I assume it is an internal blower? I had the same problem with a Wolf 900 CFM internal blower hood. There was very little difference b/t low and high in noise or volume of air flow (perceived at least).

Couple of thoughts:remove the screens and see if it makes a difference,
smooth ducts are better than ribbed do you have the right size ducts? any blockage/restrictions?

not sure about the use of this term internal in this context. It's a hood blower.

FWIW, a salesman in a really big store steered me away from Zephyr becuase he knew I was fussy about noise.

-david

david, there are generally 3 types of blowers that I am familiar with. Internal is a blower mounted in the hood enclosure itself and inside the room; in-line which normally mounts b/t the hood and the roof, usually in the attic; and remote, which is mounted on the roof.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It seems that the hood itself is loud. To us it just seems that it's working at the higher setting than it should. WE were expecting quiet range hood at the lowest setting (2 sones should be quiet?), but it just starts off loud and then not much change when going to the next 2 settings. Very disseminated if that's how loud it's supposed to be. We are planning on getting a serviceman to check it out. I believe Zephyr gives a 1 year warranty parts and labour.
thanks again

amd,

Although I have heard the term sones used many times here on GW, I am not sure how to equate it to decibles or actual noise levels. I suspect your main source of noise problems is with an internal blower. While there have been many good discussions on GW on the merits (and quietness) of properly installed vent hoods with internal blowers, having had both internally and remotely mounted systems, I have to conclude that the remote systems are quieter by a huge margin (HUGE!). I have also heard reports from those who have them, and it makes perfect sense to me, that in-line systems can be just as quiet as remote (feature for feature).

Although this has no real relevance to your problem, I have always thought the name "Hurricane" for a vent hood model was a poor marketing choice. I know the analogy is tremendous wind speed but for those of us who have been through many actual hurricanes, we associate hurricanes with "LOUD" as much or more than wind speed.