.

IMO Modern-Aire is the top rangehood company out there in terms of performance with really good aesthetics. They used to make under-cabinet models in the same price range as VAH but I don't see them on there website anymore.. Maybe you could give them a call and see if they still do if you are interested in a hood in this price range.

Modern-Aire Ventilating, Inc.

7319 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA. 91605
Office 818.765.9870 Fax 818.765.4916
Outside California 866.731.2007

Here is a link that might be useful: Excalibur

Thank you so much for that helpful information!

I like my Kobe. Quiet and powerful, 720 CFM max, and can be used with 6", 7" or 10" vent. I had to order mine from ventingdirect.com (there are other good sources online as well) because there were no Kobe dealers anywhere near here.

I like Kobe quite a bit.

All the ones I saw that were under-cabinet were only 22" deep. Not good for venting front burners.

The Kobe CH00 Series CH0030SQB1 can be used as an under-cabinet hood by ditching the duct cover. It is 24" deep and has a 760 cmf blower. It is $1139.

Here is a link that might be useful: LINK

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I've been looking at the Zephyr line of range hoods. I especially like the typhoon model. The sleek design is appealing, but they seem to have mixed reviews. Do you guys know anything about those hoods? Do you know if the self-cleaning function really works?

A friend of mine has a Kobe with those oil cups like the Typhoon.

Self-clean involves you spraying the hood with degreaser then waiting for the degreaser/grease to drip into the oil cups then you cleaning out the oil cups.

Much more effective and not much if any extra work is to simply pop out baffle filters and place them in dishwasher.

Plus that Typhoon is only 21" deep.

Rarely if ever are "sleek" and "effective" used to describe the same hood.

Why is a 21" depth a negative on a 24" countertop? It seems like a deeper hood would be a nuisance and perhaps even unattractive. I assumed the whole purpose of paying extra for a strong fan was to make sure the vapors would be captured and expelled. Can you help me understand why it's difficult for a range hood to look good AND be efficient at the same time?

The grease and vapor rising from the cooktop is like a cone. The front burners are going to have a cone that rise and expand at least to the depth of the counter, 24".

I have a 24" deep hood. I can tell you for a fact that it is not a nuisance.

The cfm from a fan is one factor in expelling vapors and grease from a kitchen. The capture area of the hood is even more important. If you had a 2" x 2" range hood with 3000 cfm it would not expel most of the vapor and grease. If you have a 42" wide by 30" deep hood over a 30" cooktop with 100cfm it would be much more effective at removing grease and vapor than the previous small hood. Here is a little post from our residential engineer hood expert Kas.

"Suction at the cooktop is not the principle that is in play in capture and containment. There is some weak air flow from the hood at the cooktop that does tend to follow an inverse distance law (perhaps 1/R^2, but I don't have time to pull the ASHRAE handbook right now to estimate the functional).

Hoods capture rising effluent from cooking surfaces because the effluent is rising. This is due to the high temperature of the surface and that hot air rises. The rate of rise is substantial, about a meter per second. Internally in the hood the flow has to be high enough to keep this air from "bouncing" off surfaces such that it curls down into the room and escapes containment.

Hoods mounted higher from the cooktop surface have to be larger to capture the same amount of effluent because the effluent expands as it rises. They will likely need to have proportionately larger flow to avoid the bounce problem, depending on their internal design.

With enough flow rate, the zone over which the hood can capture the effluent can increase slightly larger than the hood aperture, but this increase is small because the velocity of the air flow outside the aperture lip decreases rapidly with distance and the effluent velocity of a meter per second will dominate the air direction.

Higher hoods are more susceptible to cross drafts interfering with capture, but this is a problem, particularly with island hoods, no matter what the distance."

Most people believe the bigger the hood the more unattractive. That is why it is difficult to have a hood that is both attractive and efficient. For efficiency you want a larger hood. For looks most people think smaller looks better. Some people with dramatic views from an Island don't use a rangehood. Instead they cook wit little to not grease, paint their kitchen every once in a while or just live with the grease on their walls, cabinets, and ceilings.

I have the Zephyr Hurricane over a GE induction range. It works beautifully--no cooking smells, ever, (kind of amazing after living with a useless OTR microwave) and it pulls the steam/vapor right up & out. The cleaning, as mentioned, involves spraying 409 into the moving fan blades, which seemed odd until I did it--actually very easy, not an issue, and it's done in a few minutes.

I love our new Kobe Chx 191 series. 22 in deep, very quiet for the power, and attractive. Plus less than $600. I know deeper would be better, but compared to the OTR MW it's fantastic! Plus I didn't want to spend over $1 k for a hood unless I had to, but the Kobe had everything I wanted.

Thank you all for the helpful feedback. Decisions, decisions. I never imagined that it would be so hard to decide on something as simple as a range hood. I've been focusing on the under-cabinet models for two reasons:
1. I like the extra cabinet space, even if some of it is occupied by the ducting. You can never have too much storage.
2. I don't like the idea of having to periodically clean the walls above a chimney hood model. To tell you the truth, I like the appearance of a chimney hood model more than an under-cabinet model, but trying to climb above it to properly clean the hood and walls is becoming more of a challenge for me due to my age and health.

