I think i have the exact set-up you're contemplating. I have the 36" 6 burner RNB under a 36" bluestar pyramid hood with 1200 cfm. First, the range is spectacular. You will love it. The hood is great too. It does an excellent job of removing smoke and grease. Cleaning it isn't too hard either. I just throw the baffles in the dishwasher and wipe the interior of the good with some 409 and paper towels. Depending on usage, I'd say I'd do this about once a month. I love the looks of it and the fact that unlike other hoods, it has infinite variable controls for both the vent speed and lights. As for loudness, well that's subjective. But mine is in my kitchen in an open layout house and the living room is about 20 feet away. I can cook with the vent on full blast and people can still hear the tv just fine in the other room. If not cooking something that creates too much smoke, I just use the vent on a variable lower setting. I'd say anything less than about 3/4 full power results in very little noise at all. It's just at full power is loud, but still not loud enough to distract people in the adjacent room.

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get back here. Thanks for all your responses....some very helpful info here. Angie_DIY......Here is a link to the GE hood we're considering. After reading the manual I realize that the charcoal filter is only needed if you're using it as a recirculating fan. We won't be. There is also a grease filter that is washable. http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=PV970NSS michoumonster.......that makes sense, and I certainly would not be using the fan on high all of the time. But some other comments have mentioned that code often has a limit on how many CFM's are allowed. We're moving to a small little community where they are sticklers about code (we've had fits with them on several other issues), so we'd better check to see what is allowed first. GWlolo.....Yes, I've read that the hood should be slightly wider than the cooktop. Ours won't be unfortunately. We have a 30" cooktop and a 30" hood, but I guess the range hood will extend beyond the actual burner area, so I think we'll be okay. I have to confess that until recently I didn't know that range hoods removed odors from cooking. For years I had a Thermador down-draft cooktop, and the fan was so loud that it honestly sounded like a jet engine taking off, so I didn't use it except on rare occasions. It's nice to know that in my new kitchen I'll be able to get rid of smells like brussels sprouts! A2gemini.....I agree...that's the only way I'll make bacon anymore, and I just learned this method about a year ago. BTW, we do live in a cold climate, and we do have building codes to contend with. But I didn't realize the hood CFMs would have to be considered. See above where I talk about this. I guess I have some checking to do. WileyBob.....I agree about Thermador....I never liked my down-draft, and I had it for about 20 years. I finally replaced it with a GE Monogram cooktop. I like it much better, but I still rarely use the down-draft. I'm looking forward to having a normal hood above the cooktop. I won't need anything as powerful as you need with your Wolf though. I've heard great things about the Wolf cooktops. Detroit burb.....I wish I had read your information before I started my research on range hoods. Good info there! The thing I've had the most trouble with is finding a 'not-too-high' CFM rated range hood with a low sone rating. We need something not too bulky looking, yet we still want a decent performance. So I think we're just going to go with the GE curved profile style in the link I've posted above. It's noisier than I wanted (7 sones on high), but I'm sure we won't have it on high for long periods of time. My husband and I did your calculations on CFM vs. room size, and I think we'll be okay with that one. Thanks for your help! artemis 78.....I also like the Kobe's, and we were considering going to Cincinnati to look at them (they don't sell them where we live), but I fear the building inspector (they really do inspect here) would think the CFM rating is too high. But I'll check on this.....glad to know you like yours. We're moving to a modest little home (we plan to spend most of the year in our RV), and I'm sure we already have the best kitchen in the neighborhood. We plan to stay in the house forever, so we're making it as nice as we can within reason for the type of house it is. Thanks again, everyone!

I am not an expert, but when my hood and pendants were installed, I wanted them only as high as they needed to be so I wouldn't bump my head. I didn't want the underbelly of either one to be visible when walking into the kitchen. I don't care for pendants hung so high that the bulbs can be seen glaring out the bottom while standing across the room. Likewise, I don't care for the vent grates under the hood to be so visible, either. I was home when my hood as installed, and I literally stood at the stove so they could measure how low it could go and still clear my head. For me, 32 inches above the stove was plenty--within the specs for installation, gives me head clearance, and the underside of the hood isn't as noticeable when I'm standing in the kitchen. The pendants are about 33 inches, and this works fine for the island space. The range and the island are not centered together, so it doesn't matter that the pendants are slightly higher. If you want the bottoms to match up, you may need to hang the pendants first because it looks like it has fixed pieces in the arm. However, be careful of the specs and code restrictions of where your hood must hang--there is usually a guideline that must be followed.

1) No, that's not good. It's not good that it vents inside your home and it's also not as efficient because the hot air, oil, grease, steam etc. wants to go UP, not down, so most of it could be lingering in the existing ductwork :/ I would run a new duct upwards, into the ceiling, and either through the roof or out the side of your home. You don't even have to take most of the existing ductwork out. 2) This depends on what it looks like. Does it look like one of these? If so, I would just pop a new cabinet on top of it (and that cabinet would hide your new ductwork) so that both together reach the appropriate height. If you can't fit a cabinet, try a flat piece of trim. If it's more of a chimney style, I'd see if you can get a matching extension piece for the top or even put a cabinet or other surround around it to hide the whole hood. Younghouselove built a surround. Here is a link that might be useful: younghouselove range hood surround