Kenmore 30'' Deluxe Range Hood

The Kenmore Range Hood has good features but poor paint life February 07, 2011
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We purchased this model in 2004 (same specs and design today, appears to be manufactured for Kenmore by NuTone). Easy installation to replace original range hood in our home. We found the variable light and fan speed to be nice features and used throughout life of the unit. Even though rated as high CFM, it didn't provide good capture of all four stove top positions of our Kenmore stove. We are replacing th hood because the paint along the underside lip and inside of the front of the range hood is bubbling and peeling off. We have used only warm water and dish detergent as per the cleaning instructions in the user manual to clean the interior of grease buildup. I conclude the quality control of the enamel paint process may be sub-standard. Regardless I would expect a product in this price range to last much longer then 6 years. The Kenmore dishwasher and stove installed the same month are fine with zero problems as have all other Kenmore products we have owned over 30 years. I rated this below average due to the paint life and need to replace at 6 year mark, not functional reliability or performance.

Works fine. November 03, 2010
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I like the low and high lights, easy to change lights and filters and the infinite control fan speed. Easy to clean and use for a good price.

Pretty, yet underpowered and noisy. June 16, 2010
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First and foremost, I purchased this Kenmore Deluxe Range Hood Model # 5234 to replace my old range hood that finally died after 25 years of service.  I was looking for color (white, since all my appliances are white, and I don't care much for the metal look at all), size (gotta make sure it fits within my cabinetry after all), power, noise and price.

Color:  Looks great, elegant and simple design.  Has an on/off switch for fan, a two setting slider switch for the lights (first setting turns on one bulb, second setting turns on both bulbs), and a slider switch for fan strength (for lighter jobs/cooking I have it set 50%, but for most cooking (2 or more pans, e.g. spaghetti sauce in one pan, spaghetti noodles in the other) I have it set at 100%.

Size:  It fits lengthwise so I'm happy.  The problem I didn't catch is that it is roughly 3"-5" shallower than my old range hood.  Thus, the edge of the range hood stops about 8-10" short from the front two burners, adding a little more distance for the fan to suck steam/smoke from the front burners.

Power/Suction:  Insufficient.  It takes 2-3 times as long as my old one to empty the kitchen of smoke/steam.  That's unacceptable.  The whole purpose is to suck out all the steam and smoke quickly.  It does not do a very efficient job sucking out steam/smoke (contrary to Sears Sales Rep Claims).  I think the lack of suction is due to it using a cylindrical/barrel style of fan, instead of an actual fan located at the end of my cylindrical exhaust (as my old one did).

Noise:  I could be wrong, but I think this may be noiser than my old one that died!  It's quite noiser than I expected (contrary to Sears Sales Rep Claims).  The rep said it ran quiet, but I have to disagree.  Sometimes I wonder if these Reps know anything about the products they sell; do they even get trained or ever get a chance to see how these products work in a real life example?

Price:  Not worth the $210 I spent on it.  Should've been priced closer to $50 due to quality and noise-level.  I'm surprised it's even still selling for $168.  I still find it overpriced, now that I've 2 years experience using it.

Service/Installation/Misc:  Cumbersome, inefficient, and required 2 visits (I bought this 2 years ago...I believe both visits were separate.  First visit to realize they were missing a square to round vent adapter, despite our telling the sales rep up front we have a round vent, and a second visit to physically come back w/the needed parts they didn't have to begin with.

Note:  Be prepared to purchase your two (2) bulbs separately.  It does NOT come with any.  You'd think for $200 they'd throw in 2-4 bulbs as a courtesy for paying so much.

Note:  You may see mention on the descriptions of range hoods of "night light".  All that means is you only turn one light on instead of two.

This is just an aside, but I think the Sears contractor's job was a little messy.  As I've found with many contractors these days they tend to leave a mess of debris and bits and pieces of parts, like tape, screws, snipped off pieces of wire insulation, etc and tend not to pick up after themselves.  Plus, he had some challenges getting my round/cylindrical vent "squeezed"/formed into the round-to-square adapter which was connected to the range hood.  At that connection as well as in one or two areas of cylindrical vent to the roof he had to apply that metallic looking "tape" to seal / close off holes/openings in the vent and had to make a visit to the attic in order to do so.  Kudos to him for going up into the attic to complete it, after I'd requested he do so.  Though I don't know if it's generally part of the job, I think it only makes sense that if you're replacing a range hood that you ensure the path of exhaust is checked out and fixed if it can easily be done on that visit; after all, you wouldn't want exhaust hanging around inside the attic instead of outside, out the roof.