An oversized hood is fine. There are mixed feeling on this forum about Ventahood - some people find them difficult to clean. If you do buy a used one, make sure it easily comes apart for cleaning and that there isn't a grease build up on the inside. You're overly concerned about harmful fumes. A properly functioning gas range doesn't produce carbon monoxide or other harmful fumes. A hood is used to vent heat, steam, odors, and grease.

Simple way to prevent a problem with that switch.What it does is shuts the cruise control off when applying the breaks.Simply turn the cruise off from the drivers controls like you probably should anyway? As for Import brands not having recalls?They have problems also. As for greedy workers being the GM Ford problem.I disagree there retiring.When they replace they hire lower scale paid workers that are called casual partimers.So they do not recieve benefits.Caterpilliar tractor co.Has also done this.Yes UAW workers.I worked for them several winters ago.As a seasonal job while waiting for spring season at my regular job.At the end of the winter I told them I would not be interested in staying or coming back the next winter. Reason they hire anyone who walks in off the street.Some I wondered how they manage to get dressed in the morning.They worked on the assembly line along with my self.Who had this type experence and I did not stay because I felt I was under paid.They were happy and could not fix a sandwich. My point is there are not over paid workers working in these factories making to much money.There gone or soon will be.The problem is the same as who builds the import brands made here in the USA.There who ever walks in off the street.They stay off the drugs a few weeks before walking in.So they pass the drug test.Then there building tractors and cars.Making 8 to 14 dollar per hour with limited to no benifits.Just like the Toyota and Nissan and Mitsubishi workers. Some said YOUR NUTS!For not staying at Cat and paying the UAW dues.Why I make as much doing what I do.There not the over paid greedy UNION workers that so many think they are.There mostly untrained working for a pay check to feed there familys and doing better then they could any place else with out a college degree.Some acctually many can hardly speak english.So comunication can be a problem and at times makes for a dangerous work environment when working together and can not understand each other. So dont blame the overpaid greedy UAW workers.My brother worked for Cat for 30 years as did many others I know very well.There retired now but still working different jobs.Example Walmart Car salesmen helping farmers or truck drivers or carpenters.Why work if your retired?Simple to pay for the health insurance benefits that were taken from them.Also to compinsate for the smaller pension then they were promised. Why are cars tractors appliances any thing made in the USA not made like they use to be.Why all the recalls?Because the workers today are not the over paid group so many think work at these Sweat Shops.There the same workers same scale that work at the import brands made here.They build as much junk and the so called domestic brands.Just that Americans are on the Ego trip they must drive a Import brand.Its the style. We did it to are self.We have only our selves to blame.We wanted Walmart and lower prices.The heck with the Mom and Pop uptown stores.We wanted to go throw away.So now we can just live with it.Grandpa said this was going to happen.Grandpa was a wise ole man.

One thing that no one seems to have commented on... the OP says he/she has "an old fashioned exhaust fan that vents outside." So it looks like ZoeCat17 already does have and is used to a form of ventilation...if ZoeCat17 is talking about the kind of exhaust fan I think he/she is (like a bathroom exhaust, through the wall?) the biggest differences a "real" hood would make are (1) more effective/quicker because of the capture area containing smoke/grease before it spreads, which may be minor given his/her comments on cooking style, and (2) the addition of a filter. The filter is where a safety improvement may actually lie...if you use a fan without a filter, then grease *can* build up on the blades of the fan itself and the internal mechanism, and/or on surfaces outside near the outlet, and these *can* be a fire hazard. Both of these issues can be addressed through cleaning, of course, assuming the fan mechanism is accessible, but it is far easier to clean a removable baffle. I would also note that as someone else who has lived a loooong time without a vent hood, the 2 things I really look forward to more efficient venting of are steam and heat - neither is a safety thing, and an open window helps with both, but when I work in a kitchen with "real" ventilation I am astounded at how much more comfortable it can be. This especially comes into play if you regularly make stock or big pots of soup/stew, or anything else that simmers on the stove for hours....depending on your cooking style, YMMV.

This is a quote from a previous garden web posting: *******Safety of electric induction hobs questioned in Japan 'IH cookers generate electromagnetic fields [in the frequency range of 100Hz and 18-23kHz ] when an electric current flows through coils under the top plate. Heat is created when the electromagnetic field reacts with the metallic pan atop the plate. (For the young, whose more sensitive hearing will be able to detect this level, cooking using an induction hob could well be accompanied by a rather unpleasant whine). Whilst there is not a unanimous agreement that EMFs are linked to health problems, neither the government nor industry seems willing to make attempts to limit electromagnetic field exposure from IH cookers, both sides boasting of the products' safety, while saying it is the responsibility of the other party to communicate possible risks. Takenori Ueda, of the Japan Offspring Foundation which reported the finding earlier this year, added that IH devices emit the highest level of radiation among all household electric appliances. Microwave ovens are more powerful, but their emissions are countered by stronger shielding. The Foundation tested the hobs with a radiation measuring device placed right next to the cooker set on maximum heat with a 12-cm pan on it. All products registered incredibly high radiation levels, some as high as 101 microtesla. The highest level was more than 16 times the limit [for 18-23 kHz frequency] set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection for short-term exposure to such fields. The companies accepted the Foundation's findings but insisted that the ICNIRP guideline can be interpreted differently and that radiation levels do not exceed the limit when measuring devices are placed 30 cm away from the device. The Japanese government says that the industry or individuals should do something about it. The Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association say that if there is to be a framework for more stringent safety measures regarding exposure to electromagnetic fields, the government should take the lead in drawing it up. A spokesman agreed that manufacturers have failed to provide consumers with sufficient information on electromagnetic fields. Koya Ogino, a Kyoto University lecturer who specializes in electromagnetic fields, and the potential adverse health effects from long-term exposure, criticized both the government and industry for not taking further precautions. 'If the companies are profiting by selling the products, they should first confirm their safety,' he said. The Japanese Government's defence is that they are awaiting 'more proof' of possible harm -- which is expected to be the result of 'current research' between the WHO (World Health Association) and the ICNIRP...... The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is shortly to take on the task of writing a new ELF exposure standard for Australia. If they just incorporate the ICNIRP limits, which is very likely, will this then make the sale of induction cookers in Australia illegal?' Here is a link that might be useful: www.powerwatch.org.uk