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Need to sleep now, but will respond tomorrow. Promise!

I'm not Breezy & my range isn't quite as powerful as a CC but I have only 600 CFM's & the vent works just fine. A good capture area & proper ducting seem to be as important as the CFMs. If I kept all of the burners running full blast at the same time to sear, deep fry, or grill, no doubt I would need a more powerful venting system but since I'm not running a restaurant kitchen, this hasn't been a issue.

Thanks, antiquesilver, for sharing your experience. I won't be running a restaurant kitchen either.

I bought a Wolf 36" AG range with (4) 16,000 BTU burners and (1) 16,000 BTU grill, so conventional wisdom is I need 800 cfm for 80,000 BTU total (unless grills are counted differently). However, it is very rare for me to use more than 2 burners at once, and never more than 3. I rarely have a burner on high unless I am boiling water. I don't know yet if we will like using the grill on the range. We can grill outside year round, so we will likely continue to do so if the range grill is a pain to use or clean. Or maybe I'll decide I really like it once I try it. (I only bought the model with the grill because it was a floor model being sold at a substantial discount.)

When I bought my 6 x 15,000 BTU range in 2002, a 600 CFM hood was merely recommended, not necessarily required. Now it seems that every year, the vents are growing more powerful but whether this is needed or just bigger-is-better marketing hype is hard to tell.

Yes, it is only recommended not required.

Clean cabinets,walls,and ceilings without built on grease is not required either.

Neither is having your blower on at full blast.

A 1000 cfm blower is going to run much quieter at 200 cfm than a 200 cfm blower running at 200 cfm.

When you have your grill going,a burner for a side and yet another for some sauce it would be nice to have that extra power.

A grill is different than a burner. I would get at least 800 cfm.

Below is a Kobe RA0242SQB which is very well thought in the appliance forum. At 450 cfm it is 2.5 sones,which is very quiet. Maximum is 1100 cmf. Very good capture area at 42" x 24". Hood,blower,duct cover,and shipping equals $1418.

Here is a link that might be useful: LINK

Deegeaux, thank you for the recommendation for the Kobe. I will take a closer look at that one, although it is not the style I was planning.

What do you think of the Cavaliere-Euro AP238-PSZ-42? My designer recommended it. It is 860 cfm. I posted about it on Appliances last week, but only 1 person responded. The only similar looking hood I have found in the 42" width is from Modern-Aire, but that is way too expensive.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cav-Euro

Hi Kay! Hope you and the new baby are doing well.

Yes, my hood is lovely. When I stop to look at it, I think the same thing. I hope that doesn't make me sound arrogant! :) (You KNOW my kitchen isn't done so I'm not going to apologize for the less than perfect pic.)

As much as the eye candy is a good thing, I do sometimes wish I hadn't done 600cfms for the noise factor. I usually only run it on the lowest speed of the two. Even then, it's louder than my ears appreciate. I'm very sensitive to noise so I'm guessing that ANY hood turned on would be offensive. Still, I run it when I'm cooking with more frequency than I did my cr@ppy old OTR MW in my old kitchen simply because I know now the importance of proper ventilation.

As to the function of the hood, it seems like it's working well. When on, I can see it sucking lots of HOGS. I run 3-4 burners on an average night for dinner without issue. I haven't used my full 23K BTUs on the CC often, but when I do I use the back center burner with the hood on high for maximum capture. (The hood itself is 24" deep so that means the front burners of the 27"ish CC protrude slightly beyond the hood's reach.) Even then, I can still sometimes smell the smoke from the charring steak flesh in nearby rooms afterwards. The incredible taste of the amazingly delicious, perfectly crusted, med-rare meat makes me forget that, however. :)

Deciding to go with a powerful range and designing the room around a 42" hood meant I had to commit to $$$ for ventilation. I also needed something substantial to fill my empty wall, and, unfortunately, many powerful, wide hoods aren't a visual treat so that means even more $$ for an attractive one. I had settled on 42" Kobe CH-100 series unit (42"x24") with 1000cfms until I lucked into the clearance Rangehood Viser.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the 600cfms. If I had to do it again, I'd make the same choice. The limitations aren't overwhelming on a daily or even weekly basis. Of course, only time will tell whether its sucking well enough to prevent grease builds up on my walls. So far so good with usage of 2-3x/day over a four month period.

I'm sure you probably already know, but aim for 24" deep for best capture. And like someone mentioned, more powerful hoods are quieter on low than are wimpy hoods.

Check around for a clearance Independent brand hood. Independent, maker of powerful and attractive hoods, went out of business recently, but some retailers have units they are clearing out. Check ebay. I saw an interesting one or two for sale there a few weeks back. You might also check around for any Great Indoors closing sales. You've been sucessful finding great deals so far!

As for the Cav-Euro, I looked at them also along the way. The price point is good, but I remember not finding much in the way of positive reviews on that brand so crossed it off my list. I think ventilation is like many other things: You get what you pay for!

HTH! Let me know if I missed something.