For noise reduction, get one with a remote or inline blower - i.e., the blower is farther down the line, not right at your head level! :-)

Based on the type of cooking you do, I strongly suggest a hood that's at least 6" wider than your range/cooktop and at least 24" deep. Is your range/cooktop along a wall? It's so much easier to adequately vent and less expensive when against a wall instead of on an island or peninsula!

You might also check on the Appliances Forum.

Remote/inline blowers are not an option due to the layout. I am planning a 36" hood for a 30" range. I am planning to bump out the hood insert to maximize capture area. My range is along a wall. I have read a lot about ventilation. Right now I need to pick a specific model.

edited to add: the Appliances Forum doesn't get too much traffic IME - folks are usually looking/posting there while they are choosing appliances, not after using them for a while. That's why I posted here :)

Hi Feisty,

I see we're still moving along the same pace! I'm sorry to hear you're on the same timeline as I am because it's driving me batty! I put the brakes on my kitchen for almost 2 months because I was fed up w/ sub par work. When the cabinet fronts came in not fitting due to incorrect measurements, I was done! I took a couple weeks vacation, then came back & found a great contractor. So, now I'm back on track & don't have that much left, but it's probably going to be another month or so, due to having to order new fronts for my cabinets! That does not make me happy!

I'm sorry to hear about your families health problems. I hope all is well now.

I bought a Zypher Monsoon insert. I wish I could tell you it's not too loud & that it works great, but it's still not installed! That being said, I bought this one because I had read great things about it & that it was one of the quieter ones. I do hope to have mine installed w/in the next few weeks, so will get back to you to let you know my thoughts on it. If you haven't bought something else by then, maybe this one could be an option...or not!

Take care of yourself & I hope we both put reveal pictures of our kitchens on sooner than later!!

Best of luck!

We can do it bicyclegirl :) :) :) . Nice to see you and look forward to reading your hood insert review ;) . I was wondering how are doing!

Still hoping to hear about people's hoods?

I would recommend a Vent-A-Hood. Something like a BH234SLDSS. That is going to be quieter and very efficient due to the filterless design. Requires a little more cleaning, but is a VERY well built piece.

BH_SLD INSERTS

trailrunner always recommends Tradewinds inserts. Here's an old post of hers about her hood insert, Perfect capture....Tradewind liner demo...lots of pics

A friend of mine who is a CMKBD in the Bay area favors Zephyrs. We looked at them when we were shopping but unfortunately, they only offered mesh filters on their chimney hoods and I really wanted baffle filters. They've switched to baffle filters since I bought my hood; too late for me but oh, well, I love my Modern Aire hood. It does a great job - low speed has done the job for us so far - and it's so purty. = ) No idea if they do hood inserts, though.

Best of luck to you. Hood shopping confused the heck out of me. There are so many variables that affect noise levels, including remote and in-line blowers (not an option for us either). And trying to compare noise levels when shopping is really hard to do because showroom set-up is generally not the same as in-home set-up.

Joe Henderson, I continue to be confused about Vent-A-Hood recommendations. Their published specs for the product you are recommending indicates a Sone rating of > 5. Do you have one installed in your home??

Thanks Lisa! Trailrunner has a remote blower and inline silencer so that explains her great experience with the Tradewind insert. If those were options for me I would totally do it!

I'm interested in Zephyr.

I have several installed in my store. They are basically the same at low speed and quieter at the higher speeds. And when you run both blowers (to make a 900 or 1200cfm power level) they are basically the same or just a slight bit louder than a normal 600cfm blower.

Joe Henderson, thanks for sharing your experience. I wonder why Vent-A-Hood doesn't publish Sone ratings for each speed/CFM level? I don't feel comfortable making a product comparison without those specs.

Hood ratings are notoriously difficult to trust. Some use sones, others use dB's. Some test with no filters and no duct run, some test more realistically. There are so many factors when it comes to hood noise level it's crazy. I would encourage you to find a showroom with one plugged in to get an idea of noise level. Or reach out to ventahood or others to find out how they test!

