So also this fan has a rattle and the edges on the right side don't meet up properly. Hmm. I'm going to talk to my GC in the morning. Any suggestions welcome.

He had previously proposed a Miele vent hood, but it only comes in stainless. And I'd eventually like to switch over to as many white appliances as I can. So I asked for white and this is what he came up with.

I wonder if I would be better off with the Miele if that is still a possibility. Could the front of the Miele be painted white with appliance paint or something? And look good and hold up?

You could remove the metal cover of the hood and take it and get it powder coated white. That would look good and be durable but would kill your warranty.

On who's part did the miscommunication occur—yours or your GC's? If the Imperial vent hood was specified in your contract, and he installed the Broan without your written or verbal permission, then he needs to correct the situation to your delight (notice I didn't use the word "satisfaction"). On the other hand, if you agreed to the substitution and aren't happy with the outcome (which clearly you are not), correct the situation to your delight! And as far as painting a hood goes, don't do it! There are so many options that would look MUCH better than a non factory-painted finish. BTW: Is the Imperial hood still available?

Samantha, if you follow the link in my original post it sure looks to me like you can order it. I don't really want to get into assigning blame at this point and I don't think the answer is clear cut anyway.

Thank you everyone.

Have you seen how the lights are in other hoods? Changing brands may not solve the problem, except to give you an "off" switch. I find all of the lights irritating as they seem to glare right into your eyes....

Practigal, most vent hood lights seem to aim straight down. That's what I have had before. This light is curved and aims both down and straight forward --which given my height and the height of the hood means the light aims directly into my eyes. I agree that most do have some glare but this seems to be the worst arrangement I have seen. And no off switch for the light just makes it that much worse.

I cannot find that hood on the imperial site...the reference on the site you provided says that the speed is variable. Have you confirmed that the imperial has a separate switch for the light?

partigal, I'm not sure it matters since switching to it would require a new cabinet at this point and I don't know that we can/will do that. But I have owned this hood previously and I was able to turn the lights on and off separately. So unless that has changed with a new model, yes it does. Additionally the lights in the imperial do aim straight down, not forward. Again, not sure it matters for me at this point though.

I have actually never before seen a vent hood that you couldn't turn the lights off and on separately from the vent and I have also never before seen a hood that has lights aimed forward. And I have lived in a lot of houses. So it seems likely to me that almost any hood would be an improvement in this regard.

You could do a cabinet insert with liner. This one on Amazon is budget-friendly but only 390cfm. Upside is no make-up air required.

Broan

If all else fails, just remove the bulbs.

If you moved the cabinet down 5 inches would it not glare in your eyes? I think you should have exactly what you want and not compromise, but if you have to work with what you've got, maybe shifting it down and adding trim at the top will help.

Thanks everyone.

We talked about darkening the plastic shield and mocked that up. I wasn't happy.

My GC is going to see how long it will take to get new cabinet doors and a panel (he can cut the cabinet down himself). We will eat the materials cost and put the broan hood on CL to recover a little of the money. At least that's the current plan. I hate to spend the money and delay the project and just be a general pita, but I cook with the vent on and the light off 90 percent of the time and I just don't think I would be happy with a vent that won't let me do that.

Is it 5 o'clock somewhere? I can start drinking now, right?

I appreciate the help.

Start drinking. It's okay. Are you sure you can't stick a strip of matching molding across the front of this thing? If you make it a couple inches taller than it has to be, it might also block the light.

Tall people problems. Heh.

I had an 80s Kenmore slideout and it had the light and fan both come on when you pulled the thing out too. I actually really liked that feature!

Dh suggested blocking the light with a strip of some kind right in front of the light. Maybe I am being just too picky about this, but I can't seem to reconcile myself to it. I think it's not helping that I had the imperial in our last kitchen and I really liked the way it looked, so I have that stuck in my head.