I recently purchased this unit to replace a 20 year old Broan, painted unit that was noisy, had poor lighting and was hard to clean. It uses no filters, and was recommended as quiet and easy to keep clean by the dealer. A nonfunctional display of the unit in the showroom made it seem like a good purchase decision. While the unit is available painted in various colors to match common kitchen decors, I choose stainless steel for ease of cleaning and durability. The finish of the Broan unit did not hold up well to grease and stained. So I felt that stainless steel would be easier to clean and maintain its looks longer. Since the dealer wanted an additional almost half of the purchase price to install it, and being handy with tools and having previously installed my own, disposal, hot water dispenser, fridge, dishwasher, and oven, I felt that a simple undercabinet stove hood would not be that much of an problem. How wrong I was!

To begin with the shell of the unit is made out of very thin stainless steel. I have seen soft drink cans with thicker walls. It almost dents from looking at it. As an uninstalled unit it is very fragile. Unfortunately I found only this out after my first dent.

The next issue was that electrical connections are in a different location than my previous hood. This meant I had to extend the wiring in the cabinet that was overhead and redrill the feed hole to match with the new hood, after plugging the old one. Too bad manufacturers can't agree on a common spot for the electrical connections has they have for the vent placement.

So after I configured the installation for the electrical connection I measured and installed screws in the cabinet to match up with the holes in the hood according to the measurements given in the manual. Unfortunately the blower mechanism was welded to the hood body and not removable like my previous unit, so I soon found out that attaching the hood to the cabinet was not a one-man job. It requires two or three people - ideally three - two to hold it in place and one to guide it and tighten the screws. I would estimate the unit weighs over 50 lbs - much heavier that my previous unit. This weight seems to be primary from the large motors used for the fans and the medium sized transformer for the electronics. Using wooden blocks I managed to mate the hood to the bottom of the cabinet only to find out that the screws were in the wrong place - the measurements in the manual were off by inches. So I had to remove the unit and screws; relocate them their correct position; resupport the hood on blocks again; and then tighten the screws. While this sounds relatively simple, given the angle and weight of the unit with the assorted "surprises" this became a very challenging task.

Some additional surprises at this point included a transformer blocking the electrical box access (more on this later), faulty instructions describing how to install the rectangular vent (had to leave out some screws to avoid bending it) and included parts that were not mentioned in the instructions.

After the unit was physically installed I proceeded to work on the electrical connections. As it turned out the transformer became more of a problem than I initially thought it would. The transformer, does unscrew from its bracket but its wires are permanently attached to the other wiring. Additionally the bracket that holds the transformer is welded to the shell and blocks most of the electrical box. So removing the transformer from the bracket would have not improved access. The manual has the transformer conveniently missing from its diagrams and pictures - a nice touch! So rather than unscrewing it and leaving it dangle by its wires to hit me in the head, I left it in place allowing my hands to be punctured by the points of its screws while I was wiring it. If getting to the screws on the electrical box was problematic when the unit was laying upside down on the floor, working on the electrical box with me upside down, looking up into it became a nightmare due to the transformer. I had to manipulate my hands around the transformer and bracket, among sharp edges and screws to get the electrical installed and the wire nuts on the connections. This operation resulted in 27 cuts and punctures to my hands by the time I was finished (yes I counted them). Additionally the factory prepped connecting wire, was too long to fit into the closed electrical box along with the supply wire. It had to be cut and restripped while working around the transformer and upside down in order to get the wiring installed and the cover properly back on the electrical box. Given the transformer issue, my wife learned some new vocabulary as I tried to screw on the nut onto the electrical cable bracket that held the wiring in place onto the electrical box, proceeding to mangle my hands in doing it. This nut had to be screwed onto the incoming conduit fitting, inside in the electrical box, and underneath the transformer.

This finally accomplished, I proceeded to tape the vent connections and install the bottom cover. The manual referred to installing screws that were not present in the cover so I had to figure out how to do this for myself. It was great 'fun' trying to align the bottom cover to the holes and get the screws that hold it in place aligned with the holes and screwed in. No thought was given by the designers to such mundane things as captive or half turn connectors or self aligning fasteners. After all such devices might add less than $5 to a $750 hood. I noted that the cover must be removed for halogen lamp replacement. Hopefully I will have moved before this is necessary.

After I finished installing the unit, I called the company to inform them of the numerous errors in the manual, the transformer placement, and to find out what the extra parts are for. Unfortunately they already knew about all these issues. My new factory sealed unit had an old manual. More recently manufactured units have a revised manual with most of the errors removed along with correct measurements. I was told that before installing the unit I should have known to go to their web site and download the latest manual. The company saw no reason to identify the previous units and insure they had an updated manual. My suggestion to at least put a sticker on the box was politely noted. The transformer issues were also noted and I was told they they do plan to change its placement sometime in the future. The extra parts were brackets for other methods of installation that didn't work out. So they removed the references from the manual but left the parts in the parts bag. As far as the sheet metal thinness - "no one else has complained."

So I now have a new working hood that I have successfully installed, abet torn up hands and a small dent in front. Generally I am happy with it. It seems a little quieter than my previous hood, even with its stronger blower. It should easier to clean (no filters). It has superior 2 level lighting, The dim or night light setting is a nice touch. The 5 or 10 minute delay cycle for fan shut off has also proven to be useful. It looks quite attractive and stylish. While I have grown to like the electronic push button controls better than I thought I would. I would have preferred sealed flat buttons for ease of cleaning and longer life to the push buttons. Additionally the sales literature does not indicate that the speed indicators constantly flash at some of their settings - a feature which I find somewhat annoying. The unit does seem solid enough after installation but I have concerns about accidentally dropping something on it when retrieving items from the cabinet above.

However, given the installation issues I am not so sure I would buy this unit again if I planned to install it myself.

The unit while stylish and functional, does not seem to be engineered with the installer in mind. Quite the opposite. Instead it seems to be made as cheaply as possible. It uses welds instead of screws to hold it together making it difficult or impossible to repair a worn unit. Its shell uses metal so thin that it is almost impossible to install without some minor damage. This is evidenced by the the big warning paragraph in the manual of no recourse with the company for installation damage. Bad engineering regarding the placement of the transformer and rectangular vent screws, along with a wiring box too small for the factory prepared wire and the out-of-date manual top off the problems that contribute to a difficult installation..

While I do like the unit once installed I would strongly recommend that self installation be avoided if you are considering this unit. I would not recommend this unit in an environment where it is likely to be hit occasionally by falling objects, such as below a cabinet holding heavy bulky objects or frequently accessed by children, teenagers, or disabled seniors. Additionally I would recommend hanging tool or pot racks above or near this unit as I believe that anything that strikes this unit will most likely cause a noticeable dent.

Recommended: Yes