Joe Henderson, my city doesn't have showrooms with the hood brands that I'm interested in.

"Hood ratings are notoriously difficult to trust." Boy, is that ever true!

I visited a number of showrooms but even so, I had a very hard time judging hood noise, even if the hood was hooked up similarly to how it would be hooked up in my kitchen (very uncommon, IME). Large open spaces with lots of hard surfaces, etc didn't correlate well to home use. The inability to judge hoods side by side didn't help either.

In the end, I figured that whatever I chose would be heads and tails quieter than my old pop-up downdraft so I'd still come out ahead. And I did. VA might have been quieter but DH didn't like the idea of seeing the exposed workings when we were seated at the table. He kept expecting the sales rep to to place a cover below the filter/motor to hide it from view. = )

Good luck, feisty!

I just don't understand why it's so hard to get user reviews of mid-range hoods :) . I really am only interested in kitchen experiences of hoods from people who actually cook. Showroom hoods are not hooked up, etc.

Bicyclegirl, how is the Zypher Monsoon insert working out for you? I hope you have it installed and are happily cooking in a quiet kitchen with really clean air :)

Hi Fiesty. I don't know that I will be much help but I heard the Vent A Hood in a couple of appliance stores and was impressed at how quiet they were. I expect that store vs home will be different, but they were definitely quieter than the other brands on display.

Bicyclegirl, you are making such great progress! Woo-hoo! I can't wait to see it done!

Thank you so much for your review :) . It sounds like a realistic option. I was looking at Kobe but there have been some bad reviews lately. I expect more noise at really high levels, but I need something that is super quiet at low levels to keep the humidity down and to reduce the cleaning effort in general.

We are inching forward - the lighting is partially done, and some panels are up :) . Sigh.

Hi Sherri - good to know. I just wouldn't know whether the blower was external in the showroom? External blower is not an option for me even though it would reduce the noise a lot.

Thanks for the follow-up Bicyclegirl. The 42" Zephyr Monsoon II liner is what's been suggested to me (and is on my "November Sale" shopping list), and the specs show that the lowest setting is 450 CFM and 3.5 sones, which I've been worrying is higher and louder than I'd like. The Kobe QuietMode in Feisty's original post seems more appealing. Do you have the same 450 cfm and 3.5 sone specs for yours, that isn't too loud on low?

AvatarWalt, I just looked at the 36" Zephyr monsoon II one-piece liner specs, and you are correct that the sound rating is 3.5-9 Sones (450-1200 CFM). I think that is louder than I would like :( .

Baffle covering on underside - Zephyr does better there:

Kobe 36W in. IN2636SQB-700 Insert Range Hood - 700 CFM - IN2636SQB-700 · More Info

Zephyr 36W in. Monsoon II Insert Range Hood - AK9334AS · More Info

And there's theFuturo Futuro Wall Range Hood: 32" Insert-Liner Baffle LED - with better CFM-Sone ratings than the Kobe or the Zephyr:

"The powerful yet quiet 940 CFM blower provides 4 speeds, and features low sound levels (0.5 to 3.2 sones), which are further reduced by the sound-absorbing panel."

Too good to be true?

Futuro Futuro 32" Range Hood Insert/Liner Baffle Range Hood · More Info

This is hugely confusing feisty, and I wish there were some way to compare apples to apples. We're in a rental right now that has a 450 cfm Broan hood. I downloaded a decibel meter app to my phone awhile ago (maybe not terribly precise, but I can at least compare things), and the Broan hood on low, which is whisper-quiet and which the label says is .3 sones, registered about 52 decibels with the phone held about an inch away from the front of the hood. According to [conversion charts[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/quiet-and-powerful-36-range-hood-insert-does-your-kitchen-have-one-dsvw-vd~3368332), that's about 3 sones.

Therefore, IF the Zephyr is 3.5 sones, and IF 3.5 sones is about 50-55 decibels on my decibel app, then it'd be barely-audible like this Broan on low and I'd be totally happy with that. If.

