I would go 27" depth set at 30" - 36" from the cooktop, the closer you can go to 30" the better from a functional point of view.

The Bluestar hood and Prestige hood offer a larger capture area compared to the Modern Aire and Independent. Larger capture area is better for wok and grill cooking.

Another option/suggestion: 42" wide hood. This will give additional capture (very important) and move the upper cabinets 3" (both sides) farther away from the burners. This is important for the 22k burners.

Thanks for all the sage words. I am planning to use a 42" width hood. I do like the BlueStar/Prestige hoods very much, but I can't seem to find them in 27" depth. I'm set on having variable fan speed and dimmable lighting. The only hood that seems to fit this is the Modern Aire. Am I wrong? Is the Prestige available in 27" depth?

I think prestige just comes in 24" depth. Unless they have changed the design since I bought mine 3 years ago, my prestige has variable fan speed and dimmable lighting.

I'm grappling with a similar question - I just posted a message over in the Kitchens forum (http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg03204846777.html) asking about the Vent-A-Hood interior, but I was also wondering about the 24" vs. 27" depth.

Although I'm talking about a pair of BlueStar 22K BTU burners up front, I was leaning toward having more headroom with the 24" hood based upon VAH's guidance: "Projection- The hood should project out to the front edge of the front burners in order to properly capture cooking vapors".

Now, based on this posting, I'm guessing I should consider the Modern Aire... What sent you in that direction over Vent-A-Hood?

Hi Brian,

I've been researching hood choices casually for months on the Gardenweb kitchen and appliance forums. Only lately has our remodel taken off and forced me to get serious about a final decision. From the threads I've studied Prestige, Independent and Modern Aire seemed to have the most satisfied customers. (Abbaka may be excellent as well.) Vent-A-Hood had some happy owners but also had a large number of negative reviews--so negative that I ended up crossing them off the list of possibilities. If the reviews were to be believe VAH's magic lung system is fluff/hype and not up to the task of serious ventilation. It's also apparently noisy. This is exactly the opposite of what the salesman at my local appliance store said, but I've learned to trust these forums more than the advice of the stores in my area.

I suspect I'll end up appealing to Trevor for help on the hood dilemma when I purchase the BlueStar 36" in the next few weeks. If the larger capture area on the Prestige can compensate for the lack of 27" depth, then I'll likely go that direction.

Having said that, the Modern Aire hoods are gorgeous, seem universally loved by their owners, and have custom options other hoods lack.

Darnit. This really is a tough decision. MA would be much more expensive, but I don't want stir-fry fumes wafting through my home. If the 24" Prestige can't capture adequately for the BlueStar's grill and 22K burners, it will have to be MA.

Whoever would have thought that the hardest appliance decision in our whole kitchen remodel would be the hood? :)

lissbell: I do suggest you call Trevor: I purchased a 30" Bluestar, no grill obviously, and I got a 36" Prestige/Bluestar hood through him with the 1200 CFM internal blower. Trevor's advice on ventilation was really excellent and I am very pleased I got the bigger blower even though officially it might not be needed for the 30" range. Anywho, that hood pulls like crazy and I cannot imagine it would not ventilate a grill, despite not being 27". However, I am sure Trevor would advise you on that point. I have had many compliments on the solid sleek appearance of my hood too and I am very glad I purchased it rather than a fancier looking (and more expensive!) Modern Aire because in the end the plainer look suits me better. I don't know where the lights are on the MA but one thing I noticed about the Prestige hood is that because the interior profile puts the lights in the center (which I like) it seems like you have more actual ventilation area at the front of the hood. Does that make sense? I think I recall that is a design advantage of the Prestige, but again, my advice is to check that with Trevor. Good luck!

hello lissbell: yeah - the range hood is proving a more complex decision than I expected... I can relate to the critical reviews of VAH, and understand the contrast with other offerings. These critical posts seem to be mitigated by other posts that suggest the noise level of the VAH is the nature of all such hoods with internal blowers, and the relative cleaning processes seem to be the proverbial 6 vs half-dozen.

Also, I'm aware of over-analyzing the question of hood noise, since the blowers will only run at full-tilt for occasional brief periods (unlike the persistent noise of a poor dishwasher, refrigerator or oven). My wife compared my discussion of mounting a 1200 CFM external blower on our outside wall to Tim Allen's character on that old sitcom, and she has good point (Huhherrehh??? :-).

My hood dilemma is now aggravated by our desire to get a copper hood - the $ difference between the VAH copper overlay and a solid-copper M-Aire of comparable design is over $2K... Sigh.

External motor hoods-- have any of you BlueStar-ista experts considered using? We are installg a 36" cooktop (not the drop in) into a 27" deep counter and will be new to the bluestar world of cooking
Thinking of using the Franke hood with a 1200 cfm remote blower (so that motor and fan noise are exterior to kitchen)
http://www.frankeconsumerproducts.com/productdetail.php?prodid=386&node=16&group=113&lvl=1
Thots??

bicoastal: we're just now ordering the same BlueStar rangetop, so I'm not yet experienced with exactly how much venting I'll need when I get it really cranked-up and cooking, but all the guidance says 1200 CFM should be more than adequate for your peak cooking action. But there's more to it than the peak CFM rating...

My concern about the hood you reference is two-fold: 1.) Not enough volume. The dimensions of that hood at 36"x22" is below what's recommended for the power and size of your rangetop. This is coupled with the fact that there's really no available volume *within* the hood below those mesh vents. 2.) The noise. I'm reading that the noise of the air traveling through the system is more significant than the location of the relatively-quiet electric motors that move the air. A 1200CFM air flow whistling though those mesh filters may be pretty loud. Plus, you'll probably find the need to run the blower at full-tilt more often than not to compensate for the lack of volume with that hood model.

It looks like you're planning for / in-need-of some cabinet space above your hood on either side of the duct, but I would keep looking for a hood design that extends at least 24" out from the wall, preferably 42" wide, and hopefully deep enough to catch some of the rising vapors before they get sucked up the vent...

With an under-cabinet hood, you'll probably be hard-pressed to get the recommended 30" clearance between the burners and the bottom of the hood, but that's what I'm hearing is optimal.

Good luck with it,
-- brian