We have a Vent-A-Hood above our gas cooktop in our summer kitchen and it is loud. It draws very well, but is only a single speed, therefore I cannot quiet it down. They are a quality hood with a good design for drawing smoke, but I hate the noise. Many times we just let the smoke drift away on it own. Too loud for me. Probably need to have both of them demo for you before making a decision.

Ventahoods are terrible for cleaning. They have the most surface area of any hood for grease to collect on. I would only recommend a hood with baffle filters as they offer the same performance as VAH. Mesh filters reduce air flow considerably. VAH firesafe magic lung is under attack by Broan. As long as the hood is on, a baffle filter is fire safe...the only filter approved for comercial use. VAH design has been around longer than its patent and no one in the world has copied its design. Leads one to wonder. I have been hearing alot about Independent hoods lately...they make some for Wolf.

The Viking and Ventahood were our two finalists as well. Go and check both of them out in person. We found that the Viking was quieter at low settings, but the VAH was quieter at the high settings. It's funny that applianceguru thinks the VAH is terrible for cleaning....DH picked the VAH b/c to us it's easier to clean! Different strokes for different folks.

I have seen Applianceguru repeatedly on the Appliances and Kitchens Forums denigrate VAH for some reason. He/she has some kind of ax to grind. If some people find a VAH hard to clean, OK, they should report it on this forum. I love my VAH, and don't find it at all hard to clean. But the comment about "surface area" makes no sense. Where did that factoid come from, and how is it measured, and how does Applianceguru know the VAH's surface area compared to the hundreds of other hoods on the market? What about all the hoods that are glass, or are curved, or are huge rectangles, or are island hoods, or are chimney hoods--how does Applianceguru conclude their surface area is smaller compared to a VAH? I would disregard that comment as nonsensical. Anyway... I love my VAH so much that if I had to move and redo another kitchen, I wouldn't get anything else! The "squirrel cage" technology just makes logical sense to me. Mine is very quiet, but my ductwork only has one bend and then a straight shot outside in about 7'. That minimal ductwork helps a lot with the quietness.

I can't comment on a Viking hood--don't know anything about it. I do have to agree with Applianceguru about the Independent hoods. Independent used to make all the Wolf hoods, until Wolf decided it wanted to make its own hoods, ending their arrangement with Independent in Dec. '06. If I were to choose a baffle hood, I'd get a Wolf or Independent.