Product review (4 stars): Great range hood with some gimmicks
Great range hood with some gimmicks.

I've had this for about six months now. I have it vented to the great outdoors. I must say that it works like a charm. This thing could suck out the nastiest grease fire. On high it's a little less noisy than the average job which runs at about 1/3 the CFM, but still noisy. At first I had it set to recirculate while I mustered up the time to plumb the duct work and it was obnoxious on high. I'd say that when vented it makes about 60% of the unvented noise.

It would get 5 stars if:

1. The buttons for the lights and fan weren't flimsy junk. Expect these to fail at some point. What's wrong with the rocker switches range hoods have been using since time immemorial that can be replaced with stock parts found everywhere?

2. The fan didn't turn on at high when you boil pasta. I'm not kidding. There is a thermostat in it for "consumer protection" or some such nonsense that turns it on high and you can't turn it off. The first thing I recommend anyone do is remove the thermostat. Do it before installation. It's obnoxious. I don't understand why all these "features" are being added to consumer appliances. You'd never see such garbage in a commercial range hood. What's next? A Wi-Fi enabled range hood so I can turn it on from my iDevice? I've already seen ones with remote controls. It's a fan with lights and a metal hood. Enough.

3. Also installation is a nightmare, as is installing any range hood, but I had expected fewer sharp edges. I came away from that job dripping blood all over my kitchen. To be fair everything you could possibly come into contact with once installed is perfectly safe. All exposed corners are impressively bent.

It does look nice I guess, though I am personally more of a function over form kinda guy.