You do not say what is the width of your cooktop? An island hood needs to be 6” wider than the cooktop. An island cooktop has no walls or cabinets to corral the smoke and grease so its hood must be 6” wider.

What is the diameter of your exhaust duct that goes to the outside? You have extensive details for those hoods at the bottom of your linked page, but I didn’t see anything mentioned about either your kitchen’s exhaust duct diameter nor what each hood requires for a duct diameter, which will he cited in the hood’s specs. Any hood that is appropriate for an island cooktop will need no smaller than an 8” diameter duct, and some will need 10” diameter duct. Smaller than that and the hood efficiency is curtailed by trying to pull air through too small of a space, and the noise is increased regardless of what the posted sones say for that hood.

In any case, I would not choose any of those hoods. They all are flat-bottomed rather than canopy-shaped. A flat-bottomed hood will not have the good capture of a canopy-shaped hood. The flat bottom allows the smoke and grease to escape. In addition, a flat-bottomed hood will have mesh filters instead of the superior baffle filters.

House has a lot of organic lines, but is not at all modern (brick/wood floors, rough cut/untreated wood ceiling, plus we have an eclectic and slightly funky decorating vibe. We go to a lot of estate sales.)

the fact that you have this, is an instant "NO' for me on these

It would help if you posted a picture of the kitchen or what's there, or at least a rendition of what it's going to look like.

you've explained removing walls and having beams, but you never once described what the cabs/countertops or backsplash will be, what's on the floor, or if this hood is going to be between uppers, open shelving, the size of everything, is this open to a room, what style? etc.

to clarify, you're putting the range in the island w/the vent hood over it?

is there no wall to put the stove against? I despise stove/cooktops in islands w/hood above them.

Lets see an actual photo of your kitchen. it would make things so much easier to imagine

Is the goal to have a flat base, narrow height, dropped register providing some nominal removal of kitchen air, or is it to capture and contain cooking effluent plumes before they distribute odor, grease and moisture on house interior surfaces? If the latter I suggest reading numerous threads here that include information on how to select and specify the parameters for an effective hood.

By way of example, here is an effective island hood, albeit longer than you need for a single induction unit. Click to enlarge.

Perhaps worth repeating, the farther one deviates from commercial hood designs, the greater the capture and containment performance loss.

Also, no air leaves the residence that hasn't been replaced with new air, possibly needing heating, and which has to balance the outside air pressure to avoid combustion appliance back-drafting. This portion of the kitchen ventilation system is called make-up air (MUA) and reviewing threads here addressing MUA is also suggested.

None of them because they are all flat bottomed. I replaced a Zephyr flat bottomed hood because it just wasn't very effective. Standing to the side, you could see steam & grease laden air rising and rolling off the bottom on the hood and spilling over the edge and raising to the ceiling. I swear that more grease collected on the outside of the hood than on the bottom of it.

None.

Ranges/cooktops in the island need much stronger and bigger overhead rangehoods than against a wall (a much better location -- functionally and aesthetically).

Your hood will need to:

• Be at least 6" wider than the range/cooktop -and-
• Be at least 27"D -and-
• Have a strong fan to remove the FOGSS (fumes, odors, grease, steam, smoke) b/c of the island location (more & stronger air currents over an island than against the wall) -and-
• Be mounted per manufacturer's specs (usually no more than 30" to 36" off the cooking surface).
• Oh, and the hood will need to be finished on all sides.

Additionally, it needs to have a cupped (concave) surface so the FOGSS can actually be captured and exhausted to the outside. (I'm assuming you will be venting to the outside.) Flat hoods like you show are more for show and not function -- OK for kitchens that are not actually cooked in, which is not your family.

Why are you moving your range to an island? Most people remodel to get them OFF an island (or peninsula).

Will there be seating at the island behind the range? If so, be sure the island is deep enough that there is at least 24" b/w the back of the range and the seating counter edge. If no seating than deep enough so there is at least 15" to 18" b/w the back of the range and the back counter edge.

Also, be sure there is at least 24" of counter on each side of the range for emergency landing space as well as a safety buffer.

