Moraflauta: For the Broan MUA systems, have a look at these links: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg010822599493.html?6 http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg0313214523464.html?40 The second link is titled "Braun" but they meant "Broan." For finding contractors, I'd start with my local government's building department/code enforcers and find out if they've ever inspected any kitchen hood MUA systems -- if so, ask who did the work. Also, I would try calling any local retailers who sell higher-capacity range hoods (if anybody local sells them). Also, there have been discussions here at GW where folks have owned-up to using exterior-venting 400 cfm OTRs with pro-style ranges. Heck, if your stove is against an exterior wall, you could even vent the existing OTR and work with that for a while. Almost any overhead vent-set-up will do a better job than the downdraft and recirculating vents you now have. A 400 CFM hood would be better, even if not as good as the venting could be. We have to work within our budgetary, spatial and architectural constraints, Wekick: Specifically I would love it to go low enough to -hold an 8 qt pot of mashed potatoes in enameled cast iron. Can you do that with your Wolf range? I've done that with induction but very low gas flames seem a little too concentrated to evenly heat the cast iron base on my LC enameled CI when I've got mashed potatoes in them. Of course, the burners will do the stupid melt-chocolate-on-a-paper-plate trick and I haven't needed a double boiler for years even with my previous GE DF range. Holding mashed potatoes on a gas stove-top is the one task for which I've needed a dispersion plate/disk/flame tamer. Todd or any of you folks with a BS or AR have any better luck with the star-shaped open burners on your ranges? Maybe I just don't put enough butter and cream in my mashed potatoes? ;>) This post was edited by JWVideo on Tue, Feb 4, 14 at 16:23

Nadia I think you will really like it. I love that it slides out of the way, and is flush with my upper cabinets. I have a galley kitchen so this was absolutely perfect for me. Just be aware that it is light and not very heavy. The motor is heavy though,...if that makes sense. At first I was disappointed thinking it was flimsy, because I had nothing to compare it to. But it made the installation a breeze. There are three buttons on there that are not marked. I called the company and asked them how do I know which ones are which? The first one is 200 cfm, then 300 cfm then 600 cfm. There is also a timer button. The LED lights are really nice and light up my cooking surface very much. Also remember to turn the fan on before you start cooking, this really helps. One other thing I noticed is that when sautéing the surrounding area on my stove is cleaner,...bonus! For me the mesh will be a lot easier to clean than baffles. The mesh screens on these units pop out very easily. But this is a controversial subject on GW.

tanem: it's a fair question. Thanks, sjeff and stephanie for vouching for me. I am a big fan of MA--but also of other small dedicated hood companies. It is based on my personal experiences--I only began making these observations after buying my MA hood (at full price!), having already owned a VAH hood. I do feel strongly about this subject, but it's mostly because I feel I can speak to a "minority" opinion that otherwise might get drowned out by the VAH crowd. Realize that VAH sells hugely more hoods than MA, Prestige, Independent, Metallo Arts, etc. Therefore, on a forum like this, questions about "what hood should I buy" tend to be flooded with VAH owners. They are happy with their hoods, which is great, but most of them can only speak from their experience with their one VAH hood, or at most, with their VAH hood compared with their prior OTR MW or downdraft unit. Thus, the VAH looks good to them in comparison. I had the same reaction going from my lousy downdraft jenn air, to our VAH. What I can speak to, that many others cannot, is how the VAH compares to a custom product like the MA hood. Not only speaking from experience, I've even tried (perhaps amateurishly) to quantify my opinion by measuring sound levels generated by my two hoods. That is one of the few posts I know of that attempts to do more than just offer blind opinion. I will say it again, I do not have any financial stake in MA, receive no special consideration (and let me tell you, after our kitchen reno, I am NOT going to be in the market for many years to come). What I do hope is that small American companies, who still take pride in their products, will continue to compete successfully with the big corporate guys. And, I will state it again as clearly as I can: it's not just Modern-Aire! If you are looking for a hood, you really owe it to yourself to check out Prestige, Independence, and Metallo Arts too. And I am confident that there are other companies out there as well. And, finally, I would never claim that someone who in the end chooses a VAH, or a Broan, or a Viking, etc etc made a bad choice--hey, I own one! So, tanem, please take what I say with many grains of salt, but know that I'm not shilling or spamming. Thanks.

That pic was taken a few days after the backsplash was done. There is a drawer missing because it had to be about a half inch less wide to accomodate the dishwasher handle. If you want to I have a album of the reno in my profile. We did a lot of research on the Thermador vs GE Monogram vs Wolf vs et al and spoke with a few sales people who were helpful. We also saw a working demo of the Thermador at the store we purchased from. The oven has quirks which apparently all manufacturers ovens have according to our sales person. It puts out BTUs. Boils water very fast with the power burner and the extra low simmer works great. Apparently the newer models ( like this one) have a better design of the simmer function. Extra low means the burner is on for 7 seconds and off for 53 and there is only one click to start the burner. Its barely noticeable. We did have an issue with an error that kept appearing though. If the oven was in use as well as the range top an error would appear to check cooling fan. It pops up on the front led. The oven would shut down and we would have to throw the circuit breaker and wait 5 mins. Very frustrating. Thermador came out and said its a control board issue...hmmm... On a less than year old 7200 dollar range?? Currently the board is on order and they are coming back to reinstall but i think I found the problem. The oven has two cooling fans seated in the rear under the range top. It draws air from the cool back and pushes it out the front. So I started to think. When the oven reaches 300 the cooling fans kick in to cool the sensitive electronics. I get it. I work in IT. Heat kills electronics. In the IT world we have hot aisles and cold aisles in datacenters. Cool air is drawn in from the back and blown out the front as hot air. I noticed we had little to no air coming out of the front of this range. Hmmm...both fans spinning happily but no air coming out. It turns out, the air intakes for both fans are on the back of the unit. Which is pushed up flush to a wall...no air is getting in to cool the electronics. I pulled the range out(all 350 lbs of it) about a 1/4 in h from the wall. No noticeable difference in aestetics. And Voila. Air is now coming out the front as designed and Ive run the oven at 500 for over an hour with no issues. Ran it for 4 hours the other day to simulate a 4 hour roast and no issues to report. I dont know why Thermador doesnt tell its installers to not push the oven flush to the wall. Im still having the control board replaced though. Its under warranty. But I digress. The looks great, cooks great, is easy to clean and impresses the heck out of us. One caveat. Never ever use the self clean for the same reasons I mentioned above. Its goes up over 700 degrees. I just wont chance that kind of heat.