I want a range hood that doesn't cost more than a range hood should cost. I feel like anything more than a $1,000 for a range hood in a simple home is just too much. The first hood I ever owned cost less than $100, so I certainly ought to be able to find something decent for ten times that much.

I want a range hood that's good at removing odors. I don't want to wake up in the morning and still be able to smell what I cooked the night before.

I want a range hood that's good at capturing grease and kind when releasing it. The only thing I hate worse than grease on my walls is grease all over me after removing and cleaning those darn filters.

Lastly, I want a range hood that won't ugly up my kitchen. I want it to blend in nicely so as not to take away from all the expense and hard work that went into remodeling the room.

I don't like the idea of having to periodically clean the walls above a chimney hood model.

That is why I bought 42" x 24" chimney hood with 1400 cfm blower over my 36" range :) No fishy smells after frying fish nor greasy walls or ceiling above/behind my chimney hood. I am philosophically opposed to having anything flammable above my range so chimney hood and beveled subway tile all the way to the ceiling for me.

When I had a Kenmore 20" deep under-cabinet hood I would have to periodically clean the cabinets of grease. If not they would gather grease and eventually attract dust on top the grease ;(

I searched and searched for about 6 months before finding an ultra premium hood with blower at a liquidator for $970 including delivery.

I wish I had started this thread sooner. If I had, I would have planned to install a range hood that is larger than my cooking surface. As it is now, my cabinets are already installed and designed to accommodate a 30" cooktop and 30" range hood.

Just one more question for clarification. It's my understanding that the distance between an electric cooktop and the bottom of the cabinet must be 24 inches. Is that including the height of the range hood or not? For instance, if I purchase an under-cabinet hood that is 10 inches tall, does that mean the cabinet above the range hood must now be 34 inches above the cooktop? I'm confused about this.

I think you are confusing things. First, no cabinet bottom can be above a cooktop, but I think you are just not being clear. You likely mean the cabinet above the hood that the hood hangs from. Second, what you need to be considering is the distance from the top of the cooktop to the bottom of the hood, regardless if the cooktop is electric or gas. That distance should be in the range of 30" to 36". I myself like it closer to the 30" distance because, as Deeageaux quoted above, "effluent expands as it rises" and "higher hoods are more susceptible to cross drafts interfering with capture". So the higher the distance to the hood, the more opportunity for smoke and grease to float away into your kitchen. At the same time, you don't want that distance less than 30", because you will be cramping your cooktop space.

I don't know where you are getting that 24" number from. That is confusing. Think about the distance from the cooktop to the bottom of the hood (30"-36"). Then think about what is the height of the top line of your cabinets flanking the hood. Do you have an 8' ceiling, and the cabinets go to the ceiling? The cabinet above the hood will be in line with the top line of the flanking cabinets.

Give us information about the height of the ceiling and the height of the cabinets flanking the hood, and we can help you with the math for how tall the cabinet should be that the hood hangs from.

Forget the major brand names.

Save some money, look at Sakura or cyclone range hoods. Sakuras rated up to 750cfm, cyclone 680cfm. Built well and good quality. Both China products however.

Look at the install instructions for the cooktop you have or are buying.

These are fairly typical.

My wall cabinets are 39 inches tall. My ceiling height is 95.25 inches. The surface of my countertop is 37.5 inches from the floor. The back splash is 17 inches.This U-shaped kitchen is still in the remodeling phase. No appliances have been purchased yet. I have a 30 inch opening between two runs of wall cabinets. In that space, I plan to install my range hood, but I haven't decided yet whether to go with a wall-mounted chimney type hood or an under-cabinet model. I definitely don't want a microwave hood. If I choose the under-cabinet hood, I will also have to purchase a cabinet to place above it. I'm trying to clarify the requirement regarding distance between cooking surface and combustible material so I'll have an idea of how short the cabinet would have to be with the under-cabinet model. This will hopefully help me make a final decision about which type of hood to install. I purchased cabinets from Ikea and installed them myself. I'll be purchasing a 30" electric cooktop (possibly an induction unit).

If a metal hood is under the cabinet, it protects the cabinet for any reasonable hood height and distance from the cooktop. E.g., a 30-inch spacing above the cooktop to the hood aperture and 9-inches of hood places the cabinet base at 39 inches above the cooktop. This should be sufficient for all but the most extravagant flambes (read unintended fires). Larger hood gaps to 36 inches, along with taller hood models, will further separate the wood from the cooktop.

For wall configurations, the closer wood distance will be to the cabinets at the sides of the cooktop that extend below the hood opening. These may be only 18 inches above the counter top and hence only a bit farther from a burner or flaming pan. This distance is the value to delve for in the installation instructions for the cooktop of interest.

kas