I forgot to say that the wood hood will be 42 inches.
Thanks.

If I were you, I would read everything on hoods and ventilation that this site's search engine can pull up, particularly on the appliance forum. This will provide enough background information that you will become familiar with the terms and issues.

Hoods are normally metal, at least on the inside, and everywhere a likely cooking fire can reach. This depends on how high it is mounted.

Exhaust ventilation performs capture and containment. Hoods perform capture and aid containment; blowers and ducting are part of the system performing containment. Capture requires that the hood overlap the rising cooking effluent and gas combustion products. Because these gasses and greases spread out as they rise, the hood has to be bigger than the array of cooking surfaces (pans).

The required air flow depends on too many factors to address with the information provided.

As far as I know, Broan/Nutone is a reputable supplier. Their blowers are used by Wolf.

kas

My wood hood has a Vent-a-hood insert. That's what they are called - you want a hood liner insert. Some of them come with a blower, some without.

Mine has a built in blower and is only 400 CFM's and is mounted 10" higher than specs call for (over a 30" glass cooktop) so I was expecting very weak suction, but I am actually thrilled. You can see it sucking the steam and vapors right up and out. Not only that, it's SO quiet, even on high! It really helps that the hood ducting is only about 12" long before it goes out the back wall.

hoods and blowers are 2 different things.

There are many brands out there. You have to decided what cabinets will be used over the cooking surfaces to decide the hood or you reverse it and pick the hood first and then make the cabinets fit it.

The liner is the metal device that you screw to the cabinets that has a cleanable filter of some kind and lights in it. The blower can be attached to this as a 1 piece unit or you can get a blower the mounts in the ducts further away from the kitchen to make it as quiet as possible. The remote blower set up is more expensive.

A good kitchen and bath store should be able to help you narrow your choices down. You kind of have to do the cabinets and the hood decision at the same time. I say the cabinets because the cabinetry making the space for the liner and the blower varry with what look you are trying to achieve that will then dictate the space the linner has to fill.

Thank you. The wood hood will be 42 inches. Our appliance contact was pushing for Best by Broan (or maybe it's the other way around : - ) ) and said we should buy a 900 cfm blower and a 33'' pro insert but that there is no room for a liner?? My KD is looking at the vent-a-hood.
I have done so much research on our cabinets and appliances, but this is one area where I feel I am lost and anything and KD or appliance person said, I wouldn't know if it was the truth or the best thing to go with.....
A few follow-up questions:
1. I think I had read that having the blower external vs internal will reduce the overall noise? Is this true?
2. So if I am reading everyone's comments correctly, it sounds like I need a metal hood inside my wood cabinet hood, plus a blower and a liner (and some liners have built in blowers)...is this correct.
Thanks everyone for all of your feedback!

We're going through this right now (building our own hood) and I think you're right except that the "metal hood inside my wood cabinet hood" IS the liner.

So in short you either need an all-in-one unit (the classic metal kind that hangs there between cabinets), or if you're building it in, you need 2 parts:

1. The blower itself, also called the insert or ventilator. This can be an external unit (installed on the other end of the duct from your kitchen so it's nice and quiet):

or an internal unit (hanging right there over the stove):
{{!gwi}}

2. A metal liner for the blower to protect the cabinet wood and ensure a code-appropriate install (fire protection).
If you have an external blower, you need this to be a liner that has filters and bulbs on it to trap the grease, provide light, etc:

If you have an internal blower, the liner is basically just a strip of metal that surrounds the blower insert:

Clear as mud? I know, it's totally confusing - hang tight!

Thanks everyone. I think I understand better, that or I'm more confused : - )))

ok I have read all of the responses to this post plus read information on the appliances forum and thought I knew what I wanted.....our hood above our 36 inch gas range will be a 42 inch wood hood.

I told our appliance contact person I needed a hood that has a built in blower and liner (or separate pieces), 900 cfmÂs, external blower, with room for a 10 Â duct and sone around 8 or less. He doesn't believe there is anything with all of these specs. Anyone help with this??
Thanks

I'm certainly no expert, but wouldn't you get something like these 3 pieces as a package (plus the ducting pipe itself of course)? This is Best by Broan as an example, I have no experience with this brand.

External Blower unit

33" Cabinet insert with lights & filters

Corresponding stainless liner to fit the cabinet insert into your 42" space

Thanks circuspeanut! I wasn't sure if you usually buy it as 3 pieces or as an all in one. The venting system is something we are completely lost with - our present kitchen just has the microwave on top of the range, so this is a completely new territory for us.

I'm pretty sure you have to buy whichever separate pieces you need for your setup. If you look at the literature (usually downloadable as pdf files from the big appliance sites), each brand will tell you which pieces match the others. The thing to keep in mind is that the hood insert won't be the exact size as your wooden hood exterior, but a bit smaller -- thus the adjustable stainless liner to make up the difference.

If you were just getting an all-in-one off-the-shelf vent hood, you'd only need the one piece, but you're doing something more custom and cool. So confusion is the price you pay, apparently. ;-)

If you get them at a reputable store (online or off), you can surely return a piece if it turns out you don't need it?

Thanks everyone for the feedback and advice....I would have been lost on this one if not for all of you!