I remember an old post on this forum about hoods with warming lights. The general consensus was that they're not really a worthwhile feature. People preferred either warming drawers, or if no space for a warming drawer, then still there was no liking for warming lights. Perhaps if you remove your warming lights criterion, you will have more of a selection in hoods.

In my building every 4 individual apartment ducts are combined into a common duct. Oversized external blowers take the "mass" from these big common ducts. I just need to get air over to that common duct; but i have to go through a 6" duct. The 6" duct cannot be increased in size. Mine runs about 4 feet until it dumps its air in the bigger duct. Three years ago we put in our bathroom a remote inline ILF fan in an ILFK kit. Nutone Broan. Love it. It's such a nice little air noise pulling a lot of air. Like taking a deep breath very slowly. Love the little button shaped hole in the ceiling that we can close when we want to. http://www.nutone.com/product-detail.asp?ProductID=10476 I called them and asked for a Variable Speed Control for it. Then I asked about the HLB3 in the kitchen and a Variable Speed Control for it too. Got that too: VS64 rated for up to 5 Amps; more is better; I could also get a 3 Amp one. The outstanding question is whether silent/quiet operation is still going to be in the cards given that the output vent diameter would be reduced from 8" to 6" over a few feet length. I'm not sure how to determine the increase in noise and the reduction in strength that will come from installing an 8" inline blower on a 6" duct. Later I'll get part numbers for filters and cover grills to suit SO's preference, if we go with this blower. David

I'm guessing the search engine here is not working for you. So, here are brief responses summarizing the advice often given here. Rules of thumb for cfm: for electric ranges and not-so-high btu standard gas ranges, 100 cfm per lineal foot of stove or cooktop; for higher-powered and pro-style gas ranges and cooktops, add up the max btus for all burners and figure 100 cfm per 1000 btu. You absolutely, unquestionably want a 36" hood for the increased capture area. Standard recommendation here -- 6-inches wider than the stove or cooktop. Getting more BTU than needed can (if you have a speed control) allow for quieter operation. For anything over 400 CFM or in a very tight house, absolutely look into make-up air. The handy acronym is "MUA." If you have gas water heaters or furnaces, this is a safety issue. Most Important consideration after MUA -- hood capture area. Get a canopy-style hood and get the deepest one (front to back) that you can find. That will enhance capture of steam & etc. as much and more than just cfm capacity. If you are just getting the VAH blower and building your own enclosure, follow the same advice. If you can, avoid a flat bottomed designer hood. You want the canopy extending as far over the front burners as you can get it. Skip hoods that are only 18 or 19 inches deep (front to back) IIRC, there are some not-so-expensive canopy hoods that are 22 inches deep. 24 inches would be better. 27 would be better still but those tend to be very expensive if you buy a ready made hood, and many specify ducting with diameters larger than the standard 6" round or 3x10 rectangular that you likely have with your existing hood. The VAH probably specs a 6-inch diameter &/or 3x10 duct. For further searching and a ton of info, check out previous threads by including in your search string the screen name of our resident hood guru, kaseki ---- viz., from google, type "gardenweb + range hood + capacity + design + kaseki"

Unfortunately, most wall ovens do not have their own vent interfaces. What I did was put a pair of registers in the ceiling over the ovens, with their connecting ducts joined in a Y-adapter, and the output duct connected to a roof blower. The blower was a re-purposed NuTone down-blast roof blower purchased many years earlier to provide a boost to the vent of a Litton "kitchen center." The register boxes take (IIRC) 12 x 14 furnace filters to help keep grease particles from the ducts. Note that not even a commercial "eye-brow" hood will capture the smoke escaping a broiling oven when the door is opened. What these registers do is help pull effluent from the ceiling area and slowly clear the kitchen in concert with the main hood. The only way to successfully deal with opened ovens is a large hood right over them, or a commercial porous ceiling ventilation system, such as illustrated here: http://www.kitchen-ventilation.co.uk/heydal Yes, the MUA now becomes more complex because the control has to be "closed-loop" instead of "open-loop" and thus needs a servo control system to control an even larger MUA blower. My kitchen blowers' combined output is 2500 CFM (zero static pressure rating), and likely pull a total of 1500 CFM when there is sufficient MUA. With both blowers having variable control, the actual CFM can be anything, windows can be open or not, bathroom fans can run or not, etc., so the scheme is to control on differential pressure between my kitchen and the vented attic. Not all parts of this system have been purchased and integrated. My excuse is that my honey-do list is very long and keeps expanding. Items in place: Roof down-blast housing on pedestal for air intake interface with attic Hydronic heat exchanger in attic with its separate control loop to my furnace (functioning) 3-ft square diffuser in hallway facing kitchen Sensing system installed Control system components mounted in basement; Fuji computer purchased but not yet incorporated Key elements yet to be obtained (mostly from Fantech, I expect) Big axial blower sufficient to flow around 1500 CFM through the pressure losses of the ducting, air filter, and heat exchanger. It also has to fit through the attic access stairway. Current-loop control fan motor driver Pleated air filter box Damper Various sheet metal interface sections I should add that my only combustion appliance is a blown oil burner that has its own sealed MUA supply, so delay in completing this kitchen MUA system is an annoyance, but not a hazard. In your case, a carbon monoxide warning sensor is suggested. kas