You should check the range specification because that's what really decides how high the hood should be installed. Also, this is from the top of the grates which is higher than the counter tops. Our inspector measured all this (and has made other people move their hoods) but your inspectors may not be as thorough.

Mine is installed 36" above the range top and I have 9'+ ceilings and I think it looks fine.

Ours is 32" above the counter. I thought it would be iffy given I'm 5'8" and, like you say, it did seem really low when spec'ing it out with measuring tape before the install. But I've never once noticed it while cooking at the stovetop. It's not in the way at all. I think 33" is a good compromise for you between form and function.

thanks for the feedback. I did check the specs from BS, and coincidentally they suggest 30-36", just like the Independent hood. I think I'll go for the 33", especially since it is 27" deep.

I think a cardboard mock up is in my future....

Bee

Bee,

We have a Culinarian cooktop with a 54x27 wooden hood with an insert from ModernAire.

Our counters are 37-1/4 inches high, in part because we're tall but also because this pushes the cooktop an inch closer to the bottom of the hood, given a fixed hood height. This allows us to push the hood higher without making it too far from the cooking surface.

Here are our finished measurements:
69-3/4 inches from floor to bottom of hood
32-1/2 inches from countertop to bottom of hood
31-3/4 inches from top of Culinarian stainless to bottom of hood (and the top of the iron grates are about 1 inch higher than the stainless, making the hood 30-3/4 above the top of the iron grates)

We planned to mount the hood higher but dropped it down when we realized it is not a danger to our heads. One drawback of mounting the hood to high (in addition to poorer performance) is that you see the undersides more easily and some complain about the hood lights shining in their eyes or in the eyes of people sitting at the island. Plus the perceived noise is higher if there's a straight shot from your ears to the underside of the hood.

We have never bumped into the hood and it would be almost impossible to do so because the rounded front of the Culinarian sticks out past the front edge of the countertop, making the cooks stand further out from the back wall.

The wood hood itself is 54W x 27D, so the opening is less (perhaps I should have made the opening this dimension). The hood actually sticks out only 26-1/2 inches from the back wall. This is due to the backsplash installed after the cabinets, as usual.

We have an Abbaka 1400CFM fan on the roof, and it sucks well, even with a couple of bends. We've had no problem with smoke from wok cooking.

To fit the insert in the hood we had Modernaire ship the insert directly to out cabinetmaker so he could build the wood hood to match the insert.

During the design phase we made mockups from foam board. I suggest you do the same if you want to play with the dimensions.

Good luck with your project! Your countertops and the rest look great!

Billy