how high is your vaulted ceiling?

i think a chimney-style hood with no cabinets would look best. i don't see the chimney hood as "just stuck in there" as it is mounted on the wall and extends up toward the vaulted ceiling.

you can compensate for the asymmetry with a backsplash, open-shelving, hanging utensil racks, even art.

take a look at kiffgirl's amazing chimney hood in the link below. good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Show me your SS chimney hood vent with flue extensions, pls

I don't know how much you want to spend, but I've always admired the hoods on the website below, but have never gotten one. I got a price on one once and decided to have my contractor build it instead, but only because I was concerned about it fitting into the space, and because of the time to get it. I went the easy route -- box with an arched front, and a mantle on it (mantle hood) all the way to the ceiling of course, to give the illusion that it was really a chimney. We had a Ventahood liner in it, which was loud but good. The hood really looked wonderful, I loved it and was so sorry to leave that kitchen when we moved.

Whatever you do, it looks like a wonderful kitchen. I think it's great you're taking so much care to make it nice for your vacation renters. Is it allowed by GW for you to post the info or say where it's going to be? We're looking for a vacation rental, preferably in Wisconsin but who knows.

Here is a link that might be useful: stanischi hoods

for what it's worth...
Went to Parade of Homes recently where I saw a number of built-in hoods. They all had a single Vent-a-Hood unit inside them. It has only two switches--a rocker switch for high or low suck and a switch for high or low light.

We have more options in our pushbuttonundercab Broan but I suspect that if you spend more than the POH developers did you can find custom units that offer more choices also. We are absolutely delighted with the "turn itself off in ten minutes" setting and we use it all the time. We also have a Boost setting which is really noisy but it puts the suck into overdrive. Additionally, the company claims that a sensor in the unit will turn itself on if there is high heat below it, but we've never had to experience that. To me, these features are all really useful. If I had renters, I would insist that the fan be used and I would be glad to have a sensor.

It appears as if you want a wood hood. Omega National (available at Kitchensource.com)sells hoods identical to the picture with the pink wallpaper and the picture to the right of it. (I have an extra 30" in red oak sitting in my garage) that they offer in many different woods. If you are using a common wood type like ash or oak or cherry, why not use one of the Omega National hoods and just have someone custom make a topper for it? The Omega National hoods use a very inexpensive vent insert made by Broan. They are prelined with metal to accept the insert. They are very nice, relatively inexpensive, easy to install and come in many different wood types to match existing cabinets.

I agree with ironcook and like Option 1. You can put the coffee cups anywhere else. With this option you can choose the least expensive hood option you have been offered. Best not to have to get something custom made for a kitchen you won't use.

You asked why not a 12 inch deep hood. I believe the hood has to extend over the cooking surface to work. Good luck!

Kiffgirl's hood is awesome. Our vaulted ceiling is not nearly that tall because it vaults in the other direction - out from the wall instead of along the wall. Where our hood duct meets the ceiling will be about 10 feet tall. Our cabinets end at about 8 feet.

Originally, I had thought we would have a stainless hood, but changed to wood at hubby's request. Now he doesn't care. He just wants us to finish the cabinet decisions - whatever works. For a 30" electric range, what is the recommended width of a hood ? I see on the AJ Madison website stainless hoods in sizes 24" 30" 36" and up. Could I use a 24" ? Or a 30" ? I think the smaller the hood the better so we can keep the cabinet for the coffee cups which will be right above the coffee maker to the left of the range. Also, the smaller hood will allow the upper cabinet on the angled wall to be wider without interfering with the doors/hood or having to use as much filler ? Thank goodness for TKO's at GW !! I really need some advice and help on this kitchen !!

OK, just got off the phone with the builder. He measured where the pipe comes out of the ceiling ... it is not exactly centered over the range because there was a roof truss in the way. But since we were planning to use a wood hood, that did not matter that it is off by about 3 inches. With a stainless hood it will matter because the flue that surrounds the duct is smaller than the surround on a wood hood which would have hidden that the pipe was off center. Arrrrrggghh !!

Thanks for the kind words bigdoglover. We are *trying* very hard to think of every detail for the comfort & convenience of renters for our home. This house will be oceanfront at Ocean Isle Beach NC (about 15 or so miles north of Myrtle Beach). We love it because the island is almost all individual homes (only one high rise on the island) so it is not crowded. But it is still close enough to go to Myrtle (or Wilmington) if you want to get in all the tourist stuff. I don't think I should put the link to the website for the home because I don't want to break GW's advertising rules. But if anyone is interested in renting it, please feel free to PM me.

Price is definitely a big consideration for our build. I was shocked that the wood hood in the KD's option 1 was $1900 more PLUS that included giving up the cabinet to the left. Part of our problem with that hood is how much more expensive it is than options 2 and 3. I have a call into KD to find out how much I would save by not having them provide any hood at all.

I don't want to sound cheap, but we are NOT the typical people who can afford/would buy an oceanfront home !!! We bought our lot years ago for a fraction of the value when it was non-buildable in the hopes that one day (retirement) we could build on it. We are amazed that it happened so much sooner and it is taking everything we have to be able to make this house happen. Once it is built, the rentals should pay for most of the expenses. Even though we think our weekly rental rates are pretty steep for the 9-10 weeks of peak season (and are MUCH higher than we have ever been able to afford to rent a house), we will be only slightly above the middle of going rates for comparable houses. And it will take every penny of that income - it is insane how much things cost, for example, our flood insurance will be about $4000/yr - this is for flood only not the rest of the homeowners insurance !!! However, our shoulder season and off season rates are MUCH lower - at the very low end of comparable rental rates - in the hopes we can attract some extra rental weeks.

florantha, I know nothing above vents. Yours sounds very good. What model is it ?

