As to the statement re: hood loudness: Would I agree that a single measure of an 8db difference would be "louder," from two different sound sources in two different kitchens? No. Wrong measure and flawed methodology. First, decibels don't measure loudness and second no conclusions could be drawn from a single person's report comparing the loudness of two different sound sources in two different settings. Perceived loudness is measured by multiple subjects under highly controlled conditions and is highly variable across individuals. Decibels are a physical measure of sound pressure; loudness is a psychological/perceptual measure of individual judgments. Decibels don't measure loudness for the same reason temperature doesn't measure warmth and weight doesn't measure heaviness. 85F in NOLA and 85F in Phoenix will not be perceived as equally warm because you already know that humidity, wind, clothing and your own individual body's response to these factors will vary. If we were to put a group of people in a controlled room and vary humidity, air circulation and type of clothing while varying temperature and ask them when they perceived a noticeable difference we would find that we would get the same report of perceived warmth at very different temperatures. In this case a decibel is a very similar measure to temperature and loudness is similar to perceived warmth. Depending on different sound pressures (decibels) your perception of loudness will vary significantly by the sound's frequency, if that frequency modulates, if the db level modulates, your proximity to the sound source, how reflective surfaces shape the sound, your individual hearing capability and sensitivities and (unfortunately) your age. If you look at a graph of where subjects perceive different sounds as pretty much equal in loudness while frequency and db levels are varied you'll find that sounds that at least half the group find equal in loudness can vary as much as 10 db or more. Human ears are very frequency sensitive. So, if a single observer's reported that 2 different sound sources were 8 db off in two different environments I don't see how any relative judgments could be made (and most kitchens with tile, polished wood surfaces, relative hard floors and glass windows can be expected to reflect sound in very different ways.) I won't speculate on all the methodological issues present to make a valid comparison of two different hoods' loudness levels in two different kitchens but a decibel meter would be largely irrelevant to the experimental design (you don't care about decibels, you care about perceived loudness). And to add insult to injury, you might well find out that even when you hit the standard that over half of the subjects agreed on the loudness findings you would still find other judges insisting some hoods were louder than others. That's pretty much how perceptual judgments tend to go. . .

If you can, I'd check with whomever painted the surround (it's not clear if this is a liner, part of the cabinet or the hood was painted to match the cabinet) in the event there're any warranty issues about cleaning agents. We have had painted cabinets and a SS VH for 5 years and have had no residue on the cabinets (including those that butt up against the hood and are directly along the side the range top--similar to yours). We have a grill and do major front burner stirfry and panbroiling. We've used fantastic and soapy water for general cleaning on the cabinets. VHs don't have filters, and you may want to check to make sure your hood's dampers are fully opening. There have been a few posts about dampers getting stuck (I know, I was one of them). However, if they were stuck you'd expect increased noise and diminished performance. You can check the dampers by removing the grease collection box as you do when you clean it (hopefully you've done this before)--the dampers will be small doors above the squirrel cage wheels and should open easily and extend to a full 90 degrees. The number of dampers depends on the number of blowers. You also should have a damper on the outside of your house wherever you hood cap is mounted. When the hood is on high, this should be fully open; hopefully you can check this from the ground. One question: do you follow the old restaurant rule of "stove on, hood on?" It took me a while to get the rest of the household to always exhaust, and to run the hood at a level high enough to clear the cooking area. If the hood is working properly on high and it's underpowered, I would think you could see smoke/steam rising outside the front lip and not being captured.

You'll find roughly four camps here, in my very-biased observation: * Baffle filters are the way to go * Vent-A-Hood all the way * Where can I buy affordable replacements for my mesh filters * I just ignore trying to clean my mesh filters Ok, all kidding aside, baffles are considered by many easier to clean and having greater longevity than mesh filters. None of the hoods you show probably do a lot, especially in an island situation, because of a combination of their flat geometry and their relatively low-flow blowers. I'd take some time and read through some of the posts here and decide if you want to back up a step in your decision process. Good terms to search on would be: Modern-Aire Vent-A-Hood Prestige Independent Baffle Island hood Capture area

I didn't know there was such a thing as a splatter guard for the stove -- will have to look into that. There's a gap behind the stove and the back wall so I can't prop anything up on there, but the glass cutting board is a good idea. The deep fryer is in the garage, but DH does pan-fry/high-heat saute stuff on the stove. And guess what? I'm the one who oil-stained the grout already!! I was browning some chicken pieces, on the front burner no less, and a big splat of oil hit the backsplash. I did wash down the splash that evening but darn it a small section of grout got hit good. Soapy water and a grout brush didn't work, 409 and a grout brush lightened it enough to where no one will ever notice but me because I know it's there and it bugs me. So yea, I probably should re-seal once a year.