Here is one which has 600 cfm and much less expensive. I've been using my Blue Star for about a month, completely ventless and while it's certainly not ideal and I don't intend to go topless forever, I've never had to clean the window yet. Just ran my finger along the window pane and felt no grease. There is a window to the left of the rangetop which I open when I'm using it. That helps somewhat. Having the range in front of a window doesn't seem to be as problematic as people think. I do have 4" of counter behind it, so it's not right up against the window. Our kitchen is on the north side of the house so we wanted as much light as possible. A vent hood which blocks less of the window would be nice. Here is a link that might be useful: Less expensive

Yes, you can use solid metal ductwork for your dryers exhaust. You need one with two 90 degree bends to get from the dryer to the pipe and then straight out to the exit on the house. The pieces just go together by pushing them together. Use straps made for this purpose to hang them up. You could call in a chimney sweep every couple of years to clean the pipe out. That's what we do. That flexible plastic tubing is indeed a fire hazard. Lint builds up inside (as you have seen) and can catch fire. Lint from dryers is very flammable. You can mix it in with some hot wax and make fire starters for your fireplace! Plus your dryer will dry so much faster with the metal ducting. Just make sure you buy an outside vent cover with a door inside so you don't get insects and snakes coming inside via the duct work.

"How heavy are range hoods?" Short answer: Weight is proportional to size and to performance quality. My Wolf Pro Island hood (largest size) required a hydraulic lifter used to hold sheet rock against ceilings to hold the hood up while two people standing inside wiggled it into alignment and inserted the bolts connecting it to its previously lagged to the joists chimney fixture. A team of six might have been sufficient without the lifter. It only took two people, though, to lift the hood (sans baffles) onto the lifter arms. Simple under-cabinet hoods without blowers may be feather lite by comparison. These examples should not be interpreted to assert that an adequately large high performance pull down hood couldn't be manufactured with appropriate bearings and springs to allow light force to move it. I imagine significant expense would be applicable. The blower might be better put on a roof, a wall, or in-line. In many configurations the remote blower allows insertion of a silencer into the duct path to significantly reduce noise.

Thanks all that commeted so far! This reno wouldnt happen for another few years atleast. I guess I should have been more clear, that this wouldn't be all that I would change in the grand scheme. I’d be changing the cabinets out and taking out that L shaped island completely (there used to be a wall there). The fridge would go next to the range. Where the current fridge is, I’d like to do a smaller rolling island that can be tucked under the cabinet, creating more open floor space. The future sink wall would get a new window that would look out to my backyard and the dishwasher would go next to it on the same wall. The current window looks out to my neighbor and driveway which I don’t enjoy looking at. That’s why I was thinking of trying to salvage the frame/trim for the range hood eventually. Maybe tile it or paint it as part of the backsplash. The former owner (who did a half ass job with the kitchen and bath because they rented it out) used low end-everything and we are slowly re-doing everything, as its starting to fall apart 10 years later. Thankfully they left the oringinal floors, trim and plaster walls intact. Thanks again everyone :)