During a recent kitchen remodeling project, I was tasked with replacing an over the range microwave with a high quality range hood. Over the range microwaves are a common kitchen appliance, but the ventilation performance is lacking. This client was looking for a quality ventilation solution that would fit above the 30” range.

As a kitchen remodeling contractor, I have worked with a wide variety of kitchen range hoods. From the $99 variety to premium products such as Wolf and Viking. As an experienced professional, I know what design elements are important when selecting a range hood.

After evaluating nearly every 30” under cabinet hood available, I decided to use an XtremeAir range hood for this project. The model selected for this project was the UL13-U307. This product fit the needs of this kitchen perfectly.

While evaluating products for this kitchen product, I couldn’t find much information or reviews on the Xtreme Air products. For this reason, I felt compelled to write this review and share my thoughts on this product. I am in no way affiliated with the company, I didn’t receive any compensation, I received nothing for free. This is simply my opinion on the product.

UL13-U307 Quick Specs:

29.75”W x 22”D x 7”H
900CFM
8” diameter exhaust duct (top)
19 gauge stainless steel
Dual blower fans with 10 year motor warranty
Dishwasher stainless steel baffles
LED lighting

🇺🇸American Product 🇺🇸

Design

Like the other XtremeAir products, this hood is made of a high quality (non magnetic) stainless steel. This is an important attribute as many products marketed as “stainless” are not a true stainless steel. Low quality stainless steel products can rust.

When you pick up this hood, you will quickly notice the quality. It’s robust and heavy. This unit weighs in over 40lbs.

The UL13 series has a mix between sharp lines and softer radius bends. A pleasing visual balance that will work in a variety of designs.

The bends and welds on the assembly are clean and tight. There were no dents, crimps, or burn marks visible on the surface. Overall fit and finish were excellent.

Controls on the unit are no frills. There are 5 push buttons on the front edge to select between the 3 fan speeds and turn the lighting on/off. Personally, I like simple electronic controls. They are simple components that offer easy use and reliability. Push a button to turn it on, push a button to turn it off

Simple and effective controls for fan speed and lighting.

Function

While the aesthetics of a range hood are an important, its performance is the true measure of success.

The best kitchen range hoods will properly remove heat & odors and collect grease and contamination. The 30” XtremeAir hood has two large fans providing up to 900 CFM of air flow. There are 3 fan speeds which allow the flow to be tailored to meet the airflow needs of the user.

900 CFM is a significant improvement over the existing over the range microwave or a typical entry level hood. On the high setting, the fans are fairly loud. It’s not excessive or annoying, but worth mentioning. The sound level is a function of the design. You must expect two larger blower fans to be louder than a single fan moving less than half the air.

The low and medium settings offer reduced air flow and sound levels. These settings would be well suited for many daily cooking scenarios which don’t require maximum extraction. There was not rattle or resonance at any speed setting.

Air is drawn through two large stainless steel baffle filters. The baffles can be easily removed for cleaning and are dishwasher safe. The baffles cover almost the entire underside of the hood. This is very important! The large filter area provides the ability to collect more grease and oil from the air. It also makes clean up easy.

At 22”, this hood is deeper than many others at a similar or lower price. The deeper design proves beneficial for collecting and heat and odors, when using the front burners. This is also very important!

If you look beneath many exhaust hoods you will find small filters that are towards the rear of the assembly. They don’t effectively work when using the front burners, allowing grease and steam to pass in front of the hood and collect on the cabinets and ceiling above.

Illumination is provided by two LED lamps on the underside of the unit. The provided lamps are a very high color temperature. I’m not sure if these lamps will match the lighting plan in most kitchens. I personally find the blue color temperature is a bit harsh and unnatural. Thankfully, these GU10 base lamps can easily be replaced. They are readily available at most home centers.

Installation

Install was very straight forward and the instructions included with the unit were accurate and helpful. Due to the weight of this unit, a lift or helper is advised.

Two holes are required to be cut into the cabinet above the hood. One hole for the factory installed power cord, a second hole for the exhaust duct.

Using wood screws, the housing easily attached to the underside of a 12” deep wall cabinet. No blocking, brackets, or special hardware was required. Additional screws secured the rear of the housing to the wall behind the hood.

8” diameter round exhaust on top of housing

Air is exhausted through the top of the hood via an 8” round duct. The pre-installed 8” flange connected to an 8” adjustable elbow. 8” snap lock duct was used for exhausting through the wall.

On the exterior of the home, a vinyl hooded vent cap was used. Mid America is one of the few vinyl wall caps available for an 8” duct. The Mid America product is available in several vinyl colors, has a integrated J-channel flange, a damper, and bird screen. This product is perfect for vinyl siding and is easily to maintain water resistive barriers and flashing.

Wall cap being installed on exterior vinyl siding

Conclusion

Overall, I feel the XtremeAir hood is a compelling product and offers an outstanding value. This is a product line that I can confidently recommend as a ventilation solution during kitchen remodels.

The company offers several models to cover a variety of wall mounting, under cabinet, and kitchen island installation scenarios. Take a look at their site to see the range of products to determine what may fit your needs.

Brick and mortar availability seems to be lacking here in Northeast Pennsylvania, but there are online sources.

I was able to efficiently order the hood from Range Hood Direct Buy. They have a phone number which you can actually call and speak to someone. They were responsive to my questions and shipped the product promptly.

XtremeAir Range Hood Review

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