I was seeing too many reviews of Kobe owners having mechanical problems, especially at about the 5 year mark with their switches. As another reviewer noted, I also don't like that they seem to be frequently tweaking their range hood features and designs. My decision was to go with Imperial as I wanted reliability. Imperial is made in the US and warranty their better range hoods for 7 yrs. Their folks were always available to answer questions and seemed to be honest when discussing the negatives of some of their models. My installer had a question regarding the schematics and was promptly put through to their chief engineer. Imperial also had more options available. The light and fan switch are continuously variable rather than having a specific number of settings. I also selected the option of having the switches wired remotely, separate from the range hood. So far, I'm happy with my decision.

It definitely can be done, but also, definitely should be done using the right tools or machinery. When we needed to have our "chimney" (duct cover) cut down, we were "warned" that it needed to be cut using "X" in order to avoid bluing or discoloring the SS around the cut. The distributor of our range hood had it done for us by "their" guys, after DH marked where it needed to be cut. Had they not agreed to do it, I think we planned to contact our A/C guys and ask if they would do it (they cut ducting for A/C installations every day).

Sorry, I should have said the hood performance rather than the range performance. I'm thinking I will try it out this way though rather than tearing into my ceiling.

Hello, All of our range hoods CFM values have been tested by us and are 100% accurate. The reason our range hoods are the same price or cheaper most of the time is because everything we sell is all direct to consumer and is not done through retail or third parties. When calculating how much CFM you'll get realistically with your ducting, you are allowed to have up to approximately 40 feet of straight ducting before the CFM will start to drop off drastically. Any 90 degree turns will reduce this allowance by 9 feet and 45 degree turns by 4 feet. For example, if your ducting is 25 feet long but you have two 90 degree elbows it technically will equal 43 feet and thus you will see a drop in performance. In regards to the depth of the model "Typhoon", this is an insert range hood and thus going inside of a custom cabinet/hood. When fully installed and enclosed in something your total depth is actually going be 22"-24" depending on the enclosure. If the Typhoon is any deeper it will force your custom hood/cabinet to come out too far and start to be in the way. Hopefully this answers any questions or doubts!