I got a call from my KD that there was a problem with the cooktop I ordered. It's a KA prostyle 36" 6 burner range top. The KD said that he discovered the mantel style hood we designed won't work with this range top because the minimum distance between the cooktop and any combustible material is 48", much higher than any other cooktop they've installed.

He told me I had two options, either get a new cooktop, or use a SS hood. I was bummed but it was fine because I thought a chimney style hood would look good too so I told him I'd pick one out. Well, then he said I couldn't use a chimney style because the vent is off center so the chimney would be off center. My only choice would be to do an under cabinet hood or one of those huge custom hoods that are as wide at the top as they are at the base and are crazy expensive.

So, since I really didn't want an under cabinet hood we went to look at more cooktops. Of course we ended up buying one much more expensive than the KA. This is one area that we had done a really good job getting exactly what we wanted and did not go over the allowance at all. We had been so proud of ourselves and now we're both annoyed.

Sorry for the vent. Thanks for listening.

If this is the case, it seems more like a design problem than an equipment problem.

For me the most important thing about a hood is that the owners and their guests can't hit their heads on it and that usually means 36" above the cooktop and 42" is even better. I don't care what the other considerations are; there is no excuse for hitting your head in your own kitchen.

We had a similar issue with our KD at the last minute of course. We have GE Monogram 6 burner pro rangetop with a mantel style hood. I called GE & the applaince dealer we were using before I made any changes. We were told by GE to default to the hood manual as it is designed to be matched to that style of cooktop vs. just a generic hood. Sounds like KitchenAid has the same story to tell. You would think that the KDs would know these things, especially ones that show all the primo kitchens they've done, but evidently not.

Additionally, if you think about it, the top of the rangetop is 36" from the floor, another 30-36" of clearnace to the bottom of the mantel style hood puts the hood controls up about 5'7" - 6'1" off the floor. I'm 5'4" and my controls sit at 6' from the floor--I have no problem with reaching them. We also have a mantel style hood with an arched front under the mantel piece. The sides sit at about 5'7" from the floor with the highest point of the arch at about 5'11.5" from the floor.

I would call your KD and get everything changed back the way it was and keep that extra $$$ he would have you spend in your pocket. No sense spending more because he didn't do all his homework. This is his error, not yours, so you shouldn't have to pay for it.

Hope this helps!

mydreamhome-I am overwhelmed by your kindness in taking the time to call on our behalf. Thank you, thank you.

It's funny because I logged on to update that my husband (he's the smart one) called KitchenAid and was told the same thing you just shared. He is beyond irritated that we've been doing the KD's homework for him. For me, it's not a big deal since I stay at home (although my 3 year old has watched an obscene amount of television today) but my husband, who owns a small business, has lost about 6 hours of productivity because of this.

Again, thanks for the help.

The MAXIMUM height of an exhaust hood above a cooktop is determined by the manufacturer of the hood so that the hood will perform properly. In this case it appears to be 36".

The MINIMUM height of combustible cabinets above the cooktop is determined by the manufacturer of the cooktop so that the heat will not ignite the cabinets. In this case it appears to be 42" (although the designer says 48"so you need to check it yourself).

The two requirements are related only when a "hood insert" is completely enclosed with cabinetry and because the bottom of the cabinetry and the bottom of the hood are at the same point both requirements cannot be met.

The solutions are 1) make the material in the 6" (or 12") zone between the two heights out of metal or 2) ignore the hood maximum height dimension and raise the entire unit to the higher dimension and not worry about hood performance.

The cause of this dilemma is the high BTU output of the cooktop when all 6 burners are being used at their maximum capacity, a highly unlikely occurrence but required in the test procedure the manufacturer must use.

hollysprings-I see what you're saying though. I will have to double check what we have.