I would contact the manufacturer customer service 800 #. Sometimes their people have enough technical knowledge to help you sort this out. If it's too far off from the recommended height, they'll tell you.

Another thing is: Can you fashion some kind of prop and install it temporarily just to see how comfortable it will be to be in front of the stove. That might give you a quick answer.

Good luck.

I did speak to Best By Broan's technical support. Unfortunately she wasn't extremely helpful. Just said that 26" is probably ok but it sounds like 30" would be preferable to me. I've tried to hold up cardboard over the area where to hood will be, but it's still hard for me to tell.

That's why I'm hoping that someone on this forum has a 24"D hood installed at less than 30" above the cooktop and can tell me how it works for them.

Anyone?!

One thing you haven't mentioned is your height. This makes a big difference on where the hood is in relation to your head. I am 5'9" and have a hood that is at 29". When we remodel I want the hood at 30" since we are a tall family. Carol

No, we're not a tall family... I'm 5'6" and DH is a couple of inches taller. However, when friends/family are over, I wouldn't want the hood to feel noticeably low or for the slightly taller guest cooks to feel the need to duck.

Basically, I'd like for the hood to be as low as possible without feeling uncomfortable. I just can't figure out if 26" is ok or too low...

Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

I'd suggest first that you sketch to scale the counter/range and hood configuration from a side view, and then draw the view angles skimming the hood edge to the back of the cooking surface, and to the top of any pan you might want to see into on a back burner.

Where do these lines of sight intersect your eye heights? At the stove edge? Across the room?

The second test would be to determine for you and your DH the pivot points of your respective hip bending points standing at the stove, and the arc made by the tops of your heads. Put these on the drawing. How easily do you virtually whack your heads with this abnormally low vent hood?

Sometimes the desired hood height and size are just not practical to achieve under the established assumptions. Either the assumptions have to change (such as the cabinet above being untouchable) or one has to make do with a less desirable hood solution.

If I were forced to use a low hood, I would make it shallow enough (front to back) that it wasn't a hazard or sight line blocker. Then I would maximize the flow capability (but not over 2000 feet per minute velocity in the largest ducting I could use or the existing ducting) and only cook greasy stuff on the back burners.

kas

There's a thread on the kitchen forum about someone with a wooden hood mounted at 30" but her husband keeps banging his head on it. I'd be really careful about mounting your hood too low - at worst you'd need to have a new cabinet built above it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hood

Thanks for all the responses! The link to the other thread really concerns me. It seems like, for these serious hoods, everyone mounts them at least 30" above. I'm very upset w/ Best by Broan's installation instructions -- on the website, it says 30-36", but on the installation specs, it says 24-30". That's why the contractor did it at 26". And that's why any cost of modification will be on me!

I did just tape up a make-shift cardboard box to simulate the location of the new hood. It seems like, at my height, I wouldn't technically bump my head. However, my bangs may brush up against it when I'm reaching all the way to the back burners. I think raising it by 3 or 4 inches will make all the difference, and make it feel a lot more open and comfortable.

However, I just can't decide if it's worth the cost to change the cabinets! I already know that the builder will give me a very hard time if I ask him to do it. He's rushing to finish the job and won't appreciate changes. Oh, what to do... What to do!

It is easier to change things now than it will be later when everything is in place.

You're right, idrive... But I'm afraid that changing things will make my otherwise beautiful kitchen look bad.

The problem is that, from an aesthetic point of view, the kitchen looks much better with the 15" cabinets that the builder installed on top of the hood. There is already a valence-board type thing that you described over the big 64" window above the sink, as well as another one over the 54" fridge. The hood is between these 2, so having a 3rd valence there would really be overkill.

What do you think?! Is there anyone out there that feels 26" will be OKAY?

26" may well be okay for you. From a venting point of view it will be fine. As long as it's a metal hood and not a liner with a wooden frame over a gas cooktop then you should be fine from a fire hazzard point of view. The issue is how comforatble you feel with it at that height and whether there's a risk you'll bump your head.

YES, THAT IS THE PRECISELY THE ISSUE!

I just don't know how to figure out the answer without standing in front of it! I've been to several appliance stores but the 24" D hoods are all mounted much higher. Of course I would prefer it be at 30" but there's both a financial and aesthetic cost to it. I just don't know how "uncomfortable" the 26" will be. It seems like it might be ok since I'm only 5'6". It's borderline... On the other hand, I wouldn't want to be annoyed but the too-low hood everyday in my new kitchen in the future either.

eleeny,
If the hood was selected prior to the cabinets being ordered, it seems the issue could have been addressed so the desired height would be achieved. If so, your contractor was perhaps remiss in not attending to this detail. Couldn't he/she at least split the cost of a shorter cabinet to use with the selected hood?

I don't know that I agree that the contractor just picking a semi-arbitrary number in the range suggested for the installation is off the hook. BTW, Best by Broan also tells you how to figure the requirements for installing higher and other variations.

Back to the contractor -- this is the guy who has to make sure things fit, right? You are 5'6" and DH 5'8". He wants to put the front of that hood at 5'2". He doesn't ask you how you feel about having the hood 4" below the top of your head -- or more if you are wearing shoes? He doesn't ask DH if he's going to cook and if he's okay with a hood 6" below the top of his head -- 7 or 8" if he's in shoes? So it's all your fault? You do need to specify what you want, but I think that every designer and contractor should ask about your needs and preferences -- and they must ask, IMO, if they are going to do something that is not a customary and usual standard. Not that I'm an expert, but it seems that 30" is the most standard height. I had to do my research to get something higher.

Well, I'm not sure how much our particular contractor is responsible for customizing things for US specifically... He is a builder who built the house that we are purchasing. It was almost completed when we bought it. He had ordered the appliances but they hadn't been delivered yet. So we asked him to cancel it so that we could order our own appliances and he agreed to give us a small credit instead. When we went under contract, he had also agreed to install all appliances for us. That is why we're purchasing all these items for a house we don't fully own yet! We're planning to close on the house in a couple of weeks, as soon as everything is in place.

I should have specified the height that I wanted the hood, but it didn't occur to me that he would have it mounted so low. Yeah, I just assumed 30" is the standard height, which is fine with me... WHAT DO YOU THINK? How much can I expect a builder like this to "ask" me about such details?

@eleeny I know this thread is ancient. curious what you ended up deciding to do?