IÂll share what I am doing about makeup air. I need to qualify this with the fact that we have not closed the house yet so performance is still to be determined. I researched commercial installations. If you are obsessive I recommend http://energy.ca.gov/reports/2003-06-13_500-03-034F.PDF. A recommended setup is to replace about 80% of the exhaust air with makeup air at the cooktop. Pulling the rest of the makeup air from the room seems to improve capture. We have a sealed combustion oil fired boiler and no fireplace so I am not too worried a slight negative pressure. Even with new construction there is still some infiltration. For example, the baths and laundry are vented to outside. Another thing to consider is the temperature of the makeup air. In cold climates it may be desirable to temper it. I am going to try it with no tempering, but I have made prevision to add a duct heater if it is required. My plan was to pull the makeup air from the outside; however, my builder suggested we pull it from the unheated attic. He thinks that increasing the air exchanges in that space would be a good thing, IÂm not sure. There are lots of ways to deliver the makeup air. One of the better ones is to deliver the air under the cooktop. My cooktop will be mounted in such a way to create a 6" x 40" channel under it. The end of channel is covered with a decorative grate. The air flows under and to some extent through the cook top, around the front, then up and out the hood. This pattern creates very effective containment of the plume.

As a general observation, this should be relatively easy. You should have several options. The simples, as kirkhall suggests, would be to vent the hood through the exterior wall directly out the side of the house. That has the advantages of being relatively easy to route the ductwork, and also giving you a very short run of duct, which has some advantages (minimal flow resistance, easy routing and installation). There are some potential disadvantages, however, of that approach. This approach virtually mandates the use of an internal blower (the electric "fan" that blows the effluent out of the hood_--so that the motor that powers the fan will actually be inside the actual hood. This is the most common arrangement, but it has significant disadvantages compared to a "remote blower"--a fan unit that is mounted at a distance, typically either in the attic, or on the roof. There is a much longer run of duct, which can be a challenge, but the big advantage is that the noise of the electric blower is moved out of your kitchen and the result is highly efficient ventilation and very minimal noise levels. Post this to the Appliance Forum where lots of ventilation-obsessed folks hang out, and give more specifics, and you'll get lots of good advice.

houses14, my Imperial range hood is not an insert, rather an under cabinet ss hood. However, the materials used, and the quality of construction, the fan motors, are the same with minor variances to allow for space restrictions within the smaller size of my hood. Construction wise, it is all that I had hoped for, was easy to install, and has functioned beautifully. Packaging and shipping were excellent. The ss is marine grade. This means that the amount of chromium in the ss will prevent rust from forming in the interior of the hood over time. The electrician informed me that their fan motors and switches appeared to be top quality. The warranty for my hood is 7 years, which is almost unheard of in the industry. Their specifications and installation instructions are right on to allow for optimal operation. For example, my duct is 8" from hood to roof jack and had to have a certain rise in height from the hood before the first angle in the duct work. Baffles remove and reinstall easily for cleaning. It was a joy to call Imperial direct with technical questions at their manufacturing headquarters in California. Someone was always immediately available to answer my questions regarding their vent hoods or recommended installation. My installer was promptly referred to their engineer for technical assistance as I requested that the wiring that would automatically turn on my hood once a certain temperature below the hood was reached be disconnected as I did not want that feature. To me, having that level of service available when answers are needed means a great deal. I found that the folks at headquarters were always honest even if it wasn't the answer I wanted and that they knew their stuff. Their light and fan switches are continuously variable which is rare on vent hoods. This means that they both function like a rheostat with a continuous increase, or decrease, rather than clicking up or down discreet notches, such as level 1 to 4. Also, I liked having the option of installing the switches wherever I wanted remotely, rather than being mounted to the underside of the hood. The hood easily handles removal of odors, steam or grease beneath it's surface. I've found that if the hood is allowed to run for about 10 minutes prior to cooking that it can be operated at a lower level and do a good job. The hood on low is fairly quiet but is noisier than I had anticipated at higher levels with having dual fans and baffles. Also, highest cfm level is 1000 which is a factor. However, I used a different size led bulb than Imperial recommended. I now have a gap around the bulb that needs to be filled with a rubber gasket. Also, the temporary roof jack is too large, and the correct one is waiting to be installed so the jury is still out on the noise issue. Noise level was quite an issue for me, but even if it remains unchanged, I would still buy the same hood given how pleased I am with the overall operation and that I can easily live with the noise that I now have. I'll have to look up the name of the online vendor I used and will add that information tonight.

Kksmamma, would I like a larger range? Well sure! Would I get use out of it? No! I have been thinking about what the previous owners of this house was like. There are miles of countertop along the wall run. All the uppers are 15â deep nice wood. There are two upper corner cabinets and two lower corner cabinets with the largest Lazy SusanâÂÂs one could possibly imagine. There are pull-outs galore in all the base cabinets. The doors are very thick solid cherry. Yetâ¦there is one little 30â slide-in range and no extra wall ovens. There is one regular sized refrigerator a mile down at the end. In this good sized kitchen the sink is directly behind the range. There is not even a recirculating fan to be found. Although I have never had the need for a prep sink in the smallish kitchens I have owned, this kitchen is begging for one. ItâÂÂs just me and my husband now so I really donâÂÂt have the need for bigger and more appliances but itâÂÂs odd that this kitchen seemed to want to be a real chefâÂÂs kitchen but fell short. IâÂÂm getting very sick of island range hood shopping and am thinking of the XtremeAir px05, it has the look of the Faber that I love, has decent cfm's and the stainless baffles I want and comes in a 42â and is half the price of the Faber. I really like the Faber but the model I want comes in 36â and 48â and IâÂÂm thinking IâÂÂll be safer on the paranoia as to scale vs. big island small range with a 42âÂÂ. Here is a link that might be useful: XtremeAir maybe This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sun, Dec 15, 13 at 12:27