We have a house with a Jenn-Air downdraft that is AMAZING. We can fry onions with curry powder, stand right over it while it's cooking, and not smell a thing because it sucks it all out. We do have a straight shot out of the house for the vent--maybe 7 feet or so with only one turn (to go from heading down to heading out), so that may help. Still, I've never seen another vent that works as well as that.

I'll add that we have another house with a Vent-a-hood, and that vent doesn't even come close in terms of performance. The Jenn-Air downdraft does a much, much better job keeping smells out of the house.

I've been using my downdraft more (I didn't want to because it's not ducted--just empties into the crawl space) since my kid's been getting more asthma from cooking. It's not awful (but its duct is literally just the distance to the floor). But I'm sure we can find you a retro canopy hood that you can hang stuff from and love. You know what I mean--something with scalloped edges.

Windy- Thanks, it's good to know you found one that works! I have an outside wall about seven feet away, as well.

Fori- Scalloped...that does sound pretty! I just don't want anything too low that will block the light from the windows. I like this too, just for looks and a few herbs :) {{!gwi}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures