Advice wanted on low-profile island exhaust hood
I'd like to replace our existing ventilation hood with something more modern - ideally one of these very low-profile stainless steel hoods that's just a chimney with a floating rectangle.
Kind of like this:
http://www.miele.com/usa/cooking/hoods/product.asp?model=444&series=112&...
Trouble is that, in our house, we have a breakfast bar in the kitchen/family room pass-through which limits the descent of the hood (distance from the ceiling to its lowest point) to about 24", and everything I'm seeing in this style is 30" or more.
And I'm reading that the bottom of the hood should be no more than 30" from the cooktop. Well, this clearly isn't the case now (it's more like 40" now), but it does explain why hoods designed for 8' ceilings (like ours) seem to be targeted at a 30-36" descent.
This may be why the hood is so large in our house - about 52" wide for a 36" cooktop.
So, any ideas?
Custom around a hood liner?
Can we modify an existing unit?
Put the blower in a box on the roof?
Any other brand solutions? I've run across Cavaliere, but it's a no-name brand and scares me to death on what's supposed to be an upgrade.
I have no experience with any exotic alternatives you mentioned. I been wanting to replace my broken 10" Nutone exhaust fan so have some ideas.
The "floating chimney" style you mentioned is called "island" (vs. wall mounted) - - my research also indicates the minumum length to be about 30"; the min length is dictated by the expansion capability to acccomodate ceiling heights of up to 101" -- if you want island style, I don't think anything shorter than 29" is available.
Yes, manufacturers recommend 28-32" above the cooktop; but the fan should be powerful enough to ventilate say 40" above, but since you imposed a limit of 24" from the ceiling, none of this matters to you.
If you can live with a hood at 30" from the ceiling, then your style choices are large . . . there are several 30" wide glass (vent body is 17 x 14) that align with 30-in cooktops, 36" wide glass (vent body remains at 17 x 14) that aligned with 36" cooktop, to enormous lengths that align with commercial sized cooking areas. The smallest island hood I came across is a 14" round unit (with and w/o glass plate), but min length is also 30" and cost $1,800 (is made in Italy; below $1,000 units are definitely made in China if that matters to you) - - it's looks a stubby pole (optional glass to capture grease) -- it's also avalable in square shape (14 x 14).
Other choices include a Jenn-air type retractable grease filter that vents indoors (that retracts into the cooktop or is flush with the cooktop).
Without knowing your kitchen layout and whether you have a roof vent and a power source for fan & vent lighting, I can't suggest anything more. However, it seems to me an exotic alternative would cost too much to just want to avoid a 30" drop from the ceiling and too risky to modify a $1,000-$2,000 appliance to a 24" drop (unless you have nerves of a diamond cutter).