Just so you know, the least amount of time spent in the Kitchen is spent watching food cook, stirring, or adding ingredients. By far, the most time spent in the Kitchen is prepping -- and that requires at least 36" of continuous counter space + direct access to water. So, what does it make the most sense to put in the island? Your Prep Zone (assuming the island is a desirable work location). [70% or more is spent prepping, 20% or less is spent cleaning up, and only 10% is spent cooking.] Do you really want to prep with your back to everyone, especially given that most of the meal prep time is spent prepping?

As an aside I've been looking at hood vents for our new kitchen and trends have definitely overtaken function. It is hard to find anything that isn't flat - a style that is just ugly for starters and not particularly functional.

Have you considered arranging your kitchen so that the hood is on a wall rather than an island to help with venting? Most people here strongly advocate against island hoods for good reasons! We do have a Zypher hood that is flat on bottom but has baffles and it collects copious amounts of oil. We do at times need to turn it above the lowest settings so things don't spill over but even at low it works fabulously. we rarely put it onto highest setting. Not saying that canopy aren't better (and presumably even more important if you are doing an island hood), but I don't think it's reasonable to say flat bottomed never work. I'd definitely get one with baffles you can throw in the dishwasher though - so easy to clean and very satisfying to see how much they collect in a short period of time!

Hi and thanks for all the replies. I only have the staged photos from when we purchased the house, so the angles aren't ideal, but I've heavily annotated the pictures and included a top down sketch (see below).

Range is 30" wide. As you can see, we currently have nothing, aside from a junky under-microwave recirculator. From this perspective, literally anything will be an improvement. Iharpie, thank you for sharing your experience with your hood. We're hoping to allow some of the light (southern exposure) to come in from the dining room windows, which is why we were looking at the lower profile hoods. If there are other specific models that include baffling, especially ones people have had good experiences with, I would be interested to see them.

Some are advocating for keeping the stove on the wall (i.e. in its existing location). To do this, the fridge could potentially be relocated to the corner of the dining room. It would go on the other side of the small section of wall that would separate the edge of kitchen/dining room. However, there are two concerns: one is that it kinda kills the 'kitchen triangle' and the other is that my partner is pretty set on not having the fridge in the dining area (but maybe someone here could provide a convincing case?).

Oh, and to head it off at the pass, we're working with highly experienced adobe builders/renovators, who will ensure any modifications are properly supported and that the ceiling won't cave in.

Thanks again for the thoughts/opinions/suggestions.

Oh and in terms of 6" vs 8" vs 10" ducting, most of the models I saw seemed to be 6".

Assuming we do end up going with an island (despite the drawbacks that have been mentioned), I would be curious if there are higher flow/larger duct models that are appropriate for an island... maybe I was just missing a whole segment?

And final note – due to the existing placement of the large beams holding up the T&G, our max chimney size is probably about 14" wide (facing the hood straight on). Anything bigger and we'd have to start cutting into beams, which we wouldn't do.

Thanks Beth.

See photo of sink below. In the previous drawing, the blue dotted line is where the wall would be removed. Will need to find a picture of the drawing with island sketched in and post later.

Kitchen floor is currently tile with a printed graphic surface. We'd like to replace the kitchen floor with solid red birch, natural finish and leave the brick in dining/den as-is.

Vibe will not be the contemporary 'southwest kitchen' (i.e. what a google image search would show)– closer to boho. Looking at soapstone counters, painting existing cabinets white, unlacquered brass hardware + bridge faucet.

Edit in response to Beth's suggestions: I can't see the fridge fitting in anywhere in the above photo well. From the photo above, the fridge is behind the left shoulder of the photographer, stove is directly to the right of photographer. Only placements for fridge are keeping in its existing place (i.e. leave kitchen unchanged), move to where range/stove currently is (and thus would need to move range away from a wall), or move fridge outside of kitchen to a different location entirely.

Just popped back into say that you're house is beautiful with the beams and fireplace. It sounds like you want to keep that trend going. I sure hope you keep us informed as to your choices and your progress.

Our top choice for a vent is currently the Faber DAMA30SSV because of it's quietness. It's profile is low pyramid. (I always hate mentioning my choices as there is always someone who will be critical - my stove is an induction)

blfenton: "there is always someone who will be critical" ha, I can certainly relate to that right now!

