erikanh: that's the first picture of your hood/range I have seen, and it rocks! Totally different look than our kitchen but I love it. The way you've assembled the critical elements of cooking into a compact, incredibly efficient layout is fabulous. It makes me want to drop everything and start cooking right now. And, of course, the hood is gorgeous. Great job. rgjem: you are asking the right questions. Clearly if you are ducting straight out the wall, with only a very short run of duct, there is little advantage of an external blower, as the distance is too short to give you the noise reduction you'd want from an external blower. The alternative is to run duct all the way up to the attic and roof. That's what we did. That allowed us to use a Fantech inline blower and silencer, and the result is an unbelievably quiet hood. I am totally ecstatic with it, but others might not find it quite as ideal. The duct installation was a nightmare, involving many hours of HVAC consultation. The performance of the blower is reduced by the long duct run, though the layout of our range (which is in an entirely enclosed alcove, which greatly enhances hood performance) compensates totally: I can sear at max temp and have not a wisp of smoke escape. For me it was a no brainer but many others, who would prioritize cost, and maximum cfm performance, would choose otherwise. I am going to take the liberty of quoting a recent email from Jeff Herman at Modern Aire which I think is the clearest explanation of the pros and cons of internal vs external vs inline blowers (Jeff was aware I might do this). It was directed at another potential customer who had corresponded with me, thus the reference to my (Mark's) hood: Our hoods are supplied for use with our internal motors 600 Â 2400cfm, Abakka exterior blowers 1000 and 1400cfm, and Fan-Tech inline blowers so switching for the fan is not a problem. If you are planning on using the Fan-Tech inline I highly recommend using the silencer. It makes a very dramatic difference in regards to air and motor noise at higher speeds. The Abakka exterior blower is the quietest option we have going right now, but the performance is not as good as the inline IMO. If pure performance is the most important then our internal blowers are the best way to go, they are louder in comparison to MarkÂs set up, but are moving more air then the inline or exterior blowers at 1200CFM. Our internal blowers compensate for higher static pressure loads and do not slow down when connected to ducting making them a great choice for super long duct runs or duct runs with many turns or transitions" HTH

I am on the point of ordering a black LaCanche Cormatin and am looking for a custom made hood. I'm willing to go with a Modern Aire, or a Vent-A-Hood, and am looking for a custom made one only because the Modern Aire and VAH internet sites are so intimidating. My understanding is that the hood should have at least a 600 cfm fan, that it should extend forward over the entire range 30" from back wall, and that it should be 30" above the top of the burner grills. Am i right so far? ginger in georgia

This posting below dealing with my difficulty in trying to gain specific information from Independent may be relevant to your choice. Their hoods may indeed be excellent and their quality high, but they seem to lack the means to deal with a very simple question. I would be curious to learn if Modernaire would respond any better. Have you contacted either about local service? It strikes me as a good step to take before buying any appliance. Has anyone any experience with the quality of post-sale service offered by different hood/vent manufacturers? I have seen very little discussion of this issue. Before I buy a big-ticket item I like to establish what the local service is. Normally I contact the manufacturer and get the name and number of the authorized service representative. Over several weeks I have tried to get this information about Independent Independent Inc. 3663 Barron Way Reno, NV 89511 775-358-0263 Toll-Free: 800-7-NEVADA 1-800-763-8232, Fax Number: 775-358-0288 independent@kitchenhood.com Sales manager: Gary L. Schnepel Sales Manager cell 775.343.8123 fax 831.303.4349 gschnepel@kitchenhood.com www.kitchenhood.com Despite multiple phone conversations and email exchanges and despite their claims that they would provide the information, they have failed. Finally I made one last effort and they said they would no longer discuss the matter with me directly and instead I must deal with their so-called "local" sales representative who is located about 200 miles away. The sales representative then sent me this statement: "Independent will pay reasonable service claims to any qualified servicer for warranty work. However, in the off chance you will need work done; a quick call to the factory to let them know of the problem would be wise. You might have a minor problem that you could fix yourself, or they will be able to tell the technician what is needed." This policy seems reasonable, but it would have saved a lot of bother, if they had shared it initially. There still remain the problems of who defines "qualified" and how to contact a factory when they failed to respond to my simple inquiry. Bottom lines: How finicky are hoods? How likely are there to be service problems? What is Independent's track record?

I suggest that you draw to scale a side view of the range top and hood with a stick figure cook in front of the range. Observe sight lines to the pans at the back. Observe the effect of the (tallest) cook's bending forward on his head intersection with the hood. If the hood is drawn on a separate piece of paper, it can be moved up and down to see the effect of placement. Mine is at 34.5 inches. While the hood should in principle grow in aperture area as the aperture is placed higher and higher over the range to maintain capture percentage, this is not usually bothered with in the region of 30 to 36 inches, particularly if you have already addressed hood overlap with the pan bases. Note that commercial hoods typically are at seven feet from the floor, i.e., 4 ft above the cooktop. A typical size is 4 ft front to back and significantly longer than the cooking zone. This deals with the expanding rising plumes, and also with cross drafts, which should no be neglected from consideration in residential applications.