Thanks, RChicago! I've narrowed my choices to either a VAH or a Modern-Aire hood. They offer 600 cfm and smaller hoods that I can vent directly out the back wall. It's too costly and way too complicated to vent the hood vertically (there's a large bedroom window in the way). I had to rule out a number of others because they either were ridiculously overpowered for my needs - no way could I avoid MUA costs - only vented vertically or required at least 24" of vent pipe to vent to the rear (couldn't accommodate), or were too expensive. I've read through dozens of old threads about ventilation, plus I've consulted several experts (ventilation reps and CMKBDs) and I've concluded that 400 cfm will fulfill my needs. I know that's going against GW wisdom that bigger is always better but oh, well. :) Our 20 yr old pop-up downdraft is rated at 500 cfm for our standard gas cook top (rarely used it on high, too danged noisy and it sucked the flames sideways). And yet I'm quite sure that a 400 cfm hood will easily beat the ventilation pants off that old pop-up downdraft. I'm leaning towards the Modern Aire. I like its appearance plus, at 24" deep, it has a better capture area than the 300 cfm VAH (only 21" deep). In case anyone else is on this same quest, here's the list of possibilities I compiled, in no particular order: Imperial Prestige DCS Wolf Modern Aire Viking VAH Kobe ZLine A few brands never made the list because they were poor qual1ty. I looked briefly at Best but their baffles were backed with mesh (what they apparently call their hi-low filter system), which is not what I wanted. This post was edited by lisa_a on Fri, Sep 26, 14 at 11:31

You have the wrong fan switch or it is wired wrong that i will tell you. I will not tell you how to fix it without seeing it. It could be a liability issue if you burn down the building. your maintanence man knows about this and that is why he tells you to run it on high to cool the heating elements.

Alexcmia, It appears that the tee into the riser was installed too low and the p-trap was shortened to remain above the ceiling tile (For starters) The blower is probably sucking air thru the trap because it is not deep enough. A second problem is, why is there sewer gas in a condensate line? check the termination point of the riser, it should be an indirect connection to the sanitary sewer. It is probably direct connected and causing gases to be sucked up into the blower. An HVAC guy could probably solve the problem quickly. Take Care Dan Martyn

zippyhvac: I am restricted by the condo association with regard to putting in an arrangement that you're talking about. Thanks for trying, though. baldloonie: Granted I get some insulation from the one unit above me and the one unit below me, but it is an old brick building (built 1972-1976) with no insulation in the outside brick walls. I'm a 1313 sq. ft., 3 bedrm./2 bath, end unit with three sides of my condo exposed to the elements (windows on all 3 sides). The windows are a good size. MBR: two windows; one is 69 x 78 inches, the other is 21 1/2 x 78 inches. MBR closet: one window 21 1/2 x 78 inches. BDRM 2: one window 69 x 78 inches. BDRM 3: one window 45 x 78 inches. KITCHEN: one window 21 1/2 x 78 inches. LR: one window 144 (12 feet) x 78 inches. DR: one window 45 x 78 inches. I will not be adding insulation to the floor, ceiling, or outside walls as these are considered common element items. There will be no changes to duct work either. According to my rough, rough, rough, layman calcs., I can't go any lower than 2 tons, and I say I that the 80% furnace needs to output 58,500 BTUs of heat at the end of all calculations. I'll be getting more estimates, and perhaps one of the techs will perform a manual J. I can't make them do it, and I certainly don't want an adversarial relationship with the company servicing a system I might buy from them (saying Damn girl. What does she know about HVACs). Right now, I think my main concern has to be finding someone who won't try to talk me into getting something other than a thru-the-wall AC unit and knows how to install/service it. I am a female and this is not my forte. All I have at my disposal is 7 days' worth of Internet reading: R22 versus R410, Manual J, Manual D, copper tubing, two-stage systems, variable blowers, don't oversize, mismatched inner components, wrong temperatures used in calculating Manual J, excessive bells and whistles on some systems, top-of-the line systems, intermediate systems, low-end systems, different brand names made by the SAME PARENT COMPANY with varying quality levels, SEER, EER, HSPF, BTUs, tonnage, etc. My head is swimming. One of my next estimates will be from the company that used to service the HVACs for all the units in my entire complex (they could be a little surly at times, but oh well, maybe they were having a bad day). The present company the complex uses never got back in touch with me. Again, thanks everyonne!