On a separate note, I'm a bit disappointed that the Zephyr specs list halogen bulbs instead of LED.

AvatarWalt, I believe that the Zephyr Monsoon insert comes in both halogen and LED.

AvatarWalt, You might find this helpful:

sone rating with examples

I love "inching along", feisty! It seems like I've been 1/8th inching along! I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel, so that's good. The tunnel may be just a little longer than I want tho! I expected to be thru by Halloween.....fat chance! It will be thru by Thanksgiving, come heck or high water!! Will everything be unpacked? No way! I hope it's at least somewhat unpacked, tho. I'd like to have a nice Christmas w/ a nice kitchen! And, be able to use the living room where all of my boxes have been sitting for way too long!

Please know - & Avatar, a well - this is not the quietest hood, but it's not as bad as I've heard. As I said, I really like it. It's doing the job, so no complaints.

Avatar, I have no idea how many sones this one has at any level! It's been sitting in a box for quite sometime & now the box is gone. I have the specs & instructions, etc, so I can go look at them.....if I can find them right now! It's still pretty chaos around here. If I do run across them in the next few days, I'll get back on & tell you what it says.

I know it's hard to find a hood you're happy w/. I really thought the vent a hood was one of the quietest ones I heard, but I didn't like looking up into that tunnel or whatever it is. It felt unfinished. I like my baffles. They're easy to get in & out, but can't say I've used it enough to have to wash them yet. I don't think that will be a problem, as they pop right into the dishwasher!

The futuro sounds good feisty. I've not heard of it before. It's higher priced, but sounds like it might be worth it.

I'll be looking forward to hearing what you do & if you're happy w/ it. And, I can't wait to see the final final kitchen!!

I'm taking a break from fretting about other things to fret about range hoods, and I'm curious if you've made any decisions, feisty. I don't know why I didn't see this earlier, but the Zephyr Monsoon DCBL, with 715 cfm, claims to be really quiet. (And LED lights to boot.) It's the same footprint as the Monsoon II so switching wouldn't give the cabinetmaker fits, but the difference between 715 and 1200 cfm is significant and the duct is smaller (8" vs 10"). I'm undoubtedly overthinking this and 715 is probably fine, but I definitely have a 'more is more' instinct.

AvatarWalt, no I haven't decided yet. But you've thrown me into confusion! Look how similar these specs are:

http://zephyronline.com/docs/brand_essentials/products/specsheets/monsoonDCBL_spec.pdf

http://www.canadianappliance.ca/pdf/zephyr/ducted-hood/AK9334AS-one-piece-liner-specs-canada.pdf

I guess it's the AIRFLOW CONTROL TECHNOLOGY™ that makes for the quieter sound rating? And the lower CFM of course. But they're calling it the same model.

Did I mention that I was fretting? :) It looks like they've taken basically the same body, put in a smaller fan and DCBL Suppression System (along with a smaller duct), and come up with a much quieter hood. Based on the little footnote thingy, it seems that ACT just limits how high the blower can go so it doesn't run into makeup air requirements in various jurisdictions, e.g. if you have to have makeup air at 400 cfm you can make ACT limit the hood to 390 cfm (and then disable it after inspection . . .). I'm much happier with the low-end quiet of the DCBL vs the Monsoon II, but I wonder if the lower cfm would be problematic.

That makes sense. I'm thinking 715 CFM should be fine for us as long as the capture is good. I'm planning to bump out the hood from the wall so that the hood does a good job of capturing the front burner smoke, which is where the action typically happens.

Zephyr™ AK9434AS

http://www.canadianappliance.ca/AK9434AS.html

http://www.canadianappliance.ca/pdf/zephyr/ducted-hood/AK9434AS-one-piece-liner-specs-canada.pdf
$1,939.00 CAD

vs

Kobe™ IN2630SQB-700

http://www.canadianappliance.ca/product/Kobe_IN2630SQB-700_Ventilation_Kobe_IN2630SQB-700.html
$1,109.00 CAD

Kobe is a lot cheaper. Zephyr has slightly better noise ratings and better baffle coverage on underside.

