Broan-NuTone BCDJ136SS Glacier 36-inch Under-Cabinet 4-Way Convertible Range Hood with 3-Speed Exhaust Fan and Light, Stainless Steel

We had an old contractor-grade low-volume vent hood that wasn't cutting it. So when we recently bought a new gas range, we decided to get a new vent hood as well, and bought this Broan model. Once I got it installed (8 hours and two Home Depot trips later) I was quite happy with the performance. The dual fans are powerful but quiet, and come with an timed turn-off option that is handy. And the three-level LED lights are nice and bright. The controls are inutitive and easy to use. However... 1) I found the directions difficult to parse, especially as they are in teensy-weensy print with correspondingly teensy-weensy diagrams. How hard could it be to make the print and diagrams bigger? 2) The cabinet above our range is framed and had a recessed bottom. The previous hood fit within the recessed bottom, so there was no problem. The new hood did not fit within the recessed bottom. The intructions told me to use shims in this situation, but the "shims" would have needed to be 1 3/8" thick (!) which is not a standard lumber dimension, and would have resulted in the hood being too low. I ended up removing the trim piece at the front of the cabinet (no mean feat, as it was secured with inaccessible pocket screws) and replacing it with a not-easy-to-find trim piece (poplar vs original oak, Home Depot trip) that resulted in no recess, and then tried to match the stain of the oak cabinets, with not very great results (see photo). 3) The instructions say to install the hood and then connect the ductwork, but this proved to be impossible. I needed to connect my hood vertically to a 7" duct in the cabinet above the range. But the damper/transition piece that came with the hood was no thicker than the bottom of the cabinet, so there was no way to connect ductwork to it after the hood was installed. Instead, I had to screw-and-tape a 2-foot length of 7" semi-rigid flex duct (Home Depot trip) to the top of the hood (picture the hood with a tall stovepipe hat on top, see photo) and then fish the duct through the 7" hole in the bottom of the cabinet, all the while fishing the power line coming into the back of the hood. I'm sure it made for a comical sight, with me and my son (both of us about 6 feet tall and neither of us thin) crammed into the 30" opening in the cabinets, manipulating the hood, duct, and power line! 4) The two pre-drilled holes for securing the front part of the hood to the bottom of the cabinet would not work, as they lined up right at the front edge of the bottom, where they would have split the wood and not held. We had to drill new holes in the hood (not a lot of access space inside that hood!!) and use these for the front screws. For new construction, or complete kitchen remodels, I'm sure installing this hood would be a piece of cake, but not for our kitchen. Oh, and I had to buy the 7" semi-rigid flex duct ($25), some metal-backed tape ($6), a pair of tin snips to cut the semi rigid duct ($15), some 8" worm-gear clamps ($11) and various odds and ends. Think twice about installing this yourself!

If you are looking for a range hood that moves a lot of air without waking the neighbors, this is the one. The hood uses two ducted centrifugal fans that pull air into the center of the fan blades and expel air out the side. Ducting the input increases efficiency and reduces noise. The entire air handling system is ducted so there is next to no leakage which also increases efficiency.The LED lights adjust in three levels. The color temperature of the lights is about 3000K so it's not too white or too amber. The illumination coverage is excellent. The controls are simple and intuitive. Fan delay is a nice touch. You can set the fan speed then press the delay button and the fans will automatically turn off in ten minutes.As for installation... the claimed easy one person install is not true. If you are not a top notch installer hire someone. It took two very experienced general contractors about an hour to correctly position and attach the hood after all the preliminary preparation. The unit has two very healthy fan motors making it a bit heavy. It's just too awkward for one person to hold the hood in place and install the mounting screws. Three people would make it easy. Two to hold the range hood in place while the third person drives the screws. The existing cabinet design did not allow the use of the included mounting brackets but even with those in place it's more than a one person job.For reference I put a decibel meter on the range. The photos show the lowest reading with the fans off. Then it shows low speed, medium speed and high speed. There is a big jump from medium to high. I will use the fans on medium most of the time. The old fan on low was almost 90 dB so 73.8 dB on high is a vast improvement.I've read reviews complaining about hum when the unit is off. I do not hear any of that. When it's off it makes no noise at all. I highly recommend this range hood however get help or hire a competent installation company. This ain't no one guy install, but once in place it's well worth the time and money invested.Now that we've had the range hood in place for a week I want to emphasize how great this range hood works. It removes cooking odors better than any range hood I've owned, and I've had some very good range hoods. The combination of very quiet operation and extremely effective air movement makes the Broan BCDJ130SS the best range hood I've seen in my house or anywhere else.

The operation of this range hood is very intuitive. The first 2 fan speeds are quiet although the 3rd, high speed is predictably noticeable. The noise reduction is amazing compared to my 18 year old Nutone unit it replaced. The different lighting selections are perfect for my old eyes. Although the instruction manual says installation is "EZE for one person", I would challenge that unless you possess 4 hands. Installation is quite easy but you really need a second person, Very impressive product.

Cuisine

Looks great and totally sucks!!Very happy with this purchase 👍

Love it. Fairly easy to installVery efficient,quiet and lots of light.

Really good suction and very quiet operation .