Thank you for sharing your current findings and for the encouragement. PS. Looking at the Faber hoods right now – I like!

i'm not being critical, i'm trying to find out if you have a better layout available. (having a huge metal hood coming down from the ceiling over an island isn't the best look, IMO)

I think the stove can go somewhere against the wall. (can a window be closed off or moved or enlarged?)

but to be clear, this is how you want the island and vent hood?

maybe something like this is a better alternative?

I definitely to agree with you, Beth re: hood hanging down is not ideal. But at the moment it's the least worst I can figure out.

Using my most recent photo, above, as perspective: you can see how the den/kitchen connect. So that side of kitchen is off limits (i.e. it would also be an island between den/kitchen and have the same problem). Unless we radically reorganize the sink/dishwasher/sewer/water, we're left with scooting the range/oven one 'slot' over, to the left of its current location. The fridge could then go in the corner were the stove currently sits. This would mean the stove/range would sit immediately next to the fridge and the hood would be in front of the window (and/or we'd fill that window). If that were the plan, we'd probably want to put a prep sink in the island (i.e. where the wall would be removed, linking the dining room and kitchen).

I was looking earlier at the type of hood in your last photo (flush in ceiling), and this would probably be our choice if we had a drywall ceiling. The existing beams wouldn't really make this feasible.

There are probably other creative options for rearranging the space, but that was really all we could figure out.

Am I misinterpreting your drawing/layout? It doesn't look like you have space for an island (especially one large enough to accommodate cooking and sitting/eating simultaneously on opposite sides). Have you consulted with a kitchen designer? There has to be a better option for layout.

We can see what we can come up with for a Kitchen design. However, we need a fully-measured layout of the space, not what looks to be approximate (e.g., are all your walls really exactly increments of 3"?)

You can use the layout you posted, just add labels with the exact/precise measurements of the widths of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances between each wall/window/door/doorway. For windows & doors/doorways, include trim, if any.

I understand you have a good Contractor/Builder, but they are rarely any good at Kitchen Design. The best ones know that and have a certified Kitchen Designer either on staff or available when needed. (Ditto, btw, for architects -- great at overall home design & "architectural interest", not so good at Kitchen Design. And, I'm talking about a Kitchen Designer, not an Interior Designer. While some may also be good Kitchen Designers, that's not usually the case.)

Regarding the above comments about being critical of posted designs...it's done to help you avoid costly mistakes that you regret later that cannot be easily/cheaply fixed (e.g., aisles that are too narrow, cramming an island into a space where it won't fit just b/c it's "all the rage" to have an island, etc.).

We can help you become familiar with the recommended guidelines/best practices in Kitchen Design. We will also try to find ways to make your space work functionally so you have functional Kitchen, not nice looking but dysfunctional. The reality is that a functional kitchen can easily be made to look nice, but it's close to impossible to make a nice looking but dysfunctional kitchen functional without tearing it out and starting over.

All that said, even when we point out the issues, etc., it's your Kitchen and you do whatever you want. But, by listening to what we have to say, you will most likely end up with a much better design and you will have the information you need to make informed decisions -- you'll know what issues to fix and what to accept knowing it may become annoying later but you accept them anyway.

You have a GORGEOUS house!! I love the beams, the adobe, everything. :) My fridge is in the corner in a similar area to where yours will be according to your marked-up pic, and because it sits nearly flush against the wall, one of the french doors does not open all the way and I can't remove/clean the inner drawer. The door DOES open enough to hit the switch on the wall and turn off the light, however. :P So just keep that in mind when you're finalizing your plan!

Some of those Kitchen Guidelines/Best Practices I mentioned above:

Work Zones...

Rather than talk about "work triangles", a better way to look at design is via "work zones" and "work flow". It's an extension/update to the "triangle" concept. If you follow the work zone & work flow, you will see the "triangle" concept as well. (The "work triangle" concept was a beginning, the "work zones" and "work flow" are a refinement.)

