Hi Rain,

Yes, lots of us are still here, and I hope you'll get the answers you need. You said this post was about the range, but it sounds like it's really about the hood. Once you've decided on what is possible to do, you might want to start another thread so the hood experts know to chime in.

First off, a practical question: Can you get a permit to remodel your kitchen given its quirks? If so, can you put your stove on an outside wall? Because that would be the very best way to make good venting possible--to vent out the wall if that's also acceptable to code and covenant. Since you mentioned your budget, I don't know if that would be too much for it, as well.

Tall men can usually manage fine with standard height rangehoods, or perhaps an inch or two higher, because the cooking stance isn't erect and eyes front. OTOH, given that your guy only has 5" clearance with that absurdly low ceiling, it may be more of a problem.

I don't know if you can get a good draw between the joists in your ceiling. The most important thing to know is which direction they run. If there's already a channel out to the wall, that's great, but if there are cross braces, conduits, etc., or if the joists run the wrong way, it's not going to work. Even if it doesn't draw as well as a perfectly sized round chimney duct, it'll likely be better than a downdraft.

If you can do it, I'm wondering if a ceiling mounted vent might actually work on your island. Lots of people talk about them for not ruining sight lines, which I don't have a lot of sympathy with usually because once they're installed people ignore them, and there's rarely a good reason to sacrifice the function. In your case, however, a ceiling mount would be less than a foot above optimum standard.

There are also pop up down drafts, which, while not being nearly as efficient as hoods, would be a lot better than your old range.