Home Appliance Reviews

How much do you really have to pay for quality? Broan NuTone Economy 414201/ 414202/ 414208 Kitchen Hood In 2005 our range hood just up and died. The fan stopped working and the ou...

Nukes Your Food and Vents Your Stovetop Whirlpool MH1170XS 1000 Watts Microwave Oven I recently moved into a newly constructed spec-house. My builder selected ...

I have had this unit for four years. It’s also known by its other name, Rangemaster 64000. I have a 30 inch unit and installed it myself.

The listed price in misleading because you cannot do anything with the bare hood. You must buy the fans separately. A variety of fans are available — internal mount and external mount. I bought a 900 CFM exterior mount. The price also does not include the stainless steel back splash, which should be used if you intend to use the infrared warming lights. When everything is added up, expect to pay about $1000, depending on where you shop.

I bought this to replace a over-the-range microwave/fan combo, and the performance has been very satisfactory. The exterior fan is mounted on the outside wall with less than two feet of duct work.

The fan has continuously variable speed control. At its lowest setting, it is quieter than my microwave, and at that setting, it is quite effective to remove moisture and odors from simmering pots. For most of my cooking, I use it at a medium speed, and it is effective, and the noise level is not objectionable, and can hold normal conversation. Even at its highest speed, the noise level is not objectionable. The hood is very effective at collecting up all the odors and moisture before it goes through the filter, so much so that for most cooking, you have you have absolutely no odors. In fact, I have to stoop and put my nose directly over the pot to get a whiff of what I am cooking. When I chop and peel onions, I do it next to the stove, and completely avoid watery eyes.

I cook a fair amount of spicy curries, very hot stir-fry foods, dishes with fish sauce and fish paste, daily and for entertainment, and my guests have always expressed surprise at the lack of cooking odors in my house; my kids never know that they will be having bacon for breakfast.

I also like the somewhat understated styling because it doesn’t make my kitchen look like a super-professional kitchen.

The two infrared warming lamps add a really nice touch to keep things warm, an overlooked feature in many kitchens. They can be switched on individually.

The two halogen lamps are functional and bright, and can be switched on individually. They don’t have dimmers on it, but it is not an issue, since I want to be as bright as possible when I am cooking.

The grease filters are easily removable and dishwasher safe. The underside of the hood is somewhat difficult to clean, but this is true of any hood.

Three defects I noticed. (1) The spring that holds the back draft preventer on exterior fan is rather weak and I had to rig it up so that it remains closed when the fan is off. (2) After one year of use, the fan started making a clicking sound. It turned out that the fan motor had developed a bad bearing, and the whole motor had to be replaced. (3) The original plastic clips that hold the grease filters got brittle after exposure to grease and broke. I had to order new parts, fortunately, the replacement parts are made with stainless steel.

A minor annoyance is the stainless steel clips on the back splash. They are sharp and easily hurt you when you are cleaning it.

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