Well AvatarWalt, apparently I haven't made any progress on this since Nov 3 :/ . Have you?

Hi feisty! Not only have I made only limited progress, but I had to reread the thread to get my memory moving again. :) I do own the Zephyr, but it's still in the box as our remodel creeps forward (and sideways). Are you closer to an install? And any several-months-later updates bicyclegirl?

Sorry that I didn't give you a review - I actually have a Vent-A-Hood that I really like. It's very effective and it's easy to clean b/c the squirrel cage is attached with two clips that are easy to open. Just wash the cage and you're done! Some people wash it in the DW, but I prefer to hand-wash it - it fits in my 21" wide bowl with room to spare.

Mine is 42" wide (over a 36" cooktop) and 24" deep

Model SEPH18-242

http://www.ventahood.com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=333&id=360&view=article&cat=Premier+Magic+Lung%C2%AE+Euro+Style+Wall+Mounted&modelsku=SEPH18

Noise isn't much of an issue - yes, you hear it when it's on and no, I cannot hear the TV in the FR when it's on - but I can hear conversations in the Kitchen as well as the TV in the Kitchen - even when it's on High. I do not have an inline/remote.

(And, yes, the Appliances Forum like many of the other Forums has suffered with the Houzz takeover. I think a lot of people left as a result of the terrible migration - it appears no one did any real testing. As an IT person, I can tell you they definitely dropped the ball!)

One tip is to get one that has more cfms than you need. Then, you can always run it on Low at the lowest noise level.

Make sure you have a duct at least as wide as the specs say - if not wider. If it's too narrow, it will be louder.

I pulled the plug! Just ordered this:

Essentials Monsoon DCBL 715 CFM Range Hood Liner in Stainless Steel by Zephyr

Fingers crossed!

Hey feisty & avatar, I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back w/ an update on my zypher monsoon. I'm glad you finally bought one feisty. It sounds like it's going to be quieter than mine. I still like mine, but it's def not as quiet as I'd like. The one you bought looks like it has something new that helps it to be more quiet. I'll be anxious to hear about it. Let me know when you get it installed. Avatar, sounds like you got one like mine. Doesn't sound like you've installed it yet, tho? I will say, I wish I had the one feisty bought. I like mine, but I can't really talk w/ anyone on the high levels. I've heard worse & I don't have tons of people over for dinner all of the time, so I'm fine w/ it. Low levels aren't so bad.

Let me know how you both do with yours.

Hi bicyclegirl and feisty. Our Zephyr Monsoon is finally in and running, so I thought I'd revisit this thread, report, and see how you're liking your DCBL version, Feisty.

I haven't cooked anything yet (may go boil some water as a test!), so I can't speak to effectiveness, but I'm pretty disappointed that its much louder than I expected. The fan has six settings, and, while I knew the upper range would be loud, I thought level 1 and maybe 2 would be quiet background noise that could percolate along to keep air moving. Unfortunately, even 1 is noisy for pleasant conversation, and I can't imagine having it much higher when people are in the kitchen and talking, or even when trying to cook peacefully with no one home.

A few months ago I downloaded a decibel app to try and figure out how loud this (and our heat pump) would be, so I could compare the Zephyr's numbers to the hood in the rental we were in, etc. Zephyr's claimed 3.5 sone low-end noise level is, according to feisty's conversion link, about 50 db. When I set my phone on the top of our range, however, 35 inches below the hood, it registers 80-82 decibels when the hood is on the lowest setting. I consider that to be pretty loud, and that's on LOW.

I have a Zephyr insert with baffles installed in our wood range hood. Setting 1 and 2 are quiet. It doesn't really bother me until I use level 4. Ironically, the 36" we bought is technically 34+" wide over our 30" stove. I would say the capture area is just ok. I do see grease from time to time on the surrounding underside wood area. The hood tells you when it's time to clean the baffles. Just a run through the dishwasher and they're good as new. It's definitely powerful, but I don't think it really removes odors well unless I crank it up to a higher setting and then it is noisy.

