Modern-Aire will custom build a hood liner to your exact specs--size, depth, location of ductwork, type of blower (internal vs external--although the shallow height of your hood would likely be better accommodated with an external blower), lighting choice etc. You should end up with a SS liner with the preferred baffle filters, which would drop into your unit like a glove. And at a price that's surprisingly close to off the shelf units. And with superb hand craftsmanship, made in America. I post this repetitively, I know, but I love my MA hood just as much 5 years after installation as I did when we installed it. One of the best things in my kitchen.

With conventional hood systems, the expectation is that the larger particles within the entire grease particle spectrum are collected by the baffles, and the smaller particles are ejected into the outside air, with only modest condensation or impact collection by the duct. To deal with the entire particle spectrum with a filter pack is a challenge, and probably unaffordable in cost for most residential users. If the Amazon rating is based on comparison to outside venting, the result above might be reasonable. As a commercial example, the Wells WVU-31CT filter system is described below: "Filtration Completely self-contained filtration process reduces emissions below that allowed in NFPA 96 and ANSI UL710B using the EPA 202 test method and includes stainless steel grease baffle filter with grease cup, fiberglass pre-filters, high-efficiency (Particulate Air) filter/ carbon-charcoal filter pack. All filters are easily removable with out tools. Air flow sensors continually monitor air flow optimizing performance and grease removal while an interlock system will not allow cooking appliances to function if filters are missing, clogged or in the event of a fire." About $18k. Electric surfaces only.

A guy in my daughter's HOA tried to "ban" my vehicle from parking anywhere in the community other than inside DD's garage because it was an "eyesore." It was an inexpensive Ford, about 10 years old, but no dings, dents, or dirt anywhere. He was over ruled and forced to apologize to me, wherein he mentioned a couple of times how angry his wife was at him, haha! The last HOA community I lived in made us fix two shingles that appeared (to them) to be "out of alignment." Oh, did I mention it was the roof of our DOG HOUSE? Never again. Never. Again. Onto the topic at hand. I currently have a vented hood of indeterminate brand. I'm pretty sure it's the original hood in my 37 yr old home, and I'm positive it's never been cleaned (until I moved in). If you recall, I bought this house from hoarders who never, ever cleaned their house. Even after I paid people to clean the whole range (electric coil stovetop), including the hood, it is the most vile, disgusting thing I've ever seen. It's also frighteningly loud. I'm certain it doesn't pull up anything; not grease, not odors, nothing. When I remodel the kitchen, I'll most likely stay with a vented hood since there's already the hole in the roof. I would reconsider if there wasn't a way to use the same hole. I know this topic has been passionately argued over for years on this forum. And I mean passionate! But I've had the recirculating vents before and, at least in my case, have found them adequate (please don't execute me at dawn for saying that!). There are a couple of secrets to keep them working well, and I assume this would also apply to OTR recirculating micros. First, many of them recirculate the air through a charcoal filter. You have to replace that filter once in a while! :-) Just like furnace or A/C filters, if you never replace them, they get dirty and cease to clean the air; in fact, they make it worse after a while. Second, while you're at it, go ahead and clean the other parts too. If you rent, make the management replace the filter when it's due. For now, my "vent" is the two windows in my kitchen. I happen to think my cooking smells good, so the windows are basically to keep a very sensitive smoke alarm from going off. Russ, where can I order one of those pot roast pillows?

Do you mean buying another VaH, or buying another brand of hood, perhaps one that incorporates the characteristics that commercial hoods have embraced for maximizing performance and efficiency. This ties into your baffle question. My motivation to trample this ground yet again is weak at the moment, but en brief: Both VaH fans and baffles capture grease by centrifugal extraction -- the baffles by two direction reversals in the air flow; the VaH by throwing the air against an impingement surface. I don't have a VaH, but my impression from others' comments here is that baffles are easier to clean. Closer to my own interests is the question of actual air flow performance. VaH claim certain air flows, but these at best apply to the hood hanging freely in the air. With ducting and a roof or wall cap, and the very likely restrictions of the make-up air path, the actual flow rate will be less -- just as it is for the flow rates specified for conventional blowers. The question then is which technology (stretching the meaning of the word to its limits) produces sufficient restricted flow in the setting where it is installed. Data published by VaH shows that their fans have shallower fan curves, so they are less suitable where flow restrictions are present than conventional blowers. (VaH designs avoid the flow restriction that is presented by baffles, for example, so they start off with an advantage, but this advantage becomes a disadvantage when a complete system including the inevitable, intended or accidental, make-up air path is accounted for.) For many, noise is a performance factor. The lowest noise solution will be based on an exterior roof or wall blower, or an inline blower, supported by a silencer located in the ducting between hood and blower. This applies wherever there is sufficient space and the ducting is long enough to accommodate a silencer. One can easily talk next to my hood connected to a 1500 CFM (nominal) roof blower at full power with an inline silencer in my attic. VaH Magic Lungs, on the other hand, are at one's ear level, and in my view only compete for noise with hood interior mounted conventional blowers. Independent of the above considerations, one should first determine the flow rate needed, then apply loss factors for the blower sizing. This can only be done when one has determined how well the hood canopy is expected to capture the rising and expanding cooking plumes, and at what height one intends to place the hood for free cooking access and sightlines. There are important differences in performance and convenience between shallow low hoods, larger pro-style higher hoods, and large commercial hoods mounted four or more feet above the counter. We can go over these aspects to the degree you wish, but first I recommend you search for and read the many related topics on this forum that I and others have contributed to that address these principles. This will take some time. Alternatively, reading the first 20 pages in the Greenheck kitchen ventilation system design guide will provide a commercial perspective overview explaining the principles that also apply to residential cooking plume capture and containment. Then we will have a common ground to take some short cuts to scale general requirements to specifications for a residential hood acceptable to you. http://www.greenheck.com/media/pdf/otherinfo/KVSApplDesign_catalog.pdf kas