Ugh, it's disappointing when you work hard on a plan and it's not quite right. I have the same size set up and my hood is 28" from the surface. Lower would probably be better for your hood and it doesn't look like it would appear too close. Does your range have specs for hood height? I have to say, too, that I had too high expectations for my hood b/c we had it vented outside after a period of time in this house that had no fan for about a year. Kitchen still gets a little smoky with high heat browning, etc. but I can go outside and clearly see/smell that the vent is working (we had to do a right angle turn to get to an outside wall). It was a tradeoff b/c I wanted an unobtrusive hood. So, the kitchen gets an A for looks but the exhaust gets a B/B- for functionality.

Ideal height is 30-36" from the cooktop to bottom of hood. At 27" it would be too low. One of the joys of a hood instead of an OTR MW is that you have that spaciousness over the cooktop. You are just not used to it, because you have been seeing the cramped OTR MW for so many years. You also have no backsplash, which makes the space look more yawning.

a hood also works better if you turn it on before you cook.... gets the air flowing the right way before its carrying off smoke and steam. which means you have to decide you are going to burn breakfast before you get the eggs out of the fridge.

i think its a little high, mine is too low (by chance) so i bonk my head on it but it does vent well.

We had a range hood installed after we took out our horrible over the range MW and the specs said it should be 30-36" from the cooktop. The installer put it right at 32" (couldn't go any higher due to how our cabinets run over the stove area) and it's perfect. Our hood is a lower end model with 400cfm as well and it works fine. I'm so used to the crappy old MW "hood" that I usually cook with the window open, but the new hood definitely pulls out more heat/smoke/smell.

My range recommends a minimum of 24" clearance between cooktop and hood. Mine is at 26" and I think it's the perfect height. Greater than 30" would just seem to high for me, but I'm sure I could get used to it.

Would have to account for varying heights if you have more than one cook in the house. My tall DH could not see if hood at 26”. ETA: our gap is right at 30” and works great

My hood extends 19" from the wall. I am tall, and there are no issues for anyone "seeing" to cook.

26" is actually pretty standard, at least in the homes around me, but as I said - personal preference, and of course is dependent upon your hood and range. My hood has a required height range of 18" to 30" above the cooktop.

At last year's Parade Homes I remarked that the hoods were so high I would need a remote control. The builder opened a drawer and handed one to me:)

I don't have any advice accept to agree that it is a big change from the cramped area of an over the range microwave. You might find placing a tray or platter on the wall behind the range a way to visually fill the space if you feel it is too bare. Some love empty spaces and some like to fill them in - up to you.

Hood height specifications vary depending on the hood. What are the specifications for your hood?

Duct size, how many turns it takes, and length, also impact efficacy of ventilation. How was that planned? Routed? Could something be blocking it?

Hoods also cannot exhaust air that cannot be replaced. Try cracking a window to see if that increases the flow. If so, you need MUA.

Check the duct specifics first.

The hood is the height I would have selected considering style and function. A 4" backsplash without bachsplash tile is what doesn't go here. Remove the backsplash and tile from counter to the bottom of the hood. Hot air rises so if the hood isn't effective Sophie is right and something is wrong with your venting.

Also a slidein range is the better choice when selecting the chimney hood.

I just installed a mid priced-range hood in a newly created kitchen with lower priced gas range. There are several things at play here. Lets start with the range itself.

You describe your range as "very basic lower end gas range".

What is the total BTU's for your range?

Really it depends upon the specifications of the fan. The model I am using, at 400 CFM, recommends between 27" and 30", so 32" would be a bit too high. Refer to the manual.

Thank you all so much! Love this site. :)

I really appreciate both those who validated my concerns that yes, maybe it looks a bit high— and also those who provided reassurance that it can be ok.

The hood says that it can be mounted 27 to 36 inches from cooking surface, which is a huge range of options! I guess my guys just decided to go for abt the middle point of the recommendation—which does make sense. I just wish I had been around to tweak it with them.

The range actually faces an exterior wall which was very convenient. so it’s only doing one 90° turn . As for size—I thought we discussed doing 6 inch ducting but I actually just messaged the installer to check to make sure he did so.

Thank you for all who suggested that I turn the airflow on before I start cooking. I haven’t been used to doing that and it makes sense scientifically that that would make a big difference. Will try it next time and let you know how it goes!

As for the BTUs of the range itself—i am not sure! It’s a Samsung. I can check :)

OK, looked back at specs for range. looks like the total max BTUs if all of the burners were on at Max would be 58000? And the max of any one burner is 18,000. do those numbers make sense? I was using the burner with 18,000, on pretty high flow, today when I scorched the pan.

Also one other thing I didn’t address my last comment, thanks to all those who suggested that a tile backsplash from counter to cabinet will really help visually, if not functionally. That’s absolutely my plan as soon as I get a little head more headway on my thousand other projects!

BTU's are fine on that range for the 400 CFM hood. That is the max CFM's you could safely add without needing a replacement air system anyway.

