DesmondMiles
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First, I recommend you take the time to research what kind of connection you currently have. Even if it means removing your current range hood and reinstalling it. You cannot do this half way if you want the great suction this fan is capable of.
Second, this range hood is heavy. It is easily 3x as heavy as our old one. Our old one was not one of those white. 20 year old hoods either. This one needs at least 2 strong people and a third normal person to install, unless you have a jack.
Lastly, buy/order the right kind of duct tape (foil kind) for attaching it. You do not want to do all the work of installing this and then hear it whistling or leak air.
Okay, now let's talk about the width. You need to have 24in clearance between the stove top and the hood. This is much wider than my previous hood so we ended up being exactly at 24in after we installed it. This meant my 6 foot 3in husband loses sight of the food he's cooking when he is standing in front of the stove top and looking down. He said it is worth it since we will eventually be getting new cabinets in the next couple of years.
When installing this range hood, the template that comes with it works great to mark the holes and make your pilot holes. Remember to account for any tile and move the template up a little. This range hood also had its holes closer in then our previous range hood so we had to add 1 1/4in plywood to the underside of the cabinet for the new screws to be attached to. This meant a trip to Ace, cutting two different pieces, gluing them together, then screwing them into the underside of the cabinet with more wood glue. This was for safety and for reassurance it wouldn't fall down on us while we were cooking a month from now. I personally would rather go beyond the standards then meet them.
We originally had a rectangular ducting attachment but it was easy to remove the cover from inside the cabinet and disconnect the rectangular opening from the main vent. This was about a foot above from the new range hood vent. We did this before attaching the range hood to the underside of the cabinet so we would have plenty of room. The circular ducting that comes with the range hood fit perfectly to both sides of the range hood and the home ducting.
The last part of the installation you should take into consideration is the plug connection this range hood comes with. Mine needed to be wired in, so I cut the plug off, strip the black covering back 5 inches, and made sure not to cut any of the cables inside. With the house power off, I attached them to my home connectors easily with a wire twist thing (don't know what they're called).
Now about the product itself. I love the range. This range hood has two fans and a lot of power. It was less expensive on Amazon than the big box stores and is much nicer. It looks professional and the filters are so fancy looking.
Overall, I came across more obstacles than I realized in changing out a range hood on my own, however, this was completely worth it. The noise is there when you have it on anything more than the first level, but I don't really care about noise when I'm cooking, I want the suction power and light. The light is very nice. I like having LED instead of halogen bulbs as well.
This range hood is awesome and I'm so happy with it. Please just remember to ask for help because it is very heavy and you probably should have 3 people.
Buy it and enjoy having a wonderful and beautiful range hood!