Disclaimer: I have no experience with custom hood units. It's interesting that in our most highly advertised local appliance company, the custom hoods are shown but NOT hooked up. Until you go listen to a hood, you have no idea how loud or muffled it is. Reviews do help because they list the sone level.

Ours is a Broan Allure III. We paid less than $400 last year including state tax. Came in white, black, or stainless and perhaps bisque but can't remember. It gets terrible reviews from Consumer Reports and on the GW Appliance forum, but I have come to wonder if the installations were done properly. It is very difficult to install. It's extremely quiet on the low setting; reviewers say that the low setting is really low sone level but useless for suck. We're rather deaf so we love this setting--it's better than turning off the unit altogether, which is what we're so likely to do if radio or television are on. Very good setting for venting steam from range oven below it or for things on simmer. Medium setting for eggs and bacon and such. High and Boost modes are very noisy but when they're needed who cares if you can hear--use for lots of steam, lots of smoke, lots of smell. Better to get the venting over with.

The Broan Elite has had better reviews.

By the way, if people are worried that a cabinet hood can't aid with the front burners they could put a spacer of some behind the hood and bump it forward an inch or two, but I don't think they should create a dead-end air basin behind the capture area of the hood; the spacer needs to be solid. Have no actual experience with this, though, and it would render the cab above even more useless and would put hood closer to your noggin.

Any of these is probably better than a microwave hood. As I said, I don't know squat about living with the custom units but I know that a non-vented hood is useless--we have one at the lake. Best to take the broiling outside.

As far as a hood width goes, if your range is 30", you need at least a 30" hood. The better recommendation is for the hood to be 3" larger on both sides of the range, so 36" hood in your case.

Minority opinion I bet...
(This kitchen is looking very familiar. Did you post original plans last year?)

One thing of concern for me is that you have such a visually strong peak end in the room that I would worry about making the range area a rival. I'd downplay the hood. Let the window and the peak above it be the stars.

I was typing up my response above when montana and sue responded, sorry! I do like the wood hoods but I do also like the stainless hoods. I also really like the mantle hoods. I have the same problem with granite ... I like almost every one I see. Too bad I'm not building several houses, haha !

The website for kitchensource is great. There are so many different style hoods to look at there. Thanks !

If I went with the Omega National hood (which looks just like the one that was option 3 above from the KD), what would you suggest for the looks of a custom topper ? I have played around with different ideas for that hood but have not come up with a very good one yet. According to the KD, that one has to attach to cabinets to the left and right, correct ? (we are using cherry)

Got a phone call back from KD. We will save $800 by not having them provide any kind of hood, so that's money we can put towards other options if we do stainless or a different wood hood. He had an idea for the stainless hood and the problem with the duct from the ceiling not lining up with the hood's flue. His idea was to have a metal worker "box out" the top of the stainless hood to hide the pipe. I mocked it up in my 3D program and also the custom hood pictured in the original post (the hoods below may not be exactly to scale but this gives a good idea of it, and of course the wood hood would match the cabinets).

(click on picture for enlarged view)

Florantha, yes I posted my plans last year (link to the old thread at the top of this thread in the first post). Kudos to you for recognizing it!! I thought this day would never come when we would be almost finished building !! Interesting point about downplaying the hood. Which option do you favor or do you have another idea for venting ?

hi angela...

here's a thread i remembered.

in the third pic of your opening post, with the hood shaped like an upside down T... instead, why don't you try a simple rectangular hood all the way up? then you could keep the cab on the left, and cover the vent pipe.

take a look at corrie's link labeled "charlie123", too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Help designing a wood hood that doesn't really look like a hood

Maybe not what you were going for, but a downdraft stove eliminates the need for a hood. That is what I have at home. I love it. It is amazingly effective.

I'm going to bow out. I don't know enough about what is on the market or what you want. Others can help you. Might look at the turquoise wall with the steel chimney/clear capture area vent hood that was posted on another thread.

Florantha is referring to Wizardnm's kitchen from the thread about white or cream with gray.

I have never seen a downdraft that works as effectively as an actual hood.

The company I got my hood from also has a selection of classic style hoods. Take a look at the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Classic style hoods w/ wood trim

Vent-a-hood has some styles you may like.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vent a hood

I don't see any need to go wider than 30" over a 30" range -- it's recommended for an island range, but not the same sort of issue when the range backs to the wall, especially when the hood is flanked by cabinets. As for as depth goes, it's nice to have a hood that covers the range top. At the same time, many folks with smaller (30") ranges are happy enough with 22" -- what's adequate is partly determined by the range itself (output), partly by the type of cooking you do, partly by the hood's size and geometry (the capture area is a 3D space, not just2D), partly by the blower or fan, and the ductwork, and, let's face it, by your own preferences -- what's required for safety tends to be a whole lot less than what's required to prevent any odors from reaching the dining room when you're making, say, butter chicken, or onion soup, or pan seared steak.

On the one hand, with a small electric range, I wouldn't sweat it too much -- lots of things are probably adequate. On the other, you probably do want ventilation to help control the smell and the mess in your beautiful new kitchen.

With all of that long, long ramble typed . . . we made due for 12 years with a low-powered, under-the-microwave, recirculating blower on top of a GE profile gas range. More or less worthless in containing smells (generally not such a problem for me, but it bugged my wife fairly often), fumes (sometimes a problem, even with a sliding glass door in the back of the kitchen cracked open and a fan in front), and splatter (sometimes a problem and sometimes not). We recently installed a bigger, and bigger output range (36" BlueStar) and a real hood, a Zephyr Tempest II with an 1100 cfm blower unit, and the function is an AWESOME improvement. We made due before. NOT going back.

Don't know if this will help or not, but Wolf makes chimney style range hood with a wider chimney. If your vent is not too much off center, this might work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wolf range hoods