You just might think you have 2 or 3 "Active" squirrels gardengrl. I betting you're wrong. I thought I had been averaging about three locals that have stripped a plum tree bare 7 years running. Since I've started growing more produce in my yard I've observed the following about FL Squirrels. They will eat plums, lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, tomatoes, green beans, green bean flowers, rose buds, grapes, blackberries and blueberries. I have personally observed them eating all of these things in my yard. I have also had them in the attic on more than one occassion. I thought I had rats making all that noise - surprise, it was a squirrel in my peanut butter baited rat trap. They are destroying all my hard work so I finally resorted to a squirrel specific tube trap. What I thought were 2 or 3 has turned out to be 13 in less than two weeks and there were two more investigating the trap this morning. You likely have a plague of squirrels brought about by peanut pushing neighbors. At least that's my problem.

If you look at the Modern-Aire site, they have several shapes where the front tapers at the top to the depth of an upper cabinet, and the sides are straight so as to butt up to, and cover, the yellow cabinet sides you mentioned. Their typical sizes are 18" and 30" high, but you could get a 24" custom one if your budget allows. Or you could get an 18" and have a box made for above it to cover that area and to which you could attach replacement moulding. The box could be made of either wood matching your moulding or sheetrock. Vent-a-hood has a stainless direct replacement if you decide to stick with the same size you now have. I'm attaching the link to the Modern-Aire page that shows their shapes. PS-10, PS-11, and PS-26 all have the characteristics I was talking about above. Here is a link that might be useful: Modern-Aire Hoods

houses14, my Imperial range hood is not an insert, rather an under cabinet ss hood. However, the materials used, and the quality of construction, the fan motors, are the same with minor variances to allow for space restrictions within the smaller size of my hood. Construction wise, it is all that I had hoped for, was easy to install, and has functioned beautifully. Packaging and shipping were excellent. The ss is marine grade. This means that the amount of chromium in the ss will prevent rust from forming in the interior of the hood over time. The electrician informed me that their fan motors and switches appeared to be top quality. The warranty for my hood is 7 years, which is almost unheard of in the industry. Their specifications and installation instructions are right on to allow for optimal operation. For example, my duct is 8" from hood to roof jack and had to have a certain rise in height from the hood before the first angle in the duct work. Baffles remove and reinstall easily for cleaning. It was a joy to call Imperial direct with technical questions at their manufacturing headquarters in California. Someone was always immediately available to answer my questions regarding their vent hoods or recommended installation. My installer was promptly referred to their engineer for technical assistance as I requested that the wiring that would automatically turn on my hood once a certain temperature below the hood was reached be disconnected as I did not want that feature. To me, having that level of service available when answers are needed means a great deal. I found that the folks at headquarters were always honest even if it wasn't the answer I wanted and that they knew their stuff. Their light and fan switches are continuously variable which is rare on vent hoods. This means that they both function like a rheostat with a continuous increase, or decrease, rather than clicking up or down discreet notches, such as level 1 to 4. Also, I liked having the option of installing the switches wherever I wanted remotely, rather than being mounted to the underside of the hood. The hood easily handles removal of odors, steam or grease beneath it's surface. I've found that if the hood is allowed to run for about 10 minutes prior to cooking that it can be operated at a lower level and do a good job. The hood on low is fairly quiet but is noisier than I had anticipated at higher levels with having dual fans and baffles. Also, highest cfm level is 1000 which is a factor. However, I used a different size led bulb than Imperial recommended. I now have a gap around the bulb that needs to be filled with a rubber gasket. Also, the temporary roof jack is too large, and the correct one is waiting to be installed so the jury is still out on the noise issue. Noise level was quite an issue for me, but even if it remains unchanged, I would still buy the same hood given how pleased I am with the overall operation and that I can easily live with the noise that I now have. I'll have to look up the name of the online vendor I used and will add that information tonight.

The detailed answer is "it depends," and if you want to deal with the impracticalities of adaptation, an existing hood could be covered. Lets review what these separate devices are. A metal (always) hood is designed to operate above flames and hot cooking devices. Its functions are capture, containment, and to be a fire stop. High quality hoods overlap cooking plumes adequately, have sufficient flow rate for containment, use baffles for filtering and fire stoppage. Hoods generally have polished sheet metal that is exposed and use relatively invisible welds. What does an insert have to do -- the same functions. However, what it doesn't have to do is look nice on the outside, as that will be covered. What does it have to do in addition: Keep the exposed wood cabinetry from being directly exposed to fire hazard underneath. For this, the insert should overlap the wood at the bottom. As might be apparent, to use a regular hood within a cabinet requires added sheet metal to keep cooking plume effluent from getting into the area between hood and cabinet. And it needs sheet metal added at the bottom (probably the same sheet metal) to protect the exposed wood. I don't have an insert type hood, so there may be other details of which I am unaware. I would suggest, however, that you not try to adapt a hood. On top of meeting functional requirements, you have to deal with code enforcement. Code enforcement generally works not from engineering arguments presented by the home owner tying to save a few bucks, but from comparing the installation to the manufacturer's installation manual. So any DIY's planning to design their own insert hoods are advised to get formal permission first from their municipal code enforcement officers. Note: Picture A is of an insert hood. Very likely Picture B is of a full metal hood for which the exterior metal is fancier than usual.