Sorry for the confusion.

I've just removed a 30' ventahood from my kitchen for a remodel. I've used it for 6 years with no problem. I was very powerful and the quality was ok. I'm changing it because I've purchased a 36" range (propane) and the manufacturer recommends a 42" rangehood.

Here is a link that might be useful: ventahood

I'm shopping for a 36" hood to go with a professional DCS 30" range. I can tell you that a Vent a hood would be twice what you want to spend. For a 36" Kobe, I am looking at about $125 more than you want to spend. I love the Kobe look but I don't know anything about its efficiency. Imperial hoods are good but more than you want to spend as are Kitchenaides. Good luck.

Zephyr has a nice 36" model that is $600 on universal-akb.com

I remember one thing from kitchen venting search. Kobe is the one firm that seems to know what noise is. Kobe is the one firm that talks about quietness. Kobe made me a believer. I would recommend them to friends and family.

In the end I got an inline blower from a firm that makes them for range hood manufacturers and I basically manufactured my own range hood.

Once the other manufacturers pay attention to noise as a single most important criterion, I will be glad to add their names to my list of recommendations.

What really counts is how well the device blows against a head of static pressure (similar to torque in automotive terms); most real life situations involve a long duct, longer than what you will see in a showroom if it has connected electricity to their showroom models to let you hear the motor in action.

HTH

"Kobe is the one firm that talks about quietness."

David - Where did you ever get that idea?!?! For one, Ventahood quite famously advertises their being the quietest ventilation available, and taken at face value their sone ratings at high speed are lower than Kobe's. Of course for some "strange" reason neither company chooses to be rated by the industry standard, HVI, so that we can objectively compare them against the competition.

Broan is another company that talks about quietness, and they've got the HVI certification to back it up. At low speed (150 CFM) their Elite series measured in at 1.5 sones, which seems very respectable. The 13.0 rating at 600 CFM seems scary compared to Ventahood and Kobe's claims, but then who's to know if those brands were tested in a similar manner.

As I see it, for many of the popular brands we're left with little basis for comparison other than first-hand observation and anecdotal comparisons found on forums such as this.

"Once the other manufacturers pay attention to noise as a single most important criterion, I will be glad to add their names to my list of recommendations."

Of course this is a matter of opinion, but in my book a quiet range hood is worthless if it doesn't get the job done. So I'd put performance first.