Hey folks. We've been using the 36" Zephyr Monsoon DCBL one-piece-liner with the following specs for a few months. We really hesitated to spend this much since our reno is essentially a budget/DIY one, but we are pleased with our purchase.

• Min.-Max. CFM 250 - 715
• Min.-Max. Sones 0.8 - 5.8

Our installation is not ideal as our hood is mounted quite high due for head injury prevention reasons. That contributes to higher noise level and less efficient function.

Overall, we are pretty happy with this hood. The hood can't keep up with extreme searing, but we are no longer routinely setting off the smoke alarm :) . It does move a tremendous amount of air at higher settings - at the outdoor vent you can see nearby leaves whipping around.

I am satisfied with the noise levels, which was my major concern. At setting 1 (250 CFM) I hear a low hum, which does not annoy me if I am trying to chat or listen to music. That setting is fine for regular cooking and I am getting used to having the fan all the time when using the range. Setting 2 is louder, but still possible to chat or listen to music...and definitely pulls more air. Setting 3 is getting noisy, but I use it for shorter periods when frying bacon, etc. Setting 4 or 5 might suck up one of my children - powerful and loud. I like using Setting 1 when I notice lingering cooking smells after cooking in our large open concept space.

The LED lights are pretty good. I like having a high and low setting. I like that all controls are on the underside rather than the front. Also, there are no LED lights when the unit is off (unless the baffles are due for cleaning) - also a plus. I like the feature that shows when the baffles are due to cleaning because I probably would not do this often enough.

Previously we used two different builder grade hoods, and there is simply no comparison with the efficiency of suction and the noise levels, so this is a huge upgrade.

I was thrilled to get free shipping of the hood to Canada from wayfair.ca. We never get free shipping in Canada!! Unfortunately the unit arrived quite damaged from the shipping process. The box was sturdy but the internal packing was inadequate. We decided to fix it rather than deal with the hassle of getting a remedy.

Still liking this hood, but grease seems to have gotten behind the baffles - not sure how to prevent that. Also, the LCD screen is partially not working even though the hood is mounted 35" above range.

I'm looking for the same thing rand have the exact same concerns. Can you share what the result was? Which did you pick, pricey? Satisfied?

I know this is a rather old thread but we are doing a kitchen remodel and I am going back and forth between two different range hood inserts and could use some help.

We are looking at the following two options:

1. Vent-A-Hood 48" Wall Mount Liner Insert with Single or Dual Blower Options and LED Lighting from the M Collection - Model M46PSLD - SS

https://www.build.com/vent-a-hood-m46psld/s602945

2. Zline 280 - 1200 CFM 46 Inch Wide Insert Range Hood - Model 721i-46

https://www.build.com/zline-721i-46/s1444780?uid=3400754

I can't find reviews for VAH but they are made locally here in Texas. I have seen comments here though that in general, the filters on the VAH are difficult to clean but that they are quieter.

I find a lot of great reviews on z-line, but they are made overseas, and I would prefer to support a local business if the quality is there.

Does anyone have experience with either of these brands in recent years, or have knowledge about how the two compare? I can't even do a true comparison on any sites because none of them have all the details for the VAH one.

Help please!

@Erin lots of folks on Houzz seem to recommend the vent-a-hood over other brands. It is more expensive and as with everything, there are pro and cons to the different brands. Vent-a-hood generally has the 24” deep inserts that more fully cover the range and I think that’s often why they are chosen over other brands, which generally have depth option ranging from 15”-22”. I don’t know much about Zline. My appliance person recommended the brands Zephyr, Best and XO.

I'm debating the same issue here. Wasn't sure if I should go with Vent-a-hood, trouble finding reviews and the price is more than I wanted to pay but will take a closer look.