With conventional hood systems, the expectation is that the larger particles within the entire grease particle spectrum are collected by the baffles, and the smaller particles are ejected into the outside air, with only modest condensation or impact collection by the duct. To deal with the entire particle spectrum with a filter pack is a challenge, and probably unaffordable in cost for most residential users. If the Amazon rating is based on comparison to outside venting, the result above might be reasonable. As a commercial example, the Wells WVU-31CT filter system is described below: "Filtration Completely self-contained filtration process reduces emissions below that allowed in NFPA 96 and ANSI UL710B using the EPA 202 test method and includes stainless steel grease baffle filter with grease cup, fiberglass pre-filters, high-efficiency (Particulate Air) filter/ carbon-charcoal filter pack. All filters are easily removable with out tools. Air flow sensors continually monitor air flow optimizing performance and grease removal while an interlock system will not allow cooking appliances to function if filters are missing, clogged or in the event of a fire." About $18k. Electric surfaces only.

Thanks, domino! Good point about this being a focal wall as people walk down the hall into the kitchen. How are you faring with your plans and project? I've lost track with where you are in the process. A toilet flood and forced bathroom remodel has demanded my attention. Sheesh, remodeling isn't for wimps! LOL holly, I went over the numbers again, trying to see if I could find room to put a fridge and oven together on the oven wall. I can find an extra 4" by making the walls on either side of this alcove skinny 2x4 walls. Add that to the 60" already there and I've got 64" to play with. But that's not enough room for 36" CD fridge and a 30" oven, cab sides and required clearances. I could most likely get the 30" oven in a 30" cabinet but I need at least an extra inch for air clearance around the fridge, plus 3" for cab box (our cab maker doesn't do frameless, unfortunately). If I shrank down to a 27" oven (which is what I have and is too small for our needs but I know newer models are larger inside than my old one) and did without cabinet sides around the fridge, I could make it work. Just. But there goes my pocket door location, which means I'd have to reduce the hallway door width from 48" to 42" or 36". I would really like to have my fridge and oven in this location but I can't make it work, not without a number of trade-offs. I think I've finally admitted that this idea is dead. Dang it. I want a time machine so that I could go back and tweak our plans. My life would be so much easier (and cheaper) if I could.

We have a mix of 12" and 15" deep uppers and I wish they all could have been 15"! (Staggered depths work best with staggered heights + crown molding.) We have no problems working at the counter w/the deeper upper cabinets. We're also a tall family (5'10" to 6'6") and my children and I have very long arms (36/37 sleeve length for DD & me, 38" for DS!) I would suggest no more than 15" deep for the uppers, though, b/c I think anything deeper will start to get in the way...and ChicagoAns is right, the doors will add another inch or so to the overall upper cabinet depth. "Normal" counters are 25.5" deep. The standard base cabinet box is 24" deep, doors & drawer fronts are approx 1" thick/deep, and then you have your drawer pulls/knobs. Since the counter overhang should at least cover the the cabinet box and doors/drawer fronts (to prevent spills & crumbs from falling into the drawers or cabinets), the overhang should be at least 1" for a 25" deep counter. Additionally, it's a good idea to actually extend past the doors/drawer fronts a bit to direct spills away from the front of the doors/drawer fronts and, if possible, cover as much of the drawer pulls/knobs as you can...so that extra 1/2" is added for a total overhang of 1.5"....24" + 1.5" = 25.5" You can make your counters a bit deeper either by deeper base cabinets (or base cabs pulled out from the fall) or by making the counter overhang deeper. 26" would be very reasonable, IMHO, if you just increased the overhang. If you have the space, though, I would increase the depth of your counters to at least 27", preferably 30"....and it isn't b/c of the deeper uppers, it's b/c deeper counters offer a lot more work space...more than you realize! If you can also get deeper base cabinets, then you add more storage as well. However, deeper base cabs are often prohibitively expensive for most of us so you could must pull your base cabinets forward 2" to 4.5" to get 27" to 30" deep counters.

"If you can find a specification telling how close a combustible wall NEXT to the range can be, then that would be where you could put the 15 inch deep cabinet, lateral-wise. Think of the cabinet as a combustible wall NEXT to the range that just doesn't go all the way to the counter top." In the specifications, the distance for the nearest side wall (right or left) is a minimum of 6". So, if the same rule applies to upper cabinets, I would need to clear 6" up on either side the range. But according to this rule, this would be true of any cabinet of any depth sitting too close to the range, wouldn't it? Why can 12" or 13" deep uppers sit directly next to the appliance, but not 14" or 15"? Since the principle at work in GE's specs is not clear to me, I know I can copy exactly what is on the spec sheet since its there in black and white - but I don't know how to extrapolate from it to see what my closest good alternative is. Edit to add: For the curious, here is a link to the spec sheet.