Here's the 48" version.

Are you mainly concerned with the aesthetic? Because I am installing a 36 inch Wolf range and my kitchen designer and appliance person both recommended a 42 inch hood with powerful blower for functionality. Hard to tell if the 48 unch might look too overwhelming or not.

Buckeye, my concern is aesthetics. I want the hood to be proportional to the space

I think we've decided the 48" looks better. Bumping this up for any last minute input!

Agree 48 looks better in that space. Don't worry about it looking too big. I have a 40 over a 30 range and it looks fine.

well, to be contrarian, I like the smaller one.

Since you don't have anything close, I go along with the 48 group. I wish I had room to go bigger than my cooktop...

I totally prefer the smaller 42" one. The larger one with its larger chimney will take over your kitchen. Since you are going to the trouble and expense of putting in all that tile, why diminish the tile with a hood that is oversized for the proportion of your rangetop.

Wow, the opinions are split! Turns out the sale was extended, so I have a couple more days to decide. Still leaning towards the 48". Is a 48" hood really considered oversized for a 36" rangetop? I thought the recommendation was a hood with 3-6" overhang one either side of the range. My thinking with the larger hood is that without any upper cabinets, the hood should be a focal point. No?

The recommendation for hood size is 3" on either side of the range, or 6" total.

I suggest you should make an outline with painters tape on your kitchen wall of the larger hood and chimney. Tape aluminum foil inside the outline to give you an idea of the stainless steel hood and chimney, and then see if the 48" size is too big. I think 48" is too big, but there's nothing like seeing a facsimile in your actual kitchen to give you a better idea.

Thanks akchicago. I taped up the two different size hoods. Pics below. We really like both, but are now leaning towards the 42" once we visualized the depth and mass of the hood in the space. Any opinions based on these pics? 48" is the first pic.

I like the 42" one. The larger one seems to compete with the shelves. The smaller one seems to complement it.

I like the 42" one. But it seems to be mounted too high, unless it just looks that way because the rangetop is not in. The bottom of the hood should be approx. 30" from the top of the rangetop. What is the distance for your arrangement? If the hood is too high, it will lose effectiveness, and you will have spent all that money for a less effective hood than it could have been.

As an OT side note - have your electrician turn your wall receptacles horizontally. They will then fit better with your subway tiles. Also, try to install them as low as local Code will allow. For me, it was a minimum of 4" from countertop to center of receptacle. Local Codes differ on this distance, and some Codes have no ruling at all about it. Your electrician will know. There are pics I've seen on this forum where the receptacles are practically on top of the countertop, but my electrician stayed with the 4" to center distance. The advantage to lower receptacles is that they can be well-hidden by paper towel holder, coffee maker, radio, etc. and not be so intrusive in your beautiful backsplash.

This post was edited by akchicago on Thu, Mar 21, 13 at 8:38

Thanks so much. The "hood" is taped 30" off what will be the countertop. I agree that the 42" looks higher, but it actually isn't.
Thanks for the tip about rotating and lowering the outlets--I will request that. I appreciate the input.