Some people argue that the best ventilation is one that gets used. For many, that means having a quiet hood. It is also agued that capture (the width of your hood being wider than your cooktop) is also very important. But to tell the truth, I do not have a hood, rather a ceiling grill that has an inline fan. The fan is hidden in ceiling and is installed in the exhaust pipe. Some people use an inline fan to boost their hood's performance, often they are used as bathroom fans. They are almost never used like I did but I can't have a regular hood. As far as capturing grease it does a great job. I'm like you were I only occasionally deep fry but do saute. And I boil a lot. I have an induction cooktop so heat is not so much an issue. It's been in over a year and I don't have any greasy film anywhere. I did make my own filter for the grill and I clean it once a month. The grill and filter are greasy, but not my windows in front of the cooktop or my cabinets nearby so I'm going out on a limb and telling you that a 30" hood will probably work for you.

My Fantech fan is supposed to pull over 600 CFM's (the amount of air it moves) but since it is away from the source and there are several bends in the pipe, it is hard to say how much it is effectively drawing. I rarely run it a full speed because while the fan is silent the air movement is loud at full power so I run it at 3/4 power where it's silent so I use it all the time.

I'm not an expert by any means but you can probably get a 300 cfm hood and be happy, assuming it's quiet and you use it. Maybe you should look at some hoods in your price range then go home and do some research and see what people are saying about them in reviews.

I'm sure there are others who will argue a much different arrangement for you. My advice is based on personal experience and not supported with a lot of technical data but hopefully it will help you come to a decision.

The size and power of a rangehood need is dependent more on what and how you cook than what type of cooking appliance (cooktop/rangetop/range or gas/electric/induction) you have.

While you say you don't fry, you do saute and, as you have found, sauteing does put out quite a bit of grease. Really, it's similar to frying in that respect. (As is browning meat or cooking meat in oil, if you do that as well.)

So, what do you need? It's usually recommended you get a hood:

• 6" wider than the cooking surface...this gives you 3" of width beyond the cooking surface on each side to catch smoke, steam, grease, etc. that expands out as they rise or, in the case of grease, splatter outward as it rises.

  If you have cabinets directly adjacent to your cooktop/range, then you might be able to get away with a 30" hood b/c the adjacent cabinets will help corral the smoke, grease, steam, etc. and direct them up to the hood. However, keep in mind that this means the grease, steam, smoke, etc. will be coating those cabinet sides...this is one of the reasons I still recommend 6" wider...to protect the sides of the adjacent cabinets.

  [If this were an island or peninsula application, I would say it's "mandatory" the hood be at least 6" wider, and preferably more! (B/c of the additional & stronger air currents over an open space like that.)]

24" deep to cover the entire front burners + a little more to catch drifting smoke, steam, etc.

Counters are 25.5" deep and, for a cooktop, that means the burners are a few inches back from the edge. (I just measured, the front of my burners are approx 22.5" from the back wall...so 1.5" of the hood extends past the front of the burners.)

Ranges are usually even deeper than the adjacent counters. I would measure how far from the wall the front of the front burners are...this will dictate the best depth for you. If it's no more than 24", I would probably stick w/a 24" hood as a 27" hood might be even deeper than the range and in the way when cooking.

[If this were an island or peninsula application, I would recommend a 27" deep hood; again, b/c of the additional & stronger air currents. In the case of an island/peninsula installation, you could mount the hood so the front edge is an inch or so from the counter edge & then extends back towards the other side of the island/peninsula.]
Since you do saute and grease is heavier than smoke particles or steam, I would recommend at least 600cfms...more if you would like to run it on a lower speed to reduce noise.

I have a 600-cfm hood and it seems to do a good job at removing the grease, smoke, etc. I do know that I no longer have grease splatters on the surrounding cabinets (a good thing since they're not cheap cabinets!) nor do odors spread throughout the house and linger for many hours! I no longer go to bed at night smelling what I cooked that night in my second floor bedroom! (Nor do I wake to it the next morning!)
If you want...

Good point Sykedog, " a good system is one you'll use"! I have had fans so noisy I hated to keep them running!

A wealth of information as usual Buehl! I'd like to save money on ventilation, but I'm getting beautiful new cabinets I want to protect, and still actually USE my kitchen! OT I had to show my daughters your baking sprinkle drawer, We love it!! ;)

Thanks guys! Time to go shopping