No disrespect, but I disagree with Davidro1. And there have been many threads on duct size on this forum, but they may have fallen off by now. IMHO, it is crucial to have a duct that is 8" or 10", and not 6". I speak from experience. I have a 6" duct, and it is the ONE disappointment in my kitchen reno. The ONE thing I wish I could change. Unlike you though, I did not have the luxury to install ductwork for my exhaust; I was locked into what was already there, which is 6" size. If you are lucky enough to be able to choose, get the 8" (many on this forum have 10", but 8" will be fine). Don't let your contractor push you around. Really, this is important. Ask yourself--what difference does it make to him if I get an 8" duct? Well, it'll probably be a bit more work for him to squeeze in an 8" duct rather than an easy-to-slide-in 6", so that may be why he's telling you 6" will be fine. It's YOUR kitchen that you'll have to cook in for years, long after he's gone and forgotten. Tell him you want the 8" duct installed, no debate. You have already hit on one reason not to get a 6"--it will severely limit your choices in hoods. Meanwhile, if you have an 8" duct, your choices will be wide and varied at all different price points, designs, brand names. A second reason for a larger duct is efficiency. A 6" duct simply won't be large enough to allow for cfms above 300-450. 300-450 may be adequate, but on those days when you are frying hamburger or fish, you'll wish for more. Believe me, I know. As to overkill--I would rather have high cfms that I may only use once in a while, with the flexibility of lower settings for the rest of the time, than to be permanently hampered by low cfms due to a 6" duct size. Per the Appliances Forum FAQ on Vent Hoods: "The rule-of-thumb is 10CFM per 1000BTU of burner capacity. Thus, for a 60K-BTU cooktop (4 x 15K), you should have a 600CFM hood. Since you rarely, if ever, have all burners on full at once, you have excess capacity that can be used when you really need it. Most hoods have variable-speed controls, which allow you to choose the airflow---and noise level---appropriate to the task." Another reason for a larger duct is noise level. When you are pushing air through a narrower space, it will be more noisy than pushing the same air through a wider space. Of course, the length of your duct run and the number of bends will also affect noise level, but 6" will guarantee a higher noise level than 8". Although duct size has been discussed a lot on this forum, I have never once seen a thread saying "AW SHOOT, I WISH I'd installed a smaller duct!" On the contrary, we see the opposite sentiment, "If only I had a larger duct..."

First of all, let me say that my experience with hoods is extremely limited. The hoods that I have owned were either useless or broken. I have lived in this house for two years with no hood whatsoever. I do cook most every night however and have cleaned up the grease myself. I'm bothered more by the smells of deep frying and stir-frying even more than the grease. When I would stir-fry in this kitchen my husband would come running in to open every available window door to let the smell out. So for me the hood was more about smells than grease. Last night when I did pan-fried chicken it took almost an hour since I couldn't find my big fryer and had to cook in batches. I asked both my husband and my daughter what they smelled and they both said "cooking". There were no heavy oil smells and the grease around the stove was pretty minimal. I did turn on the hood 10 minutes before cooking and used the 15 minute auto-turn-off switch at the end. We went out to watch fireworks and there were no smells when I got home. So I have to say that so far, I'm a happy camper. Like many of you, I wanted to get the best hood possible. I read great reviews of Kobe hoods here on GW and was all set to get one until I saw a picture of their island hood. I just hated it. It was then that I asked more about the Futuro Futuro and the few responses that I got were positive. That being said, they were not from people who were heavy grillers or stir-fryers. So I had to make a decision. I stir-fry maybe two or three times a month and I grill outside so that wasn't an issue for me, but I was going to be looking at the hood everyday. So I went for something that I thought might work well-enough and that would make me happy to look at. I have to say that so far I'm more than pleased. But Live Wire Oak makes good points and if it is all about function for you then you have to make your own decision. Carol08-In response to your questions, since we didn't have a hood before and because we have bedrooms above the kitchen I couldn't do a remote and I didn't do any noise deafening. I was fortunate that we could run the duct straight out from island over the soapstone sink and out. So it's a very short direct run. From what I understand, a lot of the sound issues come from the turns in the duct. Back to the Futuro Futuro, at it's lowest, I would say that it's very quiet and you can definitely hear it at the highest level, but at that level it should really be working hard. YMMV. I wish that I could give it a stir fry test soon, but they just started refinished the hardwood floors in the house and they asked me not to cook things that could splatter grease until they're done which won't be for at least 10 days.

The duct cover for the Zephyr is 10.5" wide by 10.5" deep. Cat_mom's does look a bit beefier. I was thinking about doing the white oval glass tiles just under the cabinets and to the bottom of the hood, then having a light to medium blue paint behind the hood and above the cabinets. I probably shouldn't rush the hood decision with several months to go before project completion. I just hate to pass up a deal, LOL. As of yesterday, I have purchased the fridge column, range, steam oven and undercounter wine fridge, which will soon be sitting in our garage. We don't even have bids from contractors yet (other than custom cabinets), but we have to do the kitchen now. DH likes that I have at least made some decisions and we are more locked into my last design now that appliances of a certain size have been ordered. I have fallen in love with slabs of white quartzite with blue veining, although I will not purchase those until we have a GC and counter sub hired so I can get pricing and they can verify my counters will fit on the 2 slabs. I have been trying to schedule a meeting with the architect for the last few weeks so we can get revised drawings and move onto the bid phase. He seems to have lost some interest in the project since I didn't immediately accept his proposed layout of how our house should look.

I only saw one Ventahood where I could try to figure out if the cleaning or the more raw underside would bother me, and it was not connected to power so I don't know about their sound level. I've heard they are quieter and I've heard they are louder. I think the looks of the cages vs baffles would be more of an issue for me. While I was trying to decide whether that was a bit "raw" looking, I was led to a guy at the place where I bought my appliances who said he'd seen and heard both side by side. He said the Best by Broan was better for sound and operation, so I went with it. Very scientific, huh? Unfortunately, buying a vent is like that. I have a 1200 cfm model with an external blower and got the baffles. The blower sits just above my sink on the opposite side of my kitchen (better than the toilet or shower straight above --LOL) and it is quiet when you are outside. I'm not sure that in my set up the remote blower made that much difference. If I'd have another inch or two, I'd have been able to put in a silencer. Most of the time, I run the vent on the lowest setting or up to about 1/3 power -- rarely over 1/2. At that level, the fan on my ovens is as loud. You barely hear it away from the vent, but you will standing right under it. At full power, you will hear it, but even then it is not as loud as the ineffective downdraft my last cooktop had -- with only one speed. If you turn it on when you first start cooking and run it higher for things like fish, popcorn, bacon, you will not smell them all over the house. I made 120 bags of popcorn, both on the stovetop and in the microwave (bags opened under the vent)one afternoon. I delivered them to the school, came home and could not smell any popcorn. Maybe it could be more perfect, but I'm happy with my choice.