Thanks, everyone. I just cooked my first meal on the new countertop with the new sink. I can see that I'll have to get used to things. Even though I have a pretty big sink, it isn't as big as before. My faucet reaches further and pulls out to spray. Cool, but let's just say that I was dangerous with that thing. I spent quite some time wiping off the counters after I got done, but I actually didn't leave the recycle on the counter, and I cleared them all off. Maybe this will be a good thing. I also discovered that they didn't caulk along the back on the sink wall too. They did on all of the other ones, though. Just one more thing for my talk tomorrow. Everyone sees the places in the granite that I do, but they don't think it's a big deal. I'll bring it up with the granite guy, and see what he says. I'll let you know.

Did some searches but didn't find info I was looking for. Anticipating gut kitchen reno. As required in NYC, air vent runs from kitchen ceiling to roof fan. (This vent is for room air, not a range vent.) Location of vent is currently immediately over cabinets which are about 1 ft below ceiling. The ceiling is dropped by about 1 foot compared to the rest of the apartment, presumably to accomodate vent ducts and upstairs plumbing. I am replacing cabinets and want to take advantage of the space below the ceiling. Ideally I would like to move the vent, though the reasonableness of this will not be known until the ceiling is opened. (according to GC's interviewed.) Vent is 8". If I can't move the vent to a location that isn't immediately over cabinets, I might be able to raise the ceiling, but I do want to maximize the use of this space for tall cabinets. Has anyone here faced this problem and what worked for you?

I don't know whether a city (or any other political entity) should have to power to determine whether one has to deal with grease on the walls or not, but I guess it is in the Constitution somewhere that I missed. As to effectiveness, GreenDesigns is correct for these reasons: The cooking plume diverges as it rises. In perfectly still air the ceiling aperture would have to overlap the cooktop by 6 to 10 inches all around the cooktop to intercept this plume geometry from all burners. Drafts can extend the needed overlap, and drafts become ever more effective at disrupting cooking plume flow as the gap between cooktop and hood entry aperture increases beyond, say, 36 inches. Even the modest effect of the countertop in directing some intake air is completely removed. Further, one wants a hood entry cavity of sorts to give the air flow time to overcome air momentum potentially causing the plume to reflect, in part, out of the capture zone before it can be contained and ejected from the house. As an added negative benefit, the large entry aperture required has commensurate high total flow rate requirements such that the flow may need to be 1800 CFM using a blower rated for 2700 CFM. (Look up the size of those at Fantech's or Greenheck's website.) Much better would be a semi commercial hood set at the usual 7 ft above the floor and requiring perhaps only 6 inches of overlap around the cooktop for an overall 3 x 4 ft aperture flowing 1100 CFM from a blower rated at 1600 CFM. (1500 might do.) Or follow GreenDesigns advice. Note that commensurate make-up air flow rate is required. And this in household's using gas combustion appliances is a safety requirement.

How about grease on the ceiling? In the first image below from Victory's website, the size of the single device is smaller than the plume size at the ceiling. Even though the slots can pull from across the ceiling, impinging plume effluent will deposit moisture and grease. In the second image, the larger area and lower height will be more effective, but a more conventional hood will be better for the same area, else commercial kitchens would use a different design. Also, note that the higher the aperture, the more the plume can be deviated by relatively mild drafts, and the greater the plume disruption due to people moving about. Obviously, the trades among affordability, performance, and aesthetics are up to the home owner, and to each his own. As one who weights performance within the limitations of the architecture most highly, my choice would be different.