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Who makes the quietest and most efficient hood?

13 years ago

Hey gang. I haven't posted here in a couple of years, but I know this is the place to get information on appliances.

Long story short, I need a 30" under-counter, roof venting hood over my induction cook top. I had a Kobe (2007) in my previous home, but I felt it was too loud, and I didn't like the lights because they were expensive tiny halogen bulbs that got too hot and burnt out every 2 months.

Who makes a decent quality quiet and efficient unit these days? Is Kobe still the popular "bang for your buck" unit?

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Comments (4)

User
13 years ago
what do you mean by efficient ???

Do you really want to engage in a discussion about thermodynamics here ?

re: the lights - are you sure you were using the correct wattage replacement bulb?

you should probably be looking into a remote or roof mounted blower if you thought the KOBE was too loud.
guadalupe
13 years ago
What is the size of your duct work, if the Kobe seamed loud your duct work was probably smaller then it should have been
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Please review ventilation topics on this forum. If "over the oven" refers to a cabinet mounted wall oven, the options are limited. Commercial systems are called eyebrows and hang over the oven. These might not look acceptable in a residential kitchen. One can put a largish register in the ceiling and vent it through a separate system from the ventilation hood over the cooktop. Effluent from the oven will, however, spill into the kitchen when the oven door is opened, and this ceiling system will only remove it by air changes because it has no direct capture capability. Some enterprising high-end oven manufacturer should provide an outlet that can be connected to heat resistant insulated ducting and design the oven's convection cooking fans to eject enough internal air when the door is opened to minimize effluent into the kitchen. Presently, the Wolf (for example) just shuts the fans down to keep from blowing hot air into the cook's eyes. kas
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Efficiency is a different kettle of fish. Flow rate (cfm) depends on the fan power and design, the losses in the baffles, ducting, transitions thereto, and house negative pressure due to insufficient make-up air. At best, VAH claims apply only to their hood as an entity, versus someone else's fan without a hood. But all fans have a fan curve, and as the pressure losses grow, the cfm achieved is reduced. I have never seen a fan curve from VAH, so I don't know how their fans behave when inevitable additional pressure losses are present. Some other fan with a more convex fan curve could have better flow in a given situation, even if not as good in the open air. Properly designed fans, whether squirrel-cage, axial-propeller, or radial propeller, will at their designed operating point be similarly efficient. Power in times efficiency equals work per unit time out. kas
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kimba00
Original Author
13 years ago
antss, I remember you. Efficient meaning cfm rating. I was using proper wattage bulbs. In fact, the replacement bulbs were what Kobe recommended. Dunno why they kept burning out.

guadalupe, I remember you too :): I doubt it since the duct work was put in place by my builder ex-husband and was put together according to Kobe specs. It was only loud when I used the higher settings, so perhaps I am being overly critical in that regard.

This is not a new home that I am in now. Today, my handyman ripped out the old Kenmore microwave that was there and we see that the vent goes straight up to the roof. I'm at work now, but the hole seems to be about 5" give or take. It's been a while (2 years) since I last remodeled a kitchen and I remember now how expensive it get if you cook seriously. I guess none of the units Sears carries will make me happy?
User
13 years ago
you already surmised the light problem - heat. Usually when the bulbs go soon or are too hot the wrong wattage is being used more often then not.

a 5" or even a 6" which is more likely what you have is pretty small especially for a hood that moves more than 400 cfm.

Sear's offerings might do for you, how often are you using the highest setting?

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