You first task is to decide how much exhaust power you need and whether the exhaust fan will be inside the rangehood or remotely located. The remote ones are quieter for obvious reasons. I think you probably need between 600 and 1000 cfm (cubic feet per minute) exhaust power with a cooktop of your size. That also depends on the kind of cooking you do. If you often have several burners going simultaneously or if you do a lot of stove-top grilling or a lot of really serious stir-frying, you probably need 1000 cfm. I would caution against going much higher than that, first because of the cost and second because then you will be generating too much negative pressure in your kitchen, and will have to open a window to compensate for that, or build into your system (for a good deal more money, of course) something called a "make-up air" system. What that does is pump in fresh air from the outside to make up for all the negative pressure the exhaust fan is creating. And of course you'll have to heat the make-up air if you live in a frigid climate.

I hope I haven't confused you too much. Where do you go from here? I am partial to the Broan brand of rangehoods. They have liners and they have excellent remote blowers. They are reasonably priced, have been doing it for a very long time, and offer so many models in every size, shape and configuration that you are almost certain to find one that's right for you. The "Best" brand, made by Broan is probably where you might find a liner and blower that's right for you. Check out Fantech also. Their website is fantech.net. They also make a sound reducer, that reduces the noise level even more. And I think their products are very reasonably priced. Of course there are other choices. Shop around.

One further word about remote fans. They can be "in-line" or "exterior". They may use different words that can confuse you further. In-line means that the fan motor is installed inside the house, say, up in the attic. Ours is in the attic just adjacent to the opening to the outside. I think they can also be installed adjacent to the roof. The exterior fan is installed outside the house and is therefore exposed to the elements.

I strongly recommend that you exhaust to the outside. Rangehoods that just circulate the air through a filter and back into the kitchen are not very effective in controlling the smoke and cooking odors.

I suggest that you do some google searches. You will find several Internet suppliers of these products. Their websites are very infomative, and their customer service 800 #s are very helpful.

But be patient and take your time. This kitchen exhaust issue is pretty complicated, and you want to make sure you get it right. Aside from this forum, you should also browse in the kitchen forum, where some people have posted some very strong opinions.

Good luck.

Haus, im getting rid of a dacor downdraft that uses an dacor exterior remote fan. Do you think a new Broan liner would hook up to the dacor exterior remote fan?