"For ARS wall-mount hoods, is it possible to only install the hood directly under a cabinet, and let the "chimney" go through the cabinet?"

Read the installation instructions steps 13-15 that describe the installation of the odor absorbing canister and smoke trapping filter to see why this wouldn't work.

NO recirculating hood works except for a couple of commercial systems that are well over $60k. It's physics. For your and others health you should get a proper hood that exhausts to outside.

Please review this thread for supplementary information: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2347276/vent-a-hood-ductless-ars-range-hood-update#n=181

@opaone: If this was Reddit, I could have mentioned I will downvote the exact thing you're saying. Didn't I say this is not allowed in the first place? We're in a HOA.

As others, I do not see anywhere in your original post that you are in an HOA or that you are not allowed to put in an externally vented hood.

Original post below.

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I know many people said Vent-A-Hood's ARS line is the only recirculating hood that works, but it appears to me that it's impossible to mount their under-counter hood without breaking their "not more than 24" from cooking surface" guideline, or having to remove the cabinet above the cutout (which we would want to avoid). Either we'd have to improvise or having to seek a different brand.

Regarding the VAH ARS hoods:

• Does anyone have experience installing one of the ARS Under-cabinet hoods (PRAH6/SLAH6 series) at 30" (instead of 24") above the cooking surface--and did the performance suffer?
• For ARS wall-mount hoods, is it possible to only install the hood directly under a cabinet, and let the "chimney" go through the cabinet? Alternatively, can the duct cover be trimmed to the top of the filter unit so the entire thing fits in the cabinet?

Regarding other Recirculating hoods:

• Which brand's recirculating hoods has somewhat better carbon filters? It appears to me nobody ever tested for it.
• Would 500+ CFM airflow be excessive if I use an electric stove and only *very* occasionally cook greasy or smelly foods?

Thanks for your answer(s) in advance!

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An HOA rule against ventilation exhaust is dangerous and possibly illegal.

Chemical byproducts of cooking, whether gas or induction/electric, can be unhealthy and in some cases quite harmful. These must be removed to avoid health problems and NO affordable recirculating hood removes these as they cannot be filtered out of an air stream. Only a scrubber can remove them and scrubbers are big and expensive.

Beyond this though, human occupied spaces must have ventilation - exhaust of stale air to outside that's replaced by fresh outside air. This primarily to remove exhaled CO2 but also numerous other airborne chemicals from formaldehyde to various HCA's and VOC's.

I have the VAH ARS hood installed and it work surprisingly well for a recirculating hood. Is it as good as a vented hood, no, but it doses a very good job with light to moderate cooking. The blower does a great job at removing the grease before it blows into the charcoal and fine paper filter. I have it above an induction range, I would not recommend it above a gas range or cooktop. If you mount it 30" off the appliance it will not be the end of the world, the ventilation police will not come and take you away. It will just impact the performance a little. The more distance between the hood and the appliance the bigger the heat/contamination cloud gets and the hood cannot capture and vent it. Unless you are willing to remodel the cabinet you just have to do what you can do, it will be far better than having nothing. The hood and filter system is not cheap, but you get what you pay for. It is not the glorified $39.99 light fixture you can get a a home store, this will actually do what is was designed to do.

" Didn't I say this is not allowed in the first place? We're in a HOA. "

I see neither of those mentioned either.........

If you mount it higher than recommended, it will be less effective. However, you can mitigate that by getting a wider & deeper hood.

At a bare minimum, I would get one that's at least 6" wider than the cooking surface and 24"D.

So, for a 30"W range or cooktop, get a hood 36"W x 24"D.