What is below the hood? How tall are you? What is the front to back depth of the hoods under consideration?

We'll be getting a 36" wide five burner gas cooktop... Not a million dollar one but something good . I am over six feet, but I'm not Yao Ming, so I don't get why this is hard. I have seen hoods that are ok looking that are 20" , 21", and 22" deep. I've measured these at the spec heights and it puts them around eye ball levEl, and about two to four inches in front of my face. One setup the designer showed would have had it at 62" AFF which, I would be gazing down at it? Seemed weird.

My friend has one hung at 30" anD I always hit it. I hate it!

Our old house had none and we set off the smoke alarm every day that I cooked so I Don't want to go without.

I want this kitchen to last a very long time because it's costing the earth.

The ideal distance between cooktop and bottom of hood is 30-36". The cost of the hood makes no difference as to the installed height. I am assuming your option #1 is costly due to the requirement for makeup air if the hood has > 400cfms. There is no "fudge"; you install it between 30-36" from the cooktop depending on what you'd prefer. Even at 36" above, it's close enough to capture the effluent, given what can be captured at 400 cfms.

If I were you, I'd pay much more attention to the depth, front to back, of the hood you are looking at. Many are just 20 or 21" deep, which leaves the front burners uncovered. So you'd spend all this money on a hood, and it doesn't even work for the front burners. Try to find a hood that is 23-24" deep front to back for full coverage. Ajmadison has a useful website that allows you to sort for things like that.

As to bumping your head, your brain gets accustomed to the hood's placement very quickly, and you might bump once or twice, no more, then your brain will know how to stand so you won't bang your head.

Also pay attention to your duct work. Even at 400 cfms, you will benefit from an exhaust duct diameter that is 8", not less, i.e., not 6".

Try to get a hood that has baffle filters, not mesh. Mesh filters quickly clog with grease, and need to be cleaned frequently or they'll lose efficiency. Baffle filters need to be cleaned of course, but won't lose efficiency if they're not.

One setup the designer showed would have had it at 62" AFF

That sets off alarm bells, that a KD would consider that. Your KD should know everything I wrote in my post above. As you said, you are spending a lot on this kitchen. I am concerned, just from that comment, that the KD is sub-par.

On the other hand, it could be that you are getting OCD about the hood height so that s/he presented that to you just to mollify you by showing you all kinds of different things whether thy work or not.

I guess it sounds like you'd both recommend getting one of the
400CFM hoods and placing it at or below the spec height of 32" and
living with bumping it? If that's the only option I guess it's the only
option. I was just hoping there would be some other options.

30" does put it below my eye level, and maybe smarter people don't hit these things but I definitely do and have, many times, using my friend's kitchen. I am an oaf i guess.

There are no 400 CFM hoods on the market with a spec for more than 32" above.

I read some other places where folks took one that said 32", but they did add a couple inches, I would do that if it's not actually a huge impact on the performance. I'll take a little performance hit if it means less face-hit. But I can't seem to get a good read on how MUCH it affects performance.

Does any manufacturer make a hood out of foam rubber? ;)

If not foam rubber, try a slide in. You bump it, it yields.

I've had a few and they perform pretty well.

I'm fairly tall. When we installed the range hood, I wanted it to be a little higher so I wouldn't bang into it. However, the lights have a sort of reflector in back of them that creates a lot of glare. I'm sensitive to that, and didn't want that type of light blinding me. So, it's hung so the lights are just below where I can see them, and surprisingly, I don't bang into the hood really at all. YMMV.

With a 5 burner gas top, IMO, 400 CFM isn't enough.

We have a hood set at 36" above the range at our beach house and it's fine. We're short so it could be lower, but as far as efficacy goes, it works well.

"you'd both recommend....placing it at orat or below the spec height of 32"

No, I did not say that. Re-read my recommendations. Why do you think that?

I'm six one, and the front part of my hood comes to my mouth. I've yet to hit my head on it, and I am a klutz. Mine is a wall unit.

However, I have a friend who has an island range, and her hood is probably about 3-5 inches up higher than mine. I've hit my head on it several times (and it is squared off and sharp). (I'm part of a club that gets together periodically to cook together.)

I think you'll be okay if you see it as you cook, if you install it standard. It's if you can't see it!!!

Are you doing the whole kitchen, or just the range and hood. I ask because you could raise all the counters on the range run a couple inches above standard height and raise the range as well. Then when you put the hood at the required height, it will hopefully be high enough not to bean you.

Here's a thread on the topic:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/raised-counter-heights-for-tall-cooks-dsvw-vd~2603118