Fantech makes the blowers, silencers, and hood liners.

www.fantech.net I have one on my roof and its fabulous and quiet. They might be able to recommend where to get the actual outer part of the hood...they're very helpful on the phone.

Now on to the height...do you mean 18 inches between your stove top and the vent? or an 18 inch high hood to capture the smoke and grease?

18 inches above your stovetop is WAAAAYY too low, especially if its a full depth hood...doesn't sound like it would be anything else. My half depth hood is just over 18 inches above my stovetop and I'm constantly bumping tongs full of pasta into it and banging my elbow on it. I'd love to replace it but that's a project for another year :-)

I think 30 inches is a more normal height.

Dear Orangedaisy52,
I meant that the hood itself should measure 18" in height (most of the ones on the various brand websites are 10"). Definitely we would install it at least 30" above the range top. thank you for your advice. I will contact fantech.

Sounds wonderful. I'd love to hear what configuration you settle on. If I stay in my house much longer I might like to put in a new hood and liner :-), raising the whole thing up of course!

Dear Orangedaisy52,
This is what a visit to Floorcraft and a talk with the salesman has given me:
Best by Broan K260A42SS 42" x 24" x 18" range hood 1500 cfm and separately Best EB12 external blower 1200 CFM's

or Best by Broan WP29M427SB 42" x 27" x 18" with same external blower.
Hope this helps you in the future!

Windcrest makes them, maybe Imperial.

Putting a remote blower directly out the wall from the hood will not make any difference to the noise in the kitchen. You need distance between the hood and blower to reduce noise.

That's true for sure! Is it possible to vent through the attic and mount it on the roof? That makes room for the silencer too, which is a very big deal, and is also the size of large kitchen garbage can. So it wouldn't fit between the range hood and the outside wall just behind it.

I raised trevorlawson's comment with my very experienced GC. He says it still will be quieter! So I guess that it is up to me to make the decision. Our house has 3 stories and no attic, so venting that way and mounting the EB on the roof is not an option. I will look at Windcrest and Imperial as well.

Part of me still lusts after the Rangecraft Canterbury hood for looks. It has (and still is ) out of my budget, but as the price of these hoods and EB's and accessories add up, maybe the price difference is not so substantial. A sales person at Rangecraft said that if we are venting directly out the wall, I do not need 1200CFM's, and can get away with 600 CFM's, to reduce the cost. My range is a 6 burner Bertazzoni with combined BTU's of 40,050. I do sear my steaks or grill them indoors once a week. The Rangecraft hoods only have internal blowers. I do not know what to make of her suggestion, as 600 CFM's seems rather low.

After all of my research on appliances, cabinets, flooring, cabinet hardware, lighting, tiles and paint colors, I seem to be getting nowhere with this range hood issue probably because it is so driven by specs and not aesthetics. Wouldn't it be great if both the spec needs and my aesthetics could be solved by a Rangecraft hood?

Have a look at Modern Air for a comparable hood to the Rangecraft Cantaberry. They will also advise you about the remote blower vs Internal blower

I am from the SF/Bay area and one of the members of this website really had a bad experience with the Modernair rep, based in San Jose, I think. So bad that she said that she would have not used them again, even though her finished kitchen is gorgeous. That scared me away!

you could go direct to Jeff at the factory if you feel more comfortable, if i am not mistaken he owns Modern Aire, it might be worth the call.