We did a vent a hood and my DH is a little over six feet so we raised the hood a bit so he wouldn't feel like it was in his way. It works just fine.

It's interesting to note that a hood isn't required by code but they do have a code for how high it should be. Go figure.

Ours is 32 inches above our 37" high counter top. And it is installed in an island.

Hope that helps!

Generally 30" is the recommended height. You can usually go as high as 36". Mine is at 36" but in hindsight I should have mounted it at 30" for better capture area.

Aesthetics plays into the decision as well. Mine is 36" from the cooktop. I turn it on before I need it to encourage airflow that direction before I even get started cooking. Mine had to go high because my range is 84" side-to-side. My double VAH liners in a custom hood cover the footprint of the range. If I had the hood 30" off the cooktop, it would have all looked so squatty. I did spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone with VAH, them looking at my range and plans, and we all agreed 36" was fine. In practice, I find it works fine, no complaints. Do I have some escape? Maybe...but not enough to have changed the height.

I would think with your range and husband's height, 36" would be good for you. Just remember to turn it on BEFORE you start cooking! :)

The canopy wants to trap the rising smoke/vapor/greaseparticles, which we call "effluent" for short, and the effluent column expands as it rises. What that means is that as you increase the vertical gap between the stovetop and canopy, you need a wider and deeper canopy to get the same amount of effluent capture. You may also need a little more cfm. If not, as Momto says, some of the effluent escapes. How worried you are about that will depend partly on your cooking. If you do a lot of wok cooking and meat-searing, I'd be more worried about effluent capture. Also how close the kitchen is to the rest of the house, how sensitive people are to odors, how often you want to wash your walls etc.

A lot of folks go for 30" or less vertical distance to get good capture, and say that they soon learn not to bump their heads. I went for a canopy just above my 6' height, but with 12" overlap on either side of the cooktop and a 9-inch bump-out from the wall.

You will find *lots* of discussions of hood height if you search the appliances forum, as well as cfm and other issues. For example, makeup air is essential if you are venting a 60" Wolf, and will have a lot to do with how effective your ventilation is. This is new to a lot of people...

We have a 30 inch wolf cooktop under our vent a hood and my DH does do a fair amount of wok cooking. Islands hoods, lik ours, have have a more difficult job capturing everything. Our VAH does just fine at 32 inches above the cooktop and pushed back a bit from the edge.