>>It's interesting that there's crown molding on the columns and a lot of detail on the wall, but no crown in the kitchen. Is there crown molding elsewhere in the house?Oh my, have you hit on a sore subject. Crown molding was only included in the formal areas and master bedroom. They also crowned no sloped ceilings. Adding crown to other areas was $250 per "room". $250 now, not so much. 20yrs ago when we're building a house and running out out money, it was. Crowning just that hallway and the adjoining family room cost $500 because it counted as 2 "rooms" even though it was only as much crown as a bedroom; the exterior wall is sloped so the family room is really only 1/2 crowned (one wall not crowned and open on one side). I didn't crown the kitchen because the only wall that would have received crown is that single wall (because again, the outside wall is sloped), and it would have cost me $250. Don't think so. I did the crown in my office myself (come on -- a box) along with the sloped ceilings in the formal living room. If *I* can do it, why in the heck couldn't a carpenter? New cabinets will go up to the ceiling in the kitchen. They put tile crown where I cared in the master bath when it was remodeled. What I should have done was made them crown the hallway to the bedrooms just to punish them. It has so many compound angles it would make any carpenter cry.

building2017 wrote: ... - What are the silencers I have read about and how do they work/would they work here? These are like giant truck mufflers, except designed for various diameter ducts. They have low pressure loss (forget the value but it is a lot less than baffles). Fantech is the source. - Any benefit re:sound to using two smaller liners instead of one big one and only using one at a time when using only one side of stove? Or is this magnifying the cost for no good reason other than sound? (Because I'm assuming I'd then have two runs up and out and two things on the roof because they wouldn't combine to avoid a turn and to ensure proper function? If only one side were run at a time, then MUA costs could be lower, but where code requires MUA, I am willing to bet a donut that the AHJ will demand an MUA system that can handle both at once. In theory, the sound reduction will be only 3 dB less. Also, when using the central burners, you will still need both systems for capture and containment. Well, I guess three things on the roof then with the MUA. While commercial systems mostly use roof MUA entry, and I use roof MUA entry, the options for residences are wide open and may include side of house entry, or entry into a basement that has an air path access to the kitchen.

I had a gas stovetop with a downdraft on as island, and I thought it was great. My island was large enough to still have a wide area behind the stove for countertop use. I liked that the vent was unnoticeable most of the time with a clear view outdoors. I cooked dinner almost daily, and it worked perfectly fine for the infrequent times I needed the vent. I also had a large window and French doors that were often open nearby. I think a a lot has to do with your particular space, and what types of things you cook. Mine was a downdraft for 4 large burners plus a center griddle.

Unfortunately, @jlarsen321 did not return with a description of the system selected, or its observed performance in the context of the cooking to be performed. If one imagines near-perfect capture and containment from a commercial system, and then attempts to squish this mechanical system into the space available in most residential kitchens, including duct placement limitations, MUA system limitations, etc., one eventually finds that the path of commercial system approximation leads to one of two endings. In the first one spends a lot of funds on the higher air flow hi-end residential system that is almost as good as the commercial system, but it fits and is more aesthetic. In the second one spends lesser funds on a system that may be good enough for one's cooking style, or at least better than no system. A story from the past: Once upon a time (1984) a good friend of mine, a coworker and part-time professor, brought his Chinese student to our house to cook Chinese food on our then coil electric cooktop. This cooktop was part of a cooking center with low ventilation flow rate, but perhaps a tad better than the standard ventilation put into kitchens of the time. When it was all over, we were full of great food and the kitchen surfaces were full of oil, requiring a major cleaning job the next day. That began my quest for better ventilation, initially limited to boosting the flow rate in the duct path. Actual competent ventilation was not achieved until the end of my kitchen renovation starting in 2008. So it is not trading off performance against cost that is bad, it is not knowing what the result will be versus one's goals that is bad. My hope is that review of the many kitchen ventilation threads here will lead the wannabe renovator to a considered solution, if not an out-of-reach ultimate solution.