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help! vent a hood magic lung vs. m series or other

11 years ago

Please help. I just want to choose a liner for a wood hood our cabinet guy will build. I feel like it's been so difficult to get answers and just choose one!

We will have a Thermador 36" induction cooktop.

FIrst our guy at Ferguson gave me a 26" or 27" insert when I realize I need something larger.

SO, now he emailed me the M line insert from Vent A Hood. I called VAH and see that that product doesn't use their "magic lung" system. It has baffle filters and you buy the blower separate (600 or 1200 CFM)

There is an MSLD and MPSLD- not sure of the difference yet.

So, the MAGIC LUNG ones are the KH34SLD which says 250 CFM which is = to 375.. Says it is capable of handling equipment with a 900 CFM requirement. Really???

The BH234SLD is 600 CFM which also says capable of handling equipment with a 900 CFM requirement.

So--- is the magic lung system preferred or would you go with the M Line.

The woman said the Magic Lung system is filterless and is quieter, easier to clean once or twice a year.

Thanks so much!! Just want to settle this decision. OR, if there's another product you'd recommend let me know.

Featured Answer

clinresga

11 years ago

Clearly you haven't followed the VAH threads here. I'm highly biased, but I'd venture to say that the consensus here is that VAH "Magic Lung" hoods are overhyped, noisy, and clearly fail to live up to their "50% greater throughput" claim, which I believe to be utter nonsense. And they are undoubtedly a PITA to clean. I, for one, really dislike my 600 cfm VAH at the lake house. Comparing it to my Modern Aire hood with Fantech blower is like comparing a moped to a Ducatti.

But don't take my word for it, do a search on Vent a Hood on this forum and spend some time perusing. For starters, you can try this:

Is the Magic Lung really magic?

or this

vent hoods and noise: the real scoop

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

barjohng
11 years ago
I just finished struggling with the same issue. There seems to be a great deal of controversy about the magiclung and the ease of cleaning. I have spoken to some owners and they love them. As to their claim of their 600CFM being equal to other baffle or screen filter hoods rated at 900 CFM that appears to be valid based on two factors. First, there is at least a 20% loss due to the filters and second, many other units use a 7" or 6" duct further reducing their effective rate while VAH uses an 8" duct.

All of these numbers are ideals that are never achieved in real world application so you have to take them as relative comparisons and not much more.

I finally chose the Modern-Air duct as the best compromise as it uses an 8" duct, has an excellent reputation (made here in CA where I live) and very high quality construction and polished baffles with smooth rather than sharp edges. It was a little less than the VAH though that was not the deciding factor.
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2LittleFishies
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes, after I posted I did a search (backwards, I know) and saw the threads you posted.

I'll read them through again. What about the Vent A Hood M Series, then, which is NOT with the Magic Lung. http://www.ventahood.com/msld.jsp

Or, when I called Best the gentlemen directed me to this RMIP series.
http://www.broan.com/display/router.asp?ProductID=100124 The blower is separate the P5 or P8.
http://www.broan.com/display/router.asp?productID=1205

What do you think?
bonesoda
11 years ago
@2LittleFishies: I asked the M series vs magic lung question a while back... not 100% what answers i got but basically i went with magic lung 42". So far i have used it 4 times, all i can say is wow... this thing sucks almost as good as the big vents at the restaurant.

I seared some meat and there was no smell/smoke anywhere in the kitchen/house.
barjohng
11 years ago
There are many factors that go into performance such as what size ducting, how long the run, how many turns in the run, etc. The people I spoke with that owned them swear by them so I would be cautious on any radical posting on here. The simple truth is that one can get at least 20% better performance and possibly as much as 50% by having an 8" short run duct and no baffles. It really depends on your particular installation.
Victor G
last year
Magic Lung is amazing. Quiet. EASY to clean. Forget the baffles and loud fans. I've used a VAH magic lung for 7 years now and LOVE it!

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