qwertyui is right, and his use of illustrative language is OK in my book. Separate the hood shape from the fan placement and fan type. californiagirl is right about calling the manufacturer. You're not in love with Wolf, just considering it. So know this. One big holding company owns several exhaust vent companies, but instead of having a single one of these companies take the lead and gradually take over the newly acquired company, this holding company keeps the acquirees in the dark for many years, still operating separately. Consumers are not told that these companies are all related and that they are now beginning to buy motors and parts from each other. Sooner or later you'll find knowledgeable people to talk to. Try Nutone. Nutone and Broan have been operating together as sister companies for the longest time. Best (Wolf) Venmar and others are more recent acquirees. Try the Canadian technical support numbers too. Sometimes the employees at the US tech support lines have the least amount of access to the kind of information that would let you build your own system. You might be stunned to find out that a powerful remote or inline fan costs far less than what you are planning to spend for a packaged product that can be displayed in a showroom, sold as a boxed product, and then delivered as a single box... There are several manufacturers; fantech.net is only one of them. Your builder might love you for introducing you to the fan makers. If the fan guys only sell through distributors and some of their distributors only want to sell to knowledgeable people who appear to be custom manufacturers themselves, that makes sense since they cannot go through all the hassle of dealing with average consumers. Hint. Any canopy captures rising air. Any blower takes that and exhausts it. Showrooms need to have a product they can show you, so its blower is right in front of your face where you can be shown it. Hint.

Small bends will have very little effect. Even a 90 or two would not be a huge deal for 10" duct at 1200CFM, but avoid if you can. If you have a roof-mounted blower, things will get more quiet if you can move it further away from the hood. The adjustable elbows have sections to turn, and adjust anywhere from 0 to 90 degrees. Here is a link that might be useful: Duct elbow (adjustable)

Hi lydiacaitlin No decision yet...was considering Kobe but on doing more research, realized I would dislike cleaning the fan blades and grease trap of the quieter squirrel cage design I was considering....I have been looking at ModernAire and Rangecraft too (waiting on price info with fingers crossed) Seems crazy spending more on a range hood than I did on my 36" pro-style range (got at a going out of business sale for $2500) However, noise and ability to remove effluent is very important to me with an open floor plan. I was hoping the new IQ blower Best might be a good mid priced option, however I would like to to hear from someone who actually has one...

Your concern with noise level should also focus as much on duct size as you are on sones. What size duct will you have from your hood to the outside? You could buy the quietest hood in the universe, and it will still be noisy if your duct diameter is too small for it. The hoods you are considering say in their specs what size duct they need. Typically for a hood with 600 cfms or more, you need an 8" or 10" duct. For example, the Best by Broan you mentioned specifies an 8" duct. If your duct diameter is smaller than what is specified, you will get a lot of noise through no fault of the hood, as too much air is being pushed through too small of a space. If your kitchen's duct diameter is say, 6", and you cannot switch it out (you said your kitchen is 90% finished), then you will have to lower your expectations for cfms. There are some hoods available that are spec'd for 6" ducts, but not with the 1000 cfms you've mentioned. If you already have an 8" or 10" duct, then your options for a quiet powerful hood are excellent. That Best by Broan hood you cited goes for about $2800. At that price, it should have baffle filters, but instead it has the less expensive mesh filters. I like the Kobe RA02 hood you mentioned which has baffle filters, and costs much less than the Broan. Whether you like Ventahood/VAH or not seems less dependent on its exhaust abilities, and more dependent on whether you like the method for cleaning it versus cleaning a baffle-filter hood. There are people who are strongly pro or con the VAH-cleaning method, so you should go to a store where they have them on display to see for yourself. Here is a link that might be useful: Kobe RA02 Hood at ajmadison This post was edited by akchicago on Tue, Jul 2, 13 at 21:03