Are you sure the downdraft you're considering will really work behind a range? Most telescoping downdrafts only work with cooktops. The only telecscoping downdraft I'm aware of that works with a range is Dacor and it only works with their range. In any case, a downdraft is most likely not going to be adequate with the ranges you're considering. You really need to go with an island hood and not mount it too high - there are some hoods that are less obtrusive than others. Can you take the range out of the island and put it on a wall? That's generally a better location an will give you better venting options.

Did the previous owners get away with not having MUA? Might be because they installed the commercial stuff a long time ago and nobody asked about MUA. If the house is big enough and old enough, it might have been "leaky" enough that an MUA system was not needed. Or, the previous owners may very well have installed a make-up air system and it may have been the kind that was integrated with the commercial hood. The realtor should know or be able to find out from the previous owners. If that does not work, then you'll have to go looking for it because there are numbers of different kinds of MUA systems for commercial hoods. Some can even be part of the hood system. If you are interested, here's a resource that illustrates and discusses different kinds of commercial MUA systems which may give you some hints of where to look for MUA in your newly acquired kitchen. . http://www.fishnick.com/ventilation/designguides/CKV_Design_Guide_2_031504.pdf Also, check out Kaseki's clippings page. As for who you need for building/designing/installing an MUA system, there is no simple answer because it is not a one-size-fits-all or one-stop-shop kind of thing. The short answer to any MUA question will always be "it depends." If you live in a warm climate, MUA might be as simple as opening a window when you run the hood above 400 cfm. Or you might be able use a "MUA damper." There's a current thread on these. Here's the link: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg0313214523464.html If you live in the great northland of cold winters (say, Minnesota) or in a place where air-conditioning is the norm for months (say, Phoenix), the MUA thing may involve air exchangers which gets a lot more complicated and expensive. About all I can suggest is that you look at the many postings about MUA over the last couple of years. A search using "kaseki + mua" should get you a lot of threads to look at. This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Mar 24, 13 at 1:54

The foot/inch thing is a quirk of GW titles. You can use two single quotes and it'll work. I'm 5'8", 5'10" in comfy shoes. My standard depth (24"?) M-A hood is installed at the standard 30" from the counter and it's fine. I have a pot rail, and tend to lean forward at times, and mine is over cooktop rather than range, so probably the same relative depth. You do see the baffles if you're looking up, of course, but they aren't ugly. You don't see them from standing, unless you're right underneath. No uglies, no bonking. It'll be fine as you've spec'd it. The thing you should check, though, is how you feel about the height of the knobs. That depends not so much on the height of your head, but your shoulders and length of your arms. Some people put in remote switches, which I think would be better than lowering the hood more than an inch.

Hi Bee, I'll toss my hat in, even though I have a 48 inch CC rangetop. The rangetop has 6 burners and a grill. See the photo below - click on it for a larger photo. Please tell me what brand you have. -- I had a custom Modernaire hood insert made for a wood hood. I went custom because I wanted a flat (and not tall) front edge of the hood to reduce the apparent mass of a big hood. (Also it is a landing perch for Alfred E Neuman until everything is completed.) The cfm's? -- I have a 1400 CFM Abbaka blower mounted on the roof. It is beautifully made, powerful, and quiet. I'm using a 10 inch round duct with 3 elbows, which is pushing it. -- The best price I found on the Abbaka fan was at www.dvorsons.com Is it oversized? If not, do you wish it were? -- The hood is oversized at 54 inches wide and 27 inches deep. Frankly I wish the hood were deeper, and here's why. Because of the shallow capture area under the hood, smoke plumes reach the front edge of the hood. Also, the front edge of the hood is occupied by halogen lights and controls, so the real suction area extends 21 1/2 inches from the tiled back wall. But, we've never noticed any spillover of the smoke out of the hood. -- See more comments below about dimensions. Do you wish it was quieter? -- Yes, but it is pretty quiet. The noise is from the air flow through the baffles and there's not much to do about that. Actually, a lower hood will sound quieter than a higher hood, if there is a direct line between your ears and the baffles with a high hood, and a indirect line between your ears and the baffles in a low hood. -- No one has ever commented that it sounds loud. The Abbaka fan is the quietest I could find. Abbaka publishes its sound level and Broan refuses to do so. I even called Broan's technical support people and they refused to give me a noise level for their fans. Do you wish it was more powerful? -- No. I wish the hood extended deeper than 27 inches. Maybe I wish I had more capture area (height of open space under hood) but it would mean losing the low profile of the front edge of the hood. Other comments about dimensions: -- After tiling the backsplash the 27 inch deep hood became a 26-1/2 inch deep hood. -- The rangetop cabinet is deeper than the adjacent cabinet, and we pulled the rangetop out slightly from the back wall so the back of the stainless back ledge is 3/4 inch out from the finished backsplash. We like having the extra space behind big pots and big flames on the back burners. We should have made the hood deeper to the extent we pulled the rangetop forward. -- The CC installation drawings are terrible. You should call them to clear up some of the ambiguities in their dimensional installation drawing. -- The front lip of the wood hood is 7 inches high. The bottom of the hood is 70 inches from the floor. My wife and I are both 5-11 and we don't come close to hitting our heads. Remember, the front knobs stick way out so they keep you from rubbing your body against the front of the beautiful and curvaceous rangetop. -- Our countertop is 37-1/2 inches from the floor and the bottom of the hood is 32-1/2 inches above the counter. -- The hood is 31-3/4 inches above the rangetop stainless and 31 inches above the cast iron grates. I hope this helps! By the way, we went with a Liebherr refrigerator in part based on your kitchen and we love it! Good luck with your new kitchen! Billy [URL=http://s773.photobucket.com/albums/yy12/BillyG_photos/?action=view&current=IMG_1818.jpg][IMG]http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy12/BillyG_photos/th_IMG_1818.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Here is a link that might be useful: Abbaka Blower - 1400 CFM