When designing your kitchen, ideally, the zones should follow the normal/usual workflow in a kitchen:

Refrigerator => (Prep) Sink => Workspace => Cooktop/Range => Table OR (Cleanup) Sink => (Cleanup) Sink/DW => Cabinets (dishes, pots/pans, etc.)

Which translates to:

Refrigerator => Prep Zone => Cooking Zone => Serving Zone => Cleanup Zone

You don't necessarily have to have this exact flow, but something very close.

There are three primary work zones:

Prep Zone...This is the zone where you prepare food, whether it's a multi-course meal or a quick meal/snack and includes cleaning/rinsing food, cutting/chopping, seasoning/marinating meat, mixing, processing, etc. For many people, especially those with small kitchens, their Prep Zone is also their Baking Center for rolling out dough, etc. 70% of the work & time spent in the Kitchen is spent prepping. This zone should be placed in the most desirable place – where you will want to work and will enjoy working. What makes an ideal Prep Zone?

• Sufficient counterspace -- at least 36" of continuous/straight counterspace. 42" or more is even better.
• Direct water access -- counterspace next to the sink (and without a DW in the middle of it, except in the rare cases that a Kitchen is so tiny you have no choice). This can be a prep sink or it can be the non-DW side of the only sink.
• Near or directly across the aisle from the range/cooktop.
• Trash pullout (or can) in or next to the prep workspace. More trash & recyclables are generated while prepping and cooking and for much longer work time than cleaning up, so place the trash/recycling in the Prep Zone and near the Cooking Zone.

Cooking Zone...This is the zone where you take the food you've already prepped and apply heat...cooktop, oven, microwave (MW). This is the zone the least work/time is spent in - only 10%. Think about it, you usually don't spend the entire time standing in front of your oven or cooktop watching your food cook. Sure, there are some things that do have to be stirred constantly, but most things do not. And even then, you usually still spend more time prepping before you begin cooking. Work in this zone includes watching food cook, stirring, adding already prepped ingredients. It's rare that any appreciable time is spent in this zone as food does not need our help to cook -- apply heat and let it do its work! This is the zone that should be the most protected from traffic, especially traffic that's "just passing through". What makes an ideal Cleanup Zone?

• Cooktop or Range is the primary appliance
• Near or directly across from the Prep Zone
• Sufficient counterspace on both sides of the range/cooktop - 24" on both sides if there is open space on both sides; if one side is against a wall, 15" (18" is better) on that side and 24" on the other side. This counterspace is for emergency landing space, general landing & work space, safety buffer for any sides with open space.
• Protected from "thru traffic"
• Near the trash pullout, but it doesn't need to be in the zone itself
• It's also nice to have a water source nearby. Note that a pot-filler does not count as a water source since pot-fillers do not have a drain, a sink bowl, or access to both hot and cold water.

Cleanup Zone...This is the second most used zone. 20% or less of your time is spent cleaning up. This includes clearing the table/counters, wiping down the table/counters, loading/unloading the DW, sweeping up, and hand-washing the few items that shouldn't go in the DW. (Note that most of the cleanup work does not involve standing in front of the sink.) What makes an ideal Cleanup Zone?

• Sink large enough for soaking or hand washing dishes (generally, a minimum of a 21" interior width, with more like 27" to 30" much better).
• Dish storage that is not in the Prep Zone so someone unloading the DW or setting the table does not get in the way of others prepping/cooking.
• Near the Dining Room so it's a direct shot for setting the table (dish storage) or clearing the table without, again, getting in the way of others working in the Kitchen
• Near the trash pullout, but it doesn't need to be in the zone itself

[In the past -- before automatic DWs -- far more time was spent cleaning up because all dishes were done by hand. Today, the majority of dishes are washed in the DW and, with today's DWs & DW detergents, dishes don't even need to be rinsed! So, the amount of time spent in this zone is far less today! BTW, this is where the paradigm of "the sink must be in front of a window" came from – back when so much time was spent hand washing & drying dishes). Today, it makes more sense to have the Prep Zone in front of window or in the most preferred view/location. If you have just one sink that serves as both the Cleanup & Prep sink, it may still make sense to have the sink under the window -- but you might want the prep counterspace in front of the window since you will spend more time at the counter than the sink. Just something to think about.]

