No worries. Except, maybe, you are way over-thinking this or maybe you've done way more research than you can digest.

So, let me reassure you. The low setting on that Kobe is likely to be be noticably quieter than almost any setting on that OTR you are replacing while being far more effective at capturing and removing steam and other vapor flow.

Usually people want to get the absolute most power. We're talking the people who think they might want to be running your induction range with all four burners on high as they try to simultaneously get four cast iron frying pans to 700F in order to obtain what they imagine is the perfectly seared steak in each pan (after first burning all the seasoning off of those four cast iron frying pans) and meanwhile having the oven run a self-cleaning cycle on a month's worth of goo from the oven floor and walls. O or otherwise trying to generate enough smoke to mask an assault by Marine landing team. ;=)

Really, that Kobe is a fine choice and will be very good the 330CFM setting. As a rule of thumb, a more powerful hood run at low speed will be noticably quieter than a low capacity, cheap hood at almost any speed effective enough to do any venting at all. That Kobe will will not be sucking small children or pet gerbils off the kitchen floor, either.

If there is such a thing as too much venting it is no where near 330 cfm.

Thanks, JWVideo!
-->No worries. Except, maybe, you are way over-thinking this or maybe you've done way more research than you can digest.

This is exactly where I am at the moment.

Lol, deeageaux! I just want to make sure a setting below 330 CFM wouldn't be missed for everyday tasks like steaming veggies. But that sone level is probably quiet enough where it won't really matter.

If you decide in the future that you want to harness the power of induction to do some high heat cooking like stir frying, or searing a steak etc. then what you are proposing will be inadequate. You'll set the smoke alarms off and have to open windows and doors.

Plan for actually liking cooking even more now and increasing your capabilities to do so with your new tools. That vent won't pass muster if that happens though.

williamsem: "I need to pick a hood so we can orders cabinets soon. I think I found one I like for a good price. ... The quieter the better. ... I think the Kobe linked below would work well for us, but is 330 CFM on low too much venting? We have a 30 inch induction range, but do cook a lot."

Honestly, because you are not using a CO/CO2 factory there (gas combustion), you could do with almost any level of venting. 330 CFM is certainly more than enough, but if quiet is really important to you, you might look into lower flow hoods.

Hollysprings, 330 CFM is the low setting, 640 would be the high setting. If I read your reply right, I should be looking for a capacity greater than 640 CFM for those activities? We do stir fry and sear, which really is a problem with the OTR MW (recirculating model, so we don't bother at times since it roars like a jet engine).

Thanks, herring_maven. I have seen a few quieter models, but at 1.5 sone for 330 CFM this model looks pretty good. The quieter models were not much quieter on low and had much less air flow, didn't seem worth the trade off especially since they topped put well below the Kobe on their high setting for CFM but their sone level on high was much louder.

Any model suggestions are welcome. This has been one of the harder things to pick out. The info available is not consistent so I have been using more sites than usual to cobble info together to narrow the choices. I did manage to knock out Braun quickly, their heat sense is pretty neat, but from what I read it's great to protect an OTR MW since they are hung lower and may be damaged, but for regular hoods that benefit is not applicable and that technology would feed a grease fire by increasing O2 flow.

600 CFM is generally more than adequate for most cooking. With a large range with a grill people often go for more. One issue with more CFMs is that you may be required to put in makeup air. Generally, when people talk about hoods, they talk about the maximum CFM, not the minimum.

Keep in mind 2 things:

1.) The stated power of range hood blowers is measured under "zero static pressure" conditions - once you add the filters, hood body, and most importantly, the ductwork & end-cap into the equation, the *effective* (final) CFM will be a lot less.

2.) A larger-capacity blower running at a fraction of its speed will most likely be quieter than a smaller blower running "at redline". For example, a 900-CFM blower at 1/3 speed will typically be quieter than a 300-CFM blower at max. Of course, blower sound ratings vary, but this is a good "rule of thumb" to bear in mind.

For these 2 reasons, I personally would recommend going with something in the 600-1000 CFM range. More than 1000 is overkill for a lot of situations, but you don't want to end up with an underpowered hood.

If quietness is important, check the sound ratings (in sones (preferably) or decibels), and consider a hood with a remote blower option.

Thanks for all the info! I drove myself nuts looking at just about every hood I could find. I ended up purchasing the one I linked, rated at 640 CFM. It seemed to be a good mix of what I wanted. Less expensive hoods in the same CFM range generally were much louder, and anything with more CFM seemed much more expensive. It would have been perfect if it was rear vented and a little shorter, but can't have it all! With the promotion it ended up at $530, which was a great price based on my online research.