Function first so the one with the best filter is the one you want . The other thing of course is to keep the filters clean or they are useless.

@Patricia, I have no idea how to evaluate the difference between them on form or function. If you have any insight, I'd love to hear. Thank you!

I chose my Zephyr hood based on power (of course), but also the fact that it had LEDs and not halogen lights. I don't want any extra heat...and yes, baffles.

Ditto what luckyblueeye said. I picked Zephyr for the same reasons. Mine is vented outside but my kitchen is not complete so I have had a chance to use it yet.

Moose Mac, I'm right there with you. My beautiful Hood vent is still boxed up in the garage. Mine will also be vented to the outside.

I’ve had a Zephyr Tempest II hood for 5 years and have been very happy with it.

The issue here is whether the existing hood has enough flow rate at the pressure drop of the recirculation kit to get adequate containment of the the smoke/grease plumes that are captured within the hood overhang. Ideally, one would want the fan curve for the hood blower and a pressure loss vs. flow rate curve for the recirculation kit to find the point of curve intersection. Lacking those, the blowers with the higher rating should be used along with whatever recirculation kit seems to have the most "stuff" intercepting grease, odor, and moisture.

It must be appreciated that neither mesh filters or baffles (or VaH magic lung squirrel cage expulsion) remove all the grease vapor particulates, and when the passed particulates are to be directed back into the room instead of outside, multiple layers of filtration are needed. (See figure.) These additional filters further increase the pressure loss and hence reduce the flow rate. At some point, the system cannot contain rising hot plumes above some velocity, and this causes spillage into the room of unfiltered effluent.

Low cost recirculating kits are unlikely to have much filtration. This is the reason why the VaH ARS is significantly expensive over the normal VaH pricing -- better filtration. In my memory, only the ARS has been reported on here by an owner. A search may find others. Also, if Amazon sells any of these candidate hoods with recirculation kits, there may be reviews available. It may be very difficult to find a review containing data on efficiency of filtering. What is required may be a matter of taste (or smell).

(The figure below shows just how limited even pro baffle filters are. Their true purpose is to collect grease particulates large enough to condense on the ducting, hoping the rest are expelled outside. That there is still some condensation is the reason why commercial kitchen exhaust ducts have to be cleaned and inspected once a year.)

[Click to enlarge.]

Form is how it looks but function is how it works have you checked out Vent-a-hood I think they have a recirculating one if I am not wrong. IMO they are still one of the best hoods around. BTW any light bulb can be changed to LED

I have a lower-end Zephyr that fits under the upper cabinet. I like it quite a bit. Although it originally came with halogen lights, it takes LED bulbs perfectly and the light is amazing. Also, my cat's name is Zephyr.

I'll preface this with the fact that I've never had a vent hood before; but I bought a Zephyr Venezia and while it does its job, I guess I was expecting more for the price and size I purchased. I think I could find cheaper alternatives; mine was more than $1500! Good luck!