Overlapping of Zones...

Due to space constraints, some zones often overlap. If this is the case in your kitchen, be sure there is enough work space in the overlap for both activities. When overlapping two workspaces or work & landing space, the NKBA states you take the landing or work space that needs the most workspace and add 12" for the minimum needed in the overlapped area.

E.g., if the Prep Zone's workspace overlaps with the Cooking Zone's space, the largest is 36" (Prep Zone's workspace) + 12" = 48" of shared space.

Other Items

Work Aisles...

• Aisles are measured to/from the items that stick out into the aisles the farthest - counter overhangs, appliance doors & handles, etc. They are not measured to/from cabinets. Cabinet measurements only include the box, they do not include the doors/drawer fronts (~1" beyond the cabinet box) or the counter overhangs (~1.5" beyond the cabinet box)
• Additionally, doors on a tall pantry or utility cabinets extend approx. 1" beyond the cabinet boxes (not counting knobs/pulls)
• 42" is the minimum work aisle if only one person (and always one person) is working in the Kitchen
• 48" is the minimum work aisle if more than one person is working in the Kitchen
• For appliance doors & handles, check the specs of your chosen appliance. Don't forget to include clearance behind the appliance, if needed – in particular, refrigerators and freezers.

Seating (Island or Peninsula)...

• For each seat, allot a minimum of 24" of linear space per seat. So, for two seats, you need 48" or 4'. If a large family, increase it to 30" per seat.
• Counter Overhang for Table-height Seating (30" off the finished floor) -- minimum of 18" of clear knee/leg space (i.e., no obstructions)
• Counter Overhang for Counter-height Seating (36" off the finished floor) -- minimum of 15" (more if you or anyone in your family is tall (> 6') or has long legs
• Counter Overhang for Bar-height Seating (42" off the finished floor) -- minimum of 12". However, there should be a surface depth of at least 18" to accommodate plates, glasses, etc., to minimize the risk of knocking them over onto the counter below.
• Note: There should be no seating directly across from a range/cooktop/rangetop, oven, or DW.

Aisle behind seats varies depending on what's behind the seats

• If nothing is behind the seats and it's a "dead end" (i.e., not a path behind the seats that leads to other places on both ends), the minimum aisle is 33" to squeeze by, 36" to edge by, and 44" to walk by
• If work counters, appliances, etc., 48" to 54", depending on how busy that counter or appliance use is
• If a major path behind the seats leads to other places on both ends, 48" to 54", depending on how busy the aisle is
• If both a major path and work counters, appliances, etc., behind the seats, 54" or more
• If there's a table behind the seats and there is seating at the table on the same aisle as the island/peninsula seats, 60"
• If table but no seats on the same aisle as the island/peninsula seats, 48" to 54"

Walkways...

• A walkway that has no work counters or appliances on it, it's just a path through the Kitchen outside the work zones - 36" minimum
• Any other walkway - see Work Aisles

Refrigerator...works best on the periphery of the kitchen so it's easily accessed by people working in the kitchen as well as "outsiders" looking for a snack without the "outsiders" getting underfoot of those working in the kitchen. It should also be near the Prep & Cooking Zones and, if possible, near the main meal location(s) for ease of access during mealtime.

Microwave (MW)...this also works best on the periphery of the kitchen so it's easily accessed by people working in the kitchen as well as "outsiders" looking for a snack without the "outsiders" getting underfoot of those working in the kitchen.

Zone-crossing - avoid!...When planning zones, etc., try to minimize zone-crossing. For example, if you can avoid it, don't put the refrigerator such that you have to cross through the Cleanup Zone to go between the refrigerator and the Prep or Cooking Zone.

Finally, here's a humorous discussion about Kitchen Design:

• Ice.Water.Stone.Fire, a humorous discussion of Kitchen design: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2699918/looking-for-layout-help-memorize-this-first

One last point regarding islands...islands should not be "barrier islands". I.e., the island should not be between the Refrigerator & Prep or Cooking Zones nor should it be between the Prep Zone/sink & Cooking Zone.

