I
hate combination vent hood/nukes. I lie awake at nights dreaming of a real vent hood over my stove. But sadly, that's all we have space for in our stupid kitchen. So we're stuck with a combo.
Our house originally came with a Whirlpool microwave/vent. After about ten years or so we changed it out for a combination microwave/convection/vent so we could have two convection ovens. The whirlpool was working fine, we just needed the extra convection capability. And as far as I know, that whirlpool may still be working in one of my brother's rental units.
Then we put in a GE microwave/convection/vent. Loved it, too. Worked great for the next 12 odd years. The only troubles I had with it were a plastic grill that broke off (twice) and a door handle that cracked. Neither issue affected function and both were easy enough to fix. We changed it out when we did a remodel on the kitchen, not because it was done, but because it didn't match the other new stuff. (And I again passed it on to my brother for one of his budget remodeling projects.)
Our new unit is a KitchenAid. Big mistake. What a piece of junk.
I chose the KitchenAid because
on paper it had more vent capacity than the GE. And like I said, I
really want a real vent. I want as much vent as I can get. I got a bad case vent envy when my friend got a commercial vent in his kitchen with an even further upgraded, more powerful motor option. That sucker flows air like a NASA wind tunnel.
Anyway, the KitchenAid sucks. Not in a good way. It's just really poorly made. And I doubt it flows any better in the real world than the GE.
And I can't imagine it's going to last.
When we swapped the Whirlpool for the GE it turned out they used the same mounting hardware. We didn't have to mess with the ducting or anything. When the KA dies, to replace it with a GE we're going to have to re-do the brackets, ducting and backsplash tile. I set aside enough tile for the job. I expect it will be sooner rather than later.