Quiet range hoods
lindalouok
14 years ago
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friedajune
14 years agoya_think
14 years agoRelated Discussions
ProLine Range Hoods
Comments (9)Couple of comments @sfjeff - 1) I think its quite silly to judge a manufacturer's quality based on which domain name provider they are using or their MD5 certificate quality. Most of these manufacturers are small companies that usually don't even have a dedicated IT department. Unlike huge brand names who have global corporate operations, these guys can't always invest in the best "overhead" areas like IT, marketing, etc. In fact, if you had seen the bluestar website a couple of years ago, you would have said they don't seem to be a credible company at all. 2) I own a proline hood that I bought two years ago. Its a 900CFM chimney hood with stainless baffles. The reason for choosing it was similar. I was spending a lot of money on my Bluestar range top, cabinets, counters, and other appliances, and didn't want to spend $1000 or more on a more "brand name" hood. I looked at several hoods in high end showrooms before ordering a proline, and wasn't convinced that there is so much complexity in a hood that would differentiate one vs. another. The downside of a proline was that its online order only so you can't go and see them anywhere. I took the risk of ordering one, it arrived ahead of the estimated delivery date. Everything was packed perfectly. Everything installed as expected. I have been using it for two years and don't have any issues. The only comment I would have is that 900CFM seems inadequate *sometimes* when the bluestar is cranking, when cooking something with lots of smoke (like cooking a ribeye steak on high with the 22K burners. Most of the time, its perfectly adequate, but for those once in a while times, I wish I had gone with 1200CFM. The only issue that I encountered were one of the halogen lights went out. I replaced both halogen lights with LED lights for a while, which worked just fine, but the the LED lights had a slightly different contour, so they didn't sit perfectly flush in the light enclosures, hence providing a path for the smoke into the body without passing through the baffles. After a few months, I replaced with halogens again. Also, the main input panel with the fan speed buttons had one button stop working after about a year. I called Proline and got great customer service (it was a US call center). They sent me the replacement part and instructions overnight. I would buy again if I was looking for a new hood. Pics: https://app.box.com/s/dxa8wclyvnjqwblg0mvjo3hd7no3wnea https://app.box.com/s/zvpg2w9z51pg5rtcd1ysy8g3mdt7e2m9...See MoreNeed a quiet range hood recommendation
Comments (6)When we were looking for a hood 3 yrs ago, we went to a display which had an Alure III Broan and a Vent-a-Hood of same size and supposed capacities side by side. We turned both on and observed the sound. We bought the Broan. Then I found that it had been blackballed by Consumer Report that year. If I recall, they didn't like its sucking power or something. Nevertheless I am glad we bought what was supposed to be the quietest undercab vent hood on the market at that time. Manufacturers give you "sone" ratings which you can use for at least some kind of comparisons and that's what we used for our shopping criterion. We have problems with deafness. We know that we won't turn on a loud vent hood at all unless the need to vent is overwhelming. But the Broan Allure III has a very low setting which DH cannot hear at all (but I can). We use low a lot--for general "air out the house" as well as for capturing the steam when the oven is running or for a slow soup simmer and such things. I can hear the telephone ring and I can hear the person on the other end of the phone while this setting and the one above it is running. Usually I can understand the radio and t.v. also but the second, or normal setting, may be too loud for conversation or phone or t.v. sometimes. I use it for boiling noodles or tea water. The third setting is high. It is very loud for us. We use it when we need to deal with frying. We can stand to be next to the unit but it's not our favorite setting. Then, there's the 4th setting: Boost! That one is for extra strong suck. I have to leave the room sometimes when we're venting smoke and such because it's so loud. One of our favorite features is the "10-minute and then it's turned off" button. We can leave the room when fan is noisy and we don't have to worry about trying to remember that the vent is running. There are 3 settings on the hallogen light. We didn't like buying a hallogen unit because you can burn yourself on the bulb but after the first burn you train yourself fast in how to keep safe. It has 3 intensity settings. Filters are small enough that they can be put into dishwasher on the edge of the rack. They fit into a double sink basin, standing up. We planned to put a 90 degree angle into our pipe but there was a snafu (code won't allow venting into sidewalk area alongside driveway) so ours has straight up pipe through attic into roof. The model is notoriously difficult to install. I don't know if an Allure III Broan is even on the market any more. I think that the model class above it in pricing may also have low sound ratings. Elite maybe?...See MoreSlide out range hood?
Comments (5)Crl, I'm right with you -- small kitchen with induction and need to minimize the range hood or it will overwhelm the space. A quiet range hood is at the top of my list of priorities as loud hoods go unused in my kitchen. A hood with baffles is #2 on the list as my understanding is that the mesh easily becomes clogged with grease and is then ineffective. Plus baffles are much easier to clean which is another high priority on my list. I love the look of pull out range hoods but stats show none are in the quiet range except for the Empire with dual fans. Anyway, I've concluded that for me the best compromise is the Kobe RA3830SQB-1. The undercabinet portion is less than 3" high and the deepest part of the hood (at the middle) is about 20". This narrow depth means that frying or boiling should be done on the mid to back burners to capture most of the effluent as it rises which I am prepared to do to minimize the look of the hood. The best place to find accurate stats for this hood are at The Natural Home. I believe it is on sale now for about $660 which includes shipping. Since I don't plan to have MUA either, my plan is to never run the hood above 350 cfm unless the doors or windows are open (which is very rare here in Houston). If you google gardenweb kitchen forum + Kobe RA2830 range hood, you will find someone who installed another very narrow hood in their kitchen which looks really terrific. Since keeping costs down is a major factor in your reno, you might look at the Windster WS-5530 range hood which sells for about $350 and is well rated by many posters. It uses CFL for lighting. Anyway, good luck with your quest. I would be curious to know what you finally select....See Morekitchen range hoods
Comments (4)@Wendycarolceleste - your OP had talked about how your hood is so noisy, so I was explaining that could be due to ductwork, not just the hood. If your duct is very small, you might not get as much noise-level improvement with a new hood as you want. I think because you said your current hood is “slim” that I was concerned that if you replace it with a not-as-slim model, like a Ventahood, the new hood would be too low. So, if the current distance between your cooktop and hood is 28”, and your current slim hood is (idk) 4” tall—if you replaced it with a new hood that is 9” tall (a common undercabinet hood height) that means the distance between your cooktop and hood would be reduced by 5”, and only be 23”. That would be cramped. However, if by a “slim” hood you meant 9” tall, then there wouldn’t be the issue....See Moredavidro1
14 years agolindalouok
14 years agomark428_aol_com
12 years agofriedajune
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
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