This hood works excellent! The fan is quiet but powerful and it’s easy to find a setting that is comfortable. The lights are great too. Installation was smoother than anticipated. Minus one star because there was not an option to install the outer wood wrap without putting screws directly through the side of the wood. The cabinet maker had several suggestions to hide the screws but none of them fit with the rest of the kitchen.
I was having a hard time finding a high quality range hood insert, with high cfm, that I could build a custom wood shell over. I couldn’t be happier that I chose a Zline product.
We purchased this hood about 4 months ago. The features are very nice. If you have to have it on high, it is a bit on the loud side. Lower settings are fine.
We could not be happier with our new hood insert. Strong enough to suck the fillings from your teeth, yet quiet enough not to be obtrusive. It's decorative front is made of "REAL" stainless steel (non-magnetic) and not that cheap stuff used by most foreign manufacturers now days to wrap most of our modern appliances!
This unit it American made and no cheap lightweight but a hefty, robust and sturdy unit that should last for many years. When installing, be certain to re-inforce your mounting brackets as this is one heavy boy.
Sucking 1,200 CFM of air means that every crack and crevice in your home will draft outside air to replace the vacuum. Therefore we opted to install an air exchanger in our kitchen's outside wall to alleviate this problem.
Our older home was fortunate to have an old brick chimney from the basement, through the kitchen and out the roof. As this unit was destined to be mounted next to said chimney, our contractor simply punched an 8" hole in the chimney and vented it directly outdoors through the roof. However, come winter we quickly discovered a problem. Cold air is heavier than warm air and would drift down the chimney and cool off the kitchen my up to 20 degrees F. This was quickly remedied by the installation of an automatic baffle to close off the chimney when the fan was not in use. Therefore I would highly recommend that Z-Line consider pre-installing a baffle in ALL their units prior to merchandising them to the public.
As for ours, it has become the show piece of our new kitchen. Everyone comments on it and we are very proud and happy to have it as a new addition.
Looks nice and very functional! Keeps the heat out the kitchen without a lot of fan noise. 4 speeds, but usually only go as high as 2. LED lights do well for lighting stove area.