I'm in the decision stage on a hood insert for a 36" range as well, and have looked at both of these plus some others. For what it's worth, I'm so far leaning toward the Imperial, 40" model, largely because of noise factor. I gather from what I've read on this and the appliance forum that the fewer transitions on vents the better and the larger the vent the better, at least in terms of noise. The Imperial, for the sizes we'd need, uses twin blowers, each requiring a 7" vent. Transitioning them to a single 10" invalidates the warranty. At maximum speed (1270 cfm) , the noise rating is just 4.6 sones. That compares to about 7 for almost every other unit I could find and some are more. You mentioned that the Zephyr doesn't look as professional...I'm wondering if it's because the pictures I've seen have mesh grills instead of baffles (which seem to get a better review on this site). If so, I believe you can upgrade to baffles. HTH

All hood filtering, whether meshes, baffles, or VAH sling designs, can only remove part of the grease aerosol particle spectrum. This part is that of the larger diameter particles, with decreasing performance through the mid-range. The rest is hoped to be discharged into the atmosphere, but there will be some collection in ducting depending on various factors. The only system I know of that can handle the entire spectrum is the intense UV approach used above commercial perforated ceiling collection designs. Hence, discharge into an attic not only subjects the attic to grease, water vapor, and odor, but could potentially be a fire hazard. Is there a reference somewhere in which VAH specifies that attic discharge is allowed? Earlier, the value 90 was raised. That may have been a misapplication of my expressed opinion on the flow rate (cfm) desirable per square foot of hood aperture to ensure that the 3 ft/s rising effluent from hot sources (griddles, woks, etc) is assured of containment by baffles and meshes. Rules of thumb such as cfm per BTU/hr or cfm per foot of hood edge are derived from various assumptions about the nature of the cooking field. kas

In order to not repeat myself re hundred's of other hood-related threads, I'll just comment on this assertion: "Just saying that the middle burners may get more suction then the outer ones." There is no effective level of suction at the cooktop. There is airflow at the hood entry aperture and perhaps slightly lower corresponding pressure. While the most suction is likely at the baffles, it can't be lower than the total pressure loss in the system, normally less than 2 inches of water (0.07 PSI) to move any air. Hoods collect and expel the effluent that rises and reaches the hood aperture, plus a smidgen past the edges, by entraining the rising and expanding cooking plumes into the air flow created by the hood system blower. If pans on the middle burners are better collected, it is only because they have the most hood overlap. Unrelated to hoods, but relevant to long-term safety, one hopes that the cooktop installation manual allows zero clearance to combustibles above the cooktop at the back, or that the wall is non-combustible all the way through. Generally, island trim configurations are not intended for operation next to a wall.

WOW…tell me how you really feel. But in all seriousness thanks for your input- now time for me to extrapolate a bit more- These are/have been our overall though processes…if you feel I am completely off base please let me know. I did make a typo- the blower is a 1500 cfm blower. I purchased the liner and blower at the same time (my mistake) but I will see if a change can be made. If not, do you think that it may work the for the large oven? The Oven is our dream oven. I truly believe I will be using the griddle multiple times a week (coming from a person who goes out into the garage 3-5 times a week to cook on a large camp chief large griddle). In addition we do use upwards of 6 burners multiple times a year for cooking in bulk, canning and other get togethers (again my camp chief gets a work out), With at least two chiefs in the kitchen we hope the space between the burners may give us some elbow room as well. Do you think the space is just too small for the large oven and range despite a relatively open floor plan and a slightly vaulted ceiling? And that is the same for the hood? or do you think the copper hood is further over whelming- again the measurements in the image of the hood is about a foot higher than the actual plan. Ok so you are right the island is going to be the main prep space (as well as the serving location for prepared food not on the stove). I have never seen a need to follow the triangle between the stove, sink and refrigerator- I regularly grab everything out of the refrigerator, walk over to my prep space and then eventually find the sink later. As a result, I prefer to replace refrigerator with prep area in that triangle (hence the general setup). Oh and I will die on the clear island work space (I have lived in situations with both an oven and a main sink in the island…hated the sink more than the oven). To make 60 sticky buns or 8 trays of lasagna, one needs space to work. Storage is an interesting concept for us because the kitchen is meant to store items used on an almost daily to weekly basis. There will also be storage in the island, under the coffee bar, and in the butlers pantry- the idea behind that pantry is to hold extra cooking supplies/equipment (including a 20qt hobart mixer)/utensils and shelf safe foods used weekly with overflow or rarely used items in the larger basement pantry/root cellar/wood room. The designers are the ones who suggested/labeled the various cabinets. So we will adjust to a drawer for the bags and things. Can you explain the issue with the pull out pantry/spice rack thing? At only 2 feet deep even if it is fully extended I would still have 3 feet to walk around it or am i missing some crucial point here? So the idea for the sink is to have a workstation sink where prep can occasionally take place- our current sink is 36 inches and we alway have a dish rack draining that adds an additional foot that- we do dishes daily by hand. So we planned to combine the two and add a little more space to get the 54”. I have found a nice faucet with an pullout spray that should reach all corners of the large sink. We were honestly questioning the need for a dishwasher. As for the dining room- it is staying in the location that it was initially before the addition (the table is a little big in the image). the kitchen used to sit to the left and it is rotated 90 degrees clockwise in essence (to below the dining room). The placement of the dining room is between the kitchen and living room hopefully encouraging us to use it more. Lastly I am confused about the comment of the refrigerator in relation to the stove and hood. all of the counter-depth refrigerators lose so much storage and are typically much smaller than their less expensive counterparts. are you suggesting to finish the “expensive look” we should go with a more expensive fridge? we truly are just trying to built our dream kitchen/house and trying to see what works. I love the look of the SubZero fridge but the cubic storage of the french door model is just not impressive. Really, i am not too sure what a more functional kitchen would look like at this time (probably after I have used it i will get an idea)…sadly hindsight is 20/20 but I would welcome any comments on the complete remodel design if there is something that anyone would suggest…and be happy to provide more clarification