I was looking at the schematic drawing with all the measurements for the gas range that I will be getting. It is a slide in dual fuel. Gas man will be coming in two weeks to extend gas from living room into kitchen (not far). The drwing shows an empty space above the range 30" high. The bottom of my now in existance vent fan/light is about 22" above the top of my slide in electric range.

My questions are....

(1)since my fan is just a "sham" - not vented out doors, but back into the room. Is there any reason to have one?

(2) I thought about having the carpenter make a shallow light box under the bottom of the cabinet (hidden from view) and just install fluorescents there since the wiring is there for the current fan/light. Would that work?

(3) If I took the "easy way out" could I just install a new fan similar to the old one - or is that too close to be safe?