Can you have a vent hood that is wrapped in a material that will blend with the home rather than standout like stainless? Something like this one only suspended over the island. That way you can get a powerful quiet hood inside and form the shape outside to what works well in your decor.

Awarded Designs · More Info

Or something very plain

Heights Kitchen Remodel · More Info

Something sculptural

Price · More Info

Of all these ideas, the flush-to-ceiling one seems to be the least visually intrusive. I would research that option.

@RedRyder Flush to ceiling "registers" (which are not hood configurations) are not large enough to capture rising and expanding plumes -- plumes that are potentially also subject to cross drafts -- without allowing a portion to escape that then distributes moisture, grease, and odor throughout the residence. Using them in pairs or quads may be adequate, depending on height, but the hardware cost is obviously multiplied, and so to will be the required MUA.

@tozmo1: "powerful quiet hood." Combining "powerful" and "quiet" can easily produce an oxymoron w.r.t. hood systems. High speed air passing through or within hood and duct restrictions will develop turbulence that produces sound. Turbulence spillage off of fan blades is particularly noisy. At best you can limit a hood system to mostly baffle hiss, but this requires a remote blower and intermediate silencer. Duct vibration may also require treatment.

@kaseki I hear you but my experience with Vent a Hood was powerful and quiet. Specs vary of course for the specific range. https://www.ventahood.com/index.php/products/premier-magic-lung/ml-liner?id=360&model=THSLE

VaH Magic Lung designs use the squirrel cage blowers to perform the grease extraction function of baffles. This leads to pluses and minuses in performance and noise levels, depending on the design of the squirrel cages and the pressure losses in the kitchen ventilation system. We (here) know from early reported measurements (over a decade ago) that at that time at least a few VaH ML were very noisy. I haven't seen measurements reported for recent installations, so I don't know how well they have improved.

Many would consider baffles superior for extraction, cleaning, and fire stopping, but this may be a matter of opinion. Certainly if the VaH ML scheme were more efficient, commercial hoods would use it. Note, however, that commercial hoods use roof mounted up-blast blowers, in most cases, so there are no blowers in the hoods except in special cases. I would expect that a VaH ML would be potentially quieter for a given flow rate than a counterpart baffled residential-style hood that has the blower in the hood.

Potential VaH ML buyers should keep in mind that the VaH squirrel cage blowers have fan curves showing greater limitations on performance when operating in a higher pressure loss system (exit ducting plus any MUA path pressure loss). Conventional blower systems with requisite baffle filters will be better suited in such cases. (Mesh filters are OK for lower flow rates, but these flow rates will not be sufficient for hot oil cooking, such as searing.)

Hi everyone – thanks so much for continuing to weigh in. This thread has inspired some good soul searching and provoked a lot of thought on how to best achieve all of our kitchen renovation goals. @Buehl and @Beth H. :very much appreciate both of your pushes to reconsider the island hood option and we think we might have a better idea for preserving flow and keeping the range/stove against a wall (and doing horizontal ducting instead of needing to cut into the ceiling, which would be nice).

Will add a sketch as soon as I'm able.

@Buehl – the ice/water/stone/fire thread was super insightful and upon reflection, we realized this is how our kitchen was set up (and that we liked it).

Below is a rough sketch. The drawing dimensions aren't exact, but we measured the dishwasher/sink area (see photos below) and we can scoot the sink/dishwasher a few inches and squeeze a 36" wide refrigerator into the lineup.

As mentioned in a photo (below), we could probably only use a door with a right hinge. Not ideal, but probably worth the sacrifice. Something like a Liebherr sub-25" deep freestanding fridge (that you can push all the way to the wall) could be ideal in terms of maximizing fridge/freezer space and not having it peek past the chimney (also shown in photo).

Make sure that when the DW door is down, the refrigerator door does not hit it at whatever limit on angle you intend to stop at.

I think you will find over time that the right side hinge is an major irritant. I would put a gap next to the wall, set the fridge next to it, set the sink to its right, and find a place for the DW somewhere else; such as under the prep surface at a distance where swiveling from the sink to the DW allows dish placement without much foot movement.

[Edited for literacy]