We installed an under cabinet Zephyr in our lakehouse build 8 yrs. ago. It was our first experience with an outside venting hood and we were astounded at its efficiency vs. the OTR MW vents we'd had before. I use it all the time and it has never required servicing. Last year we installed a similar one in our remodel at home. I'm very pleased with that one, too. My style hoods are nothing special to look at, but they unobtrusively do the job with a minimum of noise. I'd have no hesitation going with another Zephyr or recommending one to a friend.

I have a Bluestar 30" RCS v2 and a Zephyr Napoli 36" island hood (ZNA-M90CS). The stainless steel color match is very good. To my eye, they look as if they were made from the same batch of steel and brushed with the same tools and technique. I really love my Bluestar RCS but I have mixed feelings about the Napoli. It looks really nice but it is a lot noisier than I expected. Technically, the noise volume is relatively low and to spec -- ranging from about 40dB(a) to 66dB(a) depending upon the fan speed setting. The problem is not the noise volume, but rather, the quality/pitch of the noise. It is not the low frequency sound of air rushing through the baffles. It is a higher pitch whirring motor/fan sound right at ear level.. You can easily talk over it with normal conversation, but it is quite irritating to listen to. Also, as an island hood, its flat bottom capture area it is not very effective. If I place a steam kettle with its spout directly under the center of the hood (the baffles are 33" above the burner grates), a large portion of the rising steam hits the baffles and then just rolls around and up the sides of the hood to the ceiling. There is no effective storage volume below the baffles to capture and hold the effluent long enough for the air flow to completely exhaust it into the duct. In retrospect, I would rather have an island hood with an external blower and deep recessed, angled baffles.

which 42" hood did you go with? I'm also deciding betwen the Elica (leone) and Zephyr (essentials europa). Both 1200CFM, range is a 6 burner gas range.

I have a 54" zephyr monsoon and I would recommend it. As Jackie says, it is easy to pop off the filters and run them through the dishwasher. There is another piece of sheet metal at the bottom (where the bottom of the baffles sit) that also easily comes off for hand cleaning, it is too long for the dishwasher. You will also need to occasionally climb up and wipe down the non baffle surfaces, but being smooth sheet metal it doesn't require a lot of elbow grease. Presumably that would be the case w any hood. The grease on the baffles can get stubborn and even out of the dishwasher there remains some residue, but it can't be seen once they are in place. I have power washed them once or twice and that works, but it isn't necessary. I do a fair amount of high heat cooking and given the purpose of a hood I think some residual oils is unavoidable after years of use, but overall I can't imagine cleaning could be much easier than removing baffles and putting through the dishwasher, which I would say gets them to 95% clean. Better residual oil on the baffles than just about anywhere else. It is doing its job! The lighting is nice and it came with a remote so you don't have to stretch to get to the controls if you don't want to.