Also I am guessing you are not that tall. People over 6 Feet would be inconvenienced trying to work at a range where the hood obstructed their view of the back burners. Better kitchen designers all place the hood higher than was common in the past. And many backwards appliance manufacturers are only now updating the recommended heights for their hoods.

You should check the installation instructions for your unit which you can download off the manufacturer's website. 32" above the range seems like it's within the suggested range of mounting heights, but it's worth a look. As a general rule, I tend to design at 30" above the range/cooktop.

Main Line kitchen design- thanks!!

I actually am tall for a woman but I just want the hood to really pick up the smells— but that’s a good point that at this height there’s definitely no visual blocking of anything which is nice too. Thanks for the reassurance that the CFM should be fine with my BTUs.

oh—and, I do know slide in would’ve been better. :( We are just bleeding money like crazy right now with All The Things—and that was a sacrifice I told my husband I could make!

@mgabriel I really appreciate your comment – I definitely had WAY high expectations for this hood! This is a new house for us but we definitely didn’t have a chimney style range hood in our last, small (rental) house either. And in the house prior, we had a gas range but with a screened window right above the range.

Anyway so in this home I was really working up this hood in my head—having visions of being able to cook bacon with zero smell.

I think having more realistic expectations would have helped :)

Do call back the guy who put it in. Have him check the ductwork, and the termination point. If a damper is shut, you won’t get air movement.

Always check the simple technical things first.

having visions of being able to cook bacon with zero smell.

If you want zero smell, your best bet is cooking it outdoors. I have a 9"×13" aluminum pan that I put on my gas BBQ when I want to make a lot of bacon. Fry until crisp, then place a cooling rack ontop of the pan, place the bacon on the rack, and leave on the hot BBQ for a few more minutes. That allows excess grease to drip back into the pan.

You can do the same thing in the oven, of course. There are plenty of online instructions on how to cook bacon in the oven. It won't get rid of all the smell. But since the smell is coming out the back of the oven, the hood will have a much easier time catching it.

• Your hood should clear the top of your head, otherwise you'll be bumping your head into it when you lean in to use the back burners. Visually, your hood looks like it's at a nice height. You might want to run your fan on the highest speed to remove more exhaust when cooking. You're always going smell bacon!

Turning on the fan before cooking has to address two delays. First, it takes the blower motor a while to get to the set speed. This is a few seconds typically. Second, in cold weather for ducts that are exposed to the cold, heating them with the airflow will reduce impingement collection of grease in the duct if one's duct air velocity is on the high end of the recommended range.

The idea that it takes a number of minutes to get the air flowing toward the hood from the household air, and ultimately from the make-up air source or sources fails to account for the fact that a pressure change at the fan will be transmitted throughout the house at the speed of sound so as to equalize the air to the new pressure state. This might be detectable if one cooks in the Pentagon, but would not practically matter because the pressure wave would be reduced by distance and the interacted with air volume so the flow would quickly increase to the steady-state value. A blown MUA system would, of course, have to start up its own motor, so there could be two motor delays worth of air flow rising to the steady-state condition.

kas

rebecca_adia wrote: "having visions of being able to cook bacon with zero smell."
M wrote: "If you want zero smell, your best bet is cooking it outdoors."

kaseki adds: .... or use a ventilation system that meets the recommended performance requirements for good capture and containment, including an actual 90 ft/min air flow velocity at the hood aperture to contain the cooking plume(s), and an aperture large enough to overlap the hot pan bases sufficiently to capture the rising and expanding cooking plume(s).

Thank you all so much. Clearly so many of you are far more knowledgeable than me and I so appreciate this braintrust!

I did have the installer come back out to check everything and he said it was working just fine, as expected. I guess the issue is really just that a 30 inch 400 CFM hood is just that.

And I really appreciate all of you who pointed out that the higher mounting height is actually nice for tall people, which we are.

Thank you all! I can live with it! Have moved on to my next slight disappointment today ;)

(see thread: From green quartz to soapstone- but not centered :( )

The fundamental issue is that fan/blower flow rates are measured in open air. The result is the zero static pressure flow rate. In a hood with filter, shape transitions, duct losses, and make-up air pressure losses, the actual flow rate is likely to be in the 200 - 300 CFM region.

An 18-inch x 30-inch hood has an entry area of 3.75 square feet. At 90 CFM/sq.ft., the actual flow rate called for is ~ 340 CFM, requiring a motor rated at 500 CFM or higher, depending on myriad factors. And even if this is achieved, if the cooking plume is not entirely captured due to a smaller than needed hood aperture, there will still be grease, moisture, and odor escaping into the room.

For reference my hood is the same shape as yours and is 32" above cooktop/counter.

Oops I posted a picture with that and it didn't post. Trying again.

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Pink peony— your kitchen is gorgeous!

I like your backsplash a lot. And the island color is so fun.

what are you choosing for cabinet hardware?

Thank you. My hardware ....

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Very fun! :)

Do you actually cook? The hood looks like an appropriate height for someone who has a large soup pot. So many hoods and fans are clausterphobically low. This looks spacious and inviting to me.

The exhaust will work better if it is larger than the range. I used a 36" exhaust hood with my 30" range.