Ani, I answered some of your questions in your other post. We went with the Symbol - sleek but with a HUGE capture area pulled by fans, almost the whole width of the fan and about 12" front to back.

Some of the sleek hoods, including those made by Miele, have those glass covers that theoretically enlarge the capture area. Not true! Once the pollutants hit that area, they have missed the exhaust fan and are dispersed out sideways. You need something that draws through the maximum area.

Yes it's true that the more area above the filters, the more efficient the fan but that leads to a chunkier look. We hopefully made the best decision for us by going with a much higher cfm than we need, 940 actual vs 450 recommended, and huge capture area bigger than our cooktop: 48x24 fan over 36x24 cooktop, while still maintaining clean streamlined looks.

Our cooktop does say falmec on it, and it's made in Italy. Our GC says it seems like very good quality when compared to others he has installed. This was the first Futuro installation for him. It's installed but not hooked up to power yet so I can't say how it works yet.

{{gwi:1465132}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Island Symbol on Futuro

Ani, i also answered your question on another post, but i'll paste it for you here as well:
----

I also spoke to my local dealer. I was interested in Miele and Futuro Futuro range hoods. The salesman began to explain that Miele and Futuro Futuro do not make very good range hoods, and that he would recommend a Zephyr... Coincidentally, the only brand of range hoods available at that showroom was Zephyr (BIG SURPRISE!)lol.

So I went to a showroom across the street and took a look around before talking to the salesman.. This showroom had a Miele range hood on display, so I asked him about Zephyr. And guess what? The salesman began to explain how Miele is known to make the best appliances and that Zephyr is not a very good brand...

After talking to the second salesman, it became very obvious to me that they only "push" the products which their store has in stock.

I went home and looked more at Futuro Futuro hoods online.. I couldn't find one in a local showroom but the price on Futuro Futuro hoods is MUCH more competitive than prices for Miele or Zephyr.. I thought that maybe its BECAUSE they sell online that their prices are so cheap.. I mean nowadays you can't compete with online stores..

Anyway, the Futuro Futuro Symbol hood is the one I liked the most anyway so that's the one I decided to purchase. My biggest concern about ordering online was getting it delivered in good condition and I was shocked when the package came as it was the best packaging I've seen in my life.

My contractor made positive comments about this hood - he said the quality is very good, much better than the hoods he commonly installs.

Anyway, it's up and it looks beautiful! Heres a picture:
{{gwi:1461517}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Futuro Symbol Island Hood

Hi, loves2cook4six and chrispulaski,

it's been a long time since the last post on this thread, and I don't know if you two are still hanging around the GW forums, but if you are, would you mind letting us know how your Futuro Futuro Symbol hoods are working out for you?

We are quite intrigued by the FF hoods, and since we're planning a 36" gas cooktop, we're thinking about one of their 48" hoods. Like you two, my personal style preference among the FF 48" hoods is the Symbol. So, we were wondering if you could comment on the performance/upkeep/practicality/beauty (or any other aspect) of your hoods now that you have lived with them for a while.

One thing we're wondering about is 48" vs 36" hoods, over a 36" cooktop. I wish FF had some choices in between those two sizes. Do you think your 48" hood over a 36" range was the right choice? (Chris, I'm guessing from the photo that those are your hood/cooktop sizes... please correct me if I'm wrong!) Or does the 48" seem like overkill, either in functionality or in looks?

Thanks so much for any input!

Best regards,
r.a.

I know this is an old thread, but here's how Futuro customer service responded to me the other day about the difference between models and performance, especially side capture performance. Note that they say the Plane model has a "perimeter suction system". I can only go with a 36" wide hood due to island configuration and size restrictions.

"We offer a selection of 36" wide island-mount range hoods, most of which are 22"-24" in depth.
Regarding the capture area of different models, there's not much performance difference between models with 3 filters (Streamline/Galaxy/Plane, for example), and models with 2 filters + glass panel.
The reason for this is, even with a full-width filter area, there's much more suction in the center (where the blower is), and less on the sides - so changing the sides from a filter to a panel doesn't make much difference in the end.
To maximize capture performance, some of our models feature the "Perimeter Suction System", which draws air through collector slots, creating an "air curtain" effect and in addition, distributing the suction more evenly so there's bettter capture performance on the sides.

For maximum efficiency, we would recommend the following 36" island-mount models, in order of descending capture performance:

#1 - 36" Gullwing Black or 36" Gullwing White - motorized panels open to maximize capture area.
#2 - 36" Lido Island - extended glass shroud maximizes capture performance.
#3 - 36" Europe, 36" Integra (available in Black, Mirror, and White), 36" Lombardy (Black or White), 36" Plane TOP - Perimeter Suction system for improved performance.
#4 - 36" Acqualina Glass - curved panel directs air into the filters, more effective than flat surface.

Other models, such as Plane, Moon Crystal, etc, are also effective, but if you're trying to get as much capture as possible, the models above are recommended."

Capture is the first step, containment is the second. "Maximum" capture and containment is achieved with typical commercial hoods. See reference material at "My clippings."

There is a reason why the approximations to commercial hoods sold by Wolf, ModernAire, and several other manufacturers of residential hoods have relatively large capture apertures, use baffles, and also have large capture volumes. All to ensure both capture and containment, given sufficient (and affordable) flow rate (cfm).

In my view, while it is possible for mesh hoods with minimal capture volume to work adequately (which for me is no odor outside the cooking zone when burning bacon), such hoods have to extend the mesh filters as far as the entire area of the expanding rising effluent at the height of the hood, and have significant air flow to get all the effluent through the meshes before any reflects away and curls out of the hood where it is lost to removal until several replacements of room air occur (if it doesn't condense on the walls).

kas