Miele hood installed too low (5'6.5" from flooring) I bump by head

last year

last modified: last year

I finally got my Miele hood (DA 6596 D Puristic Canto) and cooktop (KM-6360) installed. I have a major issue. The Watkins installer said it cannot be installed higher than what he did. I have a 8' ceiling (or better 7'10.5"because of some plywood added under wood floor), like many American houses have, and the lower part of the hood is now located at 5'6"3/4 from the flooring (minimum height of the chimney is 27 1/4", see pag 34 of the installation manual here). I am 6'1" tall, and the average American man is 5' 9", so most people would hit their head when cooking. The installer hit his head twice when trying out the cooktop, because it is natural to lean over the pots to check them if water boils, and when one moves back then "BAM", the head smashes on the hood. I am surprised Miele costs so much and keeps on the American market a product that cannot be shortened to be above head height for the average American and for an average 8' tall house. Now, this is a huge issue and I would like it to be fixed, especially after I had to spend 4k on hood+installation. The installer said he doubts the chimney can be cut. Here I saw a video of a guy cutting a chimney. On this Houzz post a user named wpdoit says "the installer did, built a roughly six inch box frame between the ceiling joists, and ran the frame and shroud through the dry wall". In my case, Watkins screwed the chimney with 2 screws on a joist (see pic below), one on backing and one on a drywall butterfly, and having the chimney go through the ceiling implies either to cut the joist or to move my island (not anchored yet) by 12" away from cabinet wall to clear the joist. I have only 47" between wall cabinets and island cabinets (see pic below), so I can only go away from cabinets, but I feel that 47"+12"=49" would be too far away and would take space from the dining area, making bar stools and table chairs too close. Plus, I need to speak to electrician and see if there is enough slacks for wires to move island by 12". What do you suggest?

In the figure below, countertop is 35.5" from flooring, there is 30"1/4 from top of countertop to bottom of hood, and from bottom of hood to ceiling its 27" 3/4.

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Comments (8)

vinmarks
last year
What is the distance from cooktop to the bottom of the hood? My hood is 31 inches above my cooktop. My husband is 6ft and it hasn’t been an issue.
beesneeds
last year
What is the distance between the cooktop and hood? That's what's measured for hood install, not how far off the floor it is.

It may well be that the hood is installed correctly and it's supposed to be like that.
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Just thought I'd add the final installment of this excellent adventure, sigh. Where we left it, contractor was going to get a 6" duct cover to fill the space between soffit and hood, and we'd call it a day. So I heard from the contractor on Monday. Turns out that for this specific hood, Imperial recommends a minimum 12" space above hood and will not make a 6" cover. (head hitting desk). This specific issue isn't exactly the contractor's fault, but a general cluster: Imperial's mfg installation instructions _do not_ include that 12" requirement, they just won't sell a cover smaller than 12; the retailer web site says "6 to 60 inch covers available" for all Imperial hoods, it's only after you try to order that they call and tell you not possible for this hood; the retailer and Imperial were both closed the day after Christmas so I just relied on the website when I made the call to go with a 6" spacing rather than have this idiot remove the soffit, etc. I could have lived with that, but again, the guy opened his mouth (via email): "You were wrong. They do not sell 6" covers. Why didn't you check that? I told you it would have been better to remove the soffit and use the existing 12" duct cover, but you made a bad decision." In fact on Friday, he had shrugged and told me "this is your choice, I'll do what you tell me to do" when I asked point blank which option would be better. His Monday tone seemed beyond simply defensive, into mocking -- like he thought it served me right for questioning his work. Before she even knew my reaction, my 'cut your losses' wife was enraged enough to download the state contracting board complaint forms. So, I sent an email telling him no further work was required and to please drop off the existing cover at his convenience and -- yet again -- send us the receipt for warranty purposes. I ended up having to go get the cover at his locale, he wouldn't drop off, and he ignored my repeated questions about a receipt, until told him I was going to stop payment on our check (that did the trick). Joy. At this point, we do intend to document all the non-code work and file a complaint with the contracting board. So our plan is this: in the medium term, find a new contractor, remove the stupid soffit, fix the electrical and duct tape and whatever. Either order a new 16" cover or move the hood again, a few inches up. With work and travel demands, that probably gets postponed to late February. For now, we're having a basic 6" sheet metal piece fabricated that will fit in the current gap.
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M Miller
last year
last modified: last year
It looks like from your photo that the distance from the cooktop to the bottom of the hood is 30-1/4". That is where it should be. The range of distance from cooktop to the bottom of the hood is 30-36", but with an island hood, it should be closer to the 30" side. That is because with an island hood there is more opportunity for the effluent to escape, since there are no adjacent cabinets to help corral it. You don't want to have spent, as you said, $4k, on the hood only to have it mounted too high to capture anything, and it is ineffective at the higher height so that the smells and grease go all over the place.

After a short time, you will no longer bump your head. The brain "learns" where the hood is, and you will automatically make allowance for it. In restaurants there are people of all heights cooking, and they are usually frantically running back and forth, and they still don't bump their heads on the hoods. I think @User once posted a photo of an extremely tall restaurant chef at the cooktop with a commercial hood, and obviously it was fine.
venexiano
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
I added all distances in the picture, if it is not readable please refer to caption above picture
beesneeds
last year
With the distance included... that's a correct install. Like Miller said, you will learn where the hood is after you use it for a while.
kaseki
last year
Well, 30 inches is a nominal height above the cooktop for a hood that doesn't extend very far beyond the cooking zone. Generally one want at least 3 inches of overlap of the capture area, and by capture area I mean the part of the hood for which impinging effluent makes it to the filter without reflecting out of the hood for worst case cooking plumes. The link to the installation manual suggests to me that only the center filter section qualifies as capture area, with the rest only providing some capture aid depending of air flow vs. plume momentum. Thus, while approaches to moving this unit higher can be conceived, the hood will be less effective if that is done. A 36 x 26 aperture canopy hood could work at 36 inches above the 30-inch cooktop given a sufficient blower and baffle filters.
RoyHobbs
last year
last modified: last year
A 36 x 26 aperture canopy hood could work at 36 inches above the 30-inch cooktop given a sufficient blower and baffle filters.

Summarizing @kaseki's comment, the hood would need 3 changes to it to be able to increase the height above the current 30-1/2" distance without rendering the hood less effective or even ineffective. One, it needs to be a canopy shape hood which it is not. Two, it needs to have more cfms than its current 625 cfms which cannot be changed. Three, it needs to have baffle filters which it appears not to have. In short, the OP would need an entirely different hood. That is not a feasible solution. The feasible solution is that there is no solution needed. There is no problem here that needs solving. The 30-1/2" distance is appropriate. The OP's hood is mounted at the height it needs to be at, and he'll get accustomed to it shortly. End of story.

Miele hood installed too low (5'6.5" from flooring) I bump by head

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Miele hood installed too low (5'6.5" from flooring) I bump by head

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