If you search the Appliances forum, you'll find numerous discussions of such hoods and some good explanations why they don't work. If I find a link, I'll post it.

They are large, 54", and I think the recommendation is that they be mounted around 7 feet. I don't think these can be mounted in the ceiling if there is a second floor above, only an attic. The capture for this may be adequate for a typical residential 30" range because of its large footprint and high CFM, but I don't think it would work well over a high powered range. I think it would have limited applications for use and would definitely be less effective than the properly sized conventional hood.

Wow, if that were my kitchen would I care if it weren't optimum? As long as it worked modestly I might be willing to climb on the counters with glass cleaner a little more often than otherwise.

Ya know, I read all these posts about how important good venting is. I did spend the money for a good one, externally mounted, variable speed, etc etc blah blah blah,
(You get the idea).

Then I recalled, (well wife did actually), we bought this house new in 1975. We installed the new kitchen in 2006, I think that's 31 years, with the old kitchen????

Well the venting was just what was built into the range we had, A GE, as I recall. We did not use the vent that often as it was a noisy succer.

Yet after all those years, the old kitchen and cabinets were not greasy, nor was the rest of the house.

Maybe it was our cooking style, although we cooked bacon, sausage, spaghetti sauce, You name it!

Most broiling did get done outside, but that would be done in an oven and not a cook top anyway.

It does make me wonder, if some here aren't going a little "Overboard" here, as far suggesting what our venting requirements are, or was I "Just Lucky"? Hard to believe that,

with 31 years of living with "Next to No venting"!

Gary

Rosie and Gary,

Thanks for your comments and reflections. I plan to do more research on this product to see if works at least moderately well. I don't want poor ventitlation. I will report back to this thread if I find out any more info.

Thanks,

Carol

I looked into these as well as the other one that's similar (FuturoFuturo). You'll find lots of reasons as as to why it won't work. What you won't find is anyone who has tried one or seen one in action.

We are thinking of building a 6" soffit over our island induction cooktop and installing either this hood (Best by Broan) or a custom made "flush" hood. This will make the distance between cooktop and the hood about 4.5 feet. Yes, I have read the long discussions on how effectiveness of air removal drops if the geometry of your installation is not right, but I am with Gary on this. Our cooking style is such that this shouldn't be a problem. If this type of venting will remove some smell and smoke during occasional kitchen mishaps etc - will be satisfied. The other option for us was to install a pop-up downdraft. My MIL has one but it blocks her island bar... Anyway - I also agree with fori as to where are the reviews from people who tried such setup?

I'm glad you are going to volunteer and try this out for us, DKS!

Don't forget about us when you're frying fish and not stinking up your home (hopefully!). Report back! :)

I just emailed the author of the building newsletter who wrote about this product to see if she is aware of any reviews from users or has any first hand experience. I will let you know if she passes along any info.

Carol

Do keep us posted Carol, I really want one of these minimal type hoods to work at least moderately well. I can live without perfect. I'll be interested to hear what you find out.

Here is the response I received from the author of the newsletter. (Tracy DiCarlo -- author of the ebook: The Difference is in the Details).

Hi Carol,

I’m so glad you’ve found my book and newsletters helpful!

The ceiling-mounted hood in my last ezine was 900 CFM. Because of the remote blower, it was very quiet in spite of its high capacity. I was able to turn it on to hear it but the cooktop was not being used at the time, so I didn’t see it in action. Two concerns with ceiling-mounted hoods:

1. Large Capacity: The CFM (cubic feet per minute of air removal) of the hood must be amplified to make up for increasing distance from the cooktop. The closer the cooktop the better, as far as ventilation efficiency goes. (Although your ceilings are 8 feet, that is a much greater distance then between cooktop and conventional hood). Bigger is not better for a number of reasons but from your pocketbook’s standpoint, why pay money to condition air you’re unnecessarily removing from the home? For instance, the large, professional, high BTU range/gas cooktop appliances can require exhausts that remove 1200 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM). To bring that quantity into perspective, removal of 1200 CFM is approximately the same amount of conditioned air provided by a 3-ton HVAC system each minute. Glad you’ve chosen an induction top.

2. Depressurization of the Home: Secondly, air in equals air out. As the hood is removing air from the home causing depressurization of the structure, the unconditioned unfiltered outside air, now at a higher pressure than the inside air, will seep into the conditioned space by any means it can find. This phenomenon affects energy costs, indoor air quality and can be dangerous. For example, as the air attempts to equalize, depressurization can cause the combustion toxins from a gas fireplace to be pulling back down the chimney and into the home. If you’re going to have a gas fireplace, one way to circumvent this problem is to select a sealed combustion, direct vent product. It will have its own combustion air source.

Will fresh air be brought into your home on a regular basis? It is normal for tightly built homes to include a fresh air system as part of the HVAC components. These systems can run in conjunction with the HVAC or operate separately. Although the fresh air and the ventilation systems of the home are not communicating with one another, the fresh air does help to somewhat offset the ventilation.

Ventilation is a good thing but obvious can have its drawbacks. I wish there was a cut and dry answer for balancing ventilation with fresh air but it’s still a hugely controversial subject within the building science community. We need to ventilate but we also need to supply an equal amount of conditioned make up air without compromising indoor air quality or energy-efficiency. As far as I know, this tall order has not been successfully filled quite yet with a product that allows efficient communication between the two systems. I’ve seen a few attempts but they fell short.

I love the look of the ceiling-mounted fans and the unobstructed view they offer when placed above an island. Keep in mind that any traditional hood capable of removing the moisture and toxins released from the cooking process will depressurize the home to some degree. Even an efficient, properly installed 50 CFM bath fan can do the same thing. The idea is to keep it to a minimum.

Hope this answers your question.

Tracy

I will update you all when we are done with our project - 3 months maybe?. As Sochi said - I can live without perfect.

@dks35 - update?

Update?