Customer Rating: 
Summary: It's Economy, alright...
Comment: Ok, so I knew what I was getting into when I order this "economy" Broan range hood... I needed the
Bisque color to match an existing (the exterior paint had peeled terribly in the 10 years it was in
service and the fan was losing its strength). To that end, my review will keep in mind that old
adage "you get what you pay for"
I'd probably give this item 2 or 3 stars but I need to
balance the 5 stars above. Yes, it's cheap, er, inexpensive. Good price @$64; nice and shiny; turns
on and off. That's about it for the good.
The bad (even for economy): this unit is
twice as loud as my old Broan "economy" unit. When I say loud, I mean that you cannot have a
conversation in the same room when the unit is on high. You can vent this unit a number of ways. The
knock-outs for round and rectangular are a tad hard to remove. Moreover, you'll have to use duct
tape over the remaining holes or the air will escape in areas other than the vent pipe. This can
even be a non-vented unit, and should probably be used for that purpose only, because... there's an
escape on the front at eye level. This is where the filtered would escape when used as non-vented.
However, if your usage is as a vented item you have to cover this slotted area with the included
plastic strip that snaps on over the grill. BUT IT DOESN'T STOP SOME AIR FROM ESCAPING! (this is THE
WORST part of this unit). It is ill-fitting and ugly. I had to cover the grill with duct tape first,
then snap the plate over the duct tape. The 2nd ugliest part-- that could have been easily fixed had
Broad hired an engineer or two) is the light & grill can be seen at eye level. In my old unit you'd
have to get below to see either; these are clearly visible and the light cover literally hangs below
the bottom plane of the vent.
In short: buy this item ONLY if you're going to use it as
a ventless unit (you'll have to buy the extra package) OR if you have a 7" ROUND vent (most homes
will need a reducer from 7-6"). I do not reccommend the rear or top rectangular discharge system.
And have PLENTY OF DUCT TAPE because you'll need it to patch the holes.
This 36" item
came from Amazon in a 64" box with enough packaging to secure a Yugo. But it still arrived dinged
and damaged; not sure if that was UPS' fault or the fact that the box was simply too large (Amazon
is the king of oversized packaging).
Had my needs not been immediate I would have opted
for the quiet model (Amazon doesn't stock that). Bisque is being phased out and is rarely stocked in
cities under 2mil people. (What's this new fascination with stainless steel? Does everyone want
their kitchens looking like the kitchen of an Applebys?)
I'm not sure you can find
anything cheaper but I'm positive you don't want to find anything BUILT cheaper. Still, if you're
mostly deaf and partially blind this unit will suffice if you're on a strict budget.
