There are Kobe Island vent systems with 4 x 20 watt halogen lights. That is pretty much how bright any hood will get. Hood lights are not meant to replace good kitchen lighting. Greg

In our first kitchen remodel we had a GE Spacemaker OTR MW with vent hood and moved this on to our new kitchen. But my wife was never happy with the vent performance and when the heat from our range eventually cracked the door handle and plastic front of the OTR MW, we replaced it with a "upscale model" Whirlpool Velos. Our thought was that it was 400 cfm verses 300 cfm for the old one and it stuck out further for more capture area. Nope, now three years later and the Velos is suffering the same fate as the GE with cracked door plastic and recently the vent fan has started working intermittently. We don't really use the microwave that much (soften butter, occasional reheating) and have never really used the fancy capabilities of the Velos. We recently purchased a new GE Cafe Gas Range to replace our old Hot Point stove and are planning on removing the OTR MW and putting in a real vent hood. The OTR MW is mounted on an outside wall and vents directly through the wall via 3.25 x 10" rectangular vent pipe. So ideally I'm looking for a vent hood that will perform better and not require cutting new holes in the walls or cabinets. After much research here on Garden Web and on the net in general I'm leaning towards the Kobe CH-122 SQB series (CH2230SQB). This along with the Kitchenaid KXU8030YSS and KXU4230YSS models appear to be only ones that I can find that can use the existing out the back 3.25 x 10 vent from the old OTR MW. The Kobe vent hoods appear to be much quieter, higher CFMs, better capture area, and have been well reviewed here on GW than the KA. However, I'm sick of spending money ever 3 years on a new solution and am looking to the wisdom of crowds here on Garden Web to validate this approach, or point me in a better direction. Does anyone have an experience with the Kobe 122 series or replacing a OTR MW with vent hood? Thanks in advance

We are putting in the same range top, but without the griddle. Here is what I have learned so far regarding hoods, although I still have some questions: 1. The hood is much more expensive than I was prepared for, but up to this point we had only done a small one with mesh filters. 2. Size. Wider is better, in both length and depth. Since you are doing a built-in cabinet you'll be getting an insert, and I think those are typically wider than a lot of the chimney style hoods. Regarding length, some will tell you to have 1-2 inches extra on either side, which would mean 42" for a 36" range top. By the way, our location limits us to a 36" hood, which is why we're particularly concerned with depth and CFMs. 3. Noise. External blowers, particularly if you add a silencer, are generally quieter than an internal blower. I think in-line blowers may also cut down on the noise, but I'm less sure about how those work. Also, make sure the duct work is large enough (don't try to have a high CFM blower with a 6" duct). Finally, if you get some models and are trying to make a decision, another value to look at is the Sones, which actually measures the noise level. 4. Filters. Many seem to think hoods with removable baffle filters are the best. Otherwise I think you want to look for removable filters that are dishwasher safe and fit in the DW if you don't want to hand wash. 5. Brands. Modern Aire. They get high marks on this forum, but they seem quite pricey (to us). Abbaka. People seem to generally have very good reviews on these and they have a lot of insert and custom options. If we were doing a cabinet, I would investigate them. Vent-a-Hood: Many people think these are too loud, but some people are happy with them. Best by Broan and Broan. These typically get good reviews. Best is the top line, somewhat better materials, more options, etc. We're looking at Best because we need a chimney style hood. Wolf, Viking, BlueStar, Miele, etc. all have their own hoods. I would bet the people putting in your BlueStar know about the custom insert options for all these brands. Zephyr & Kobe - You will also find good reviews for these two brands. Abbaka and Modern Aire are more custom, so you need to talk to someone about them. For the rest, try AJ Madison. You can go to their website, choose cabinet insert range hoods and browse through about 94. http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php/Cabinet+Insert%3BRange+Hoods/N~32+4294960474

As a general rule, a range hood should be deep enough so that it extends to about half way over the front burners, or it will not effectively capture the smoke/grease from the front burners, which are usually where the need for exhaust is the greatest. They also say that the range hood should be a little bit wider than the top of the range, say, 6 inches per side, again to optimize its capture ability. From my own experience, which is with quality non-commercial kitchen appliances (NOT the high end items that generate enough heat to smelt iron ore :), a range hood the same width as the range is okay, but it should be as deep as the standard mentioned above. In terms of exhaust capacity, the entries on these forums give numbers all over the place, but for "average" kitchen use, I think that about 300 CFM is a reasonable target. That assumes that you have a properly installed system that goes to the outside. You can do a search on this forum and on the Kitchen forum for lots of comments on particular brands. Much of it is helpful, but you should also look at Consumer Reports for an overview on the issue and maybe some recommendations on specific brands, but certainly not the last word. Since you are doing some renovating, have you considered altering the corner cabinet that seems to be the source of the problem? Maybe you could have the door hinges put on the other side. Would that correct the problem? If not, I think you should comapre the cost and inconvenience of redesigning the corner cabinet (maybe doing away with it and putting something smaller in its place) against the cost of keeping the cabinet and installing an exhaust system that is below standard.