FWIW, the "stick" that came with our 18"H x 30"W x 27"D 300 CFM VAH was yellow pine - a very tough wood. We installed the hood with two screws through the "stick" into the wall studs, two screws through the back of the hood into the "stick" and two additional screws through the back of the hood into the studs. We removed the deflector, the air box and the blower from the hood, which significantly reduced the weight. I used two 2x4's with notches in the end running diagonally to the bese of the opposite cabinets to support the hood while we fastened it in place. We had no mishaps and no surprises.

Hello Jenncent, Do you know the exact model of the range hood you are looking for? Kobe has a lot of different Brillia models. Or you can send me the link and I can tell you the model and I can tell you its specs.

I would start by asking ModernAire whether they would build one. Other build-to-fit hood manufacturers exist at various levels of style and cost, such as Abakka and Handcrafted Metal. Please revise your side-view drawing to show how much the hanging lamp's shade protrudes into the hood space. Note that the higher the hood aperture is above the cooking surface, the larger the hood aperture has to be (the more overlap of the stove that is required). The crude 3-inch all around rule really only applies close to the 30-inch height unless greasy stuff is only cooked in the middle. Also peninsula setups like yours (and mine) are susceptible to cross drafts moving the rising and expanding cooking plume away from the hood, so even larger apertures may be required. A very thin (layer) of tissue paper hanging from the existing hood (when off) will reveal their presence. What is your make-up air plan? kas

ksc36: I think you are missing the point; any hood capable of exhausting in excess of 400CFM generates a need for makeup air to compensate. Almost all hoods are multi-speed and Zephyr's ACT is only a sales pitch and even they sell makeup air dampers. I doubt a county inspector will accept a statement from an owner promising to run a hood only at 400CFM setting even though it can go up to say 1200 or more CFM; it won't fly. Then again new homes are pretty tight, would one want to live in a negative air pressure environment even if you could get away with it? A home with negative air pressure can result in dire consequences. Air will get in by any means necessary, and with this unfiltered air comes some serious dangers. Good design no doubt costs $$$$ The way I designed our home is the heated makeup air enters the home at the opposite end of the home, which not only helps compensate the hood exhaust cfm difference but also complements the hvac system hence heat is not wasted as the warmer air travels through the corridor, family/living areas then the kitchen; due to the size of the home there is no perceivable draft. Right next to the massive makeup air inlet grill in the corridor ceiling, is a large hvac return air grill. The makeup air unit is programmed to 'just about' exceed hood exhaust cfm and the excess air is fed back into hvac return hence heat is not lost while maintaining zero negative pressure. Considerable design engineering went into it; I was primarily responsible for its final design with the help of a commericial hvac company that did the entire hvac systems including makeup air unit and tankless heaters.