Just how important is ventilation to a kitchen? It's very important. The kitchen hood can make or break a fabulous kitchen yet so often it is overlooked.
When designing a kitchen the cooktop and ventilation need to be considered as one unit. A good design will allow them to work together efficiently.
This Miele 36" five burner cooktop is a powerful workhorse with its (2) 9,000 BTU high speed burners, (2) 15,300 BTU double inset super burners and its (1) 12,000 BTU super burner. Whatever thee homeowner will be cooking will surely put some pollutants into the air and for that reason you need a hood that's a good match for the cooktop. The hood chosen for this task was the 42"Best 1000 CFM (cubic foot per minute) chimney style hood. There are some great features with this hood.
Generally, a hood with its duct work vented to the outside is considered the most effective ventilation system. For efficiency sake the hood should be at the very least the width of the cooktop, It is preferable though that the hood be wider by 3 to 6 inches than the cooktop, This is because the greater the capture area the more efficient the unit can be. What's great about this hood is that it also comes in a 24" depth which is not the standard. With this configuration at 42" wide and a 24" depth a solid system was in place to insure greater capture of the pollutants such as moisture and grease naturally rising from the cooking surface and dispersing into the air in the kitchen. Another great feature is that while the flue accommodates 8' to 9' ceilings it can be extended for 10' ceilings.
As a kitchen designer I work with manufacturers and appliance dealers to get you the best hood and cooktop configuration for your installation. You can't overlook this important component in your kitchen remodel.
We are nearing completion of the Leeds Habitat home in Tempe so the hard hat I was wearing during construction is no longer needed. As usual work started early last Saturday morning, we were all present and ready to go around 6:30. It was hot out and landscaping was on the agenda for the day. Desert plants in the front and rock in the back. Remember this is a Leeds certified house so it needs to be energy and water wise. My post: At Home in a Hard Hat shows this project in the framing stage and as you can see we have long passed that. 
My task were in the interior so I didn't have to deal with the hot sun beaming on me. I was painting and doing other task as needed. As usual I spent some time in the kitchen. The oak cabinets for the home were donated by Home Depot. The cabinets are an American standard overlay door style which means you will see more frame around the door and door knobs/handles are not required. There is enough room to open the door with your fingers so hardware is not as essential as a full overlay door style. There are some nice features with these cabinets. Each drawer pulls out to its full extension and the doors and drawers are all soft-close which means you won't hear any sound when they are closing. If you have someone in your family who has a tendency to slam drawers or doors, they can't do that with a soft-closing door. I always encourage my clients to include these features in the design. The full extension drawer option is essential for retrieving things from the back of the drawer.
