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| We're in the process of planning a kitchen remodel. Wife wants to put in an island with a slide in range in an island. Problem is ventilation as she really doesn't care for the large chimney hood vents. We're considering a downdraft range but have read some negative comments about them. For those of you who have them, what are your thoughts ? For ventilation, did you just exhaust them into the crawlspace or did you duct the fumes through the outside wall?
Another option would be a pop up ventilation system. Most ads show them being used with a cooktop only. Anyone put one in with a range and if so how was it done? She wants a dining bar on the backside of the island. Would this give us the room to put the blower on the backside of the range. Has any one offset the blower unit into a cabinet beside the range? House has a narrow crawl space so that pretty much leaves that option out.
She did find a wooden vent hood that she liked . They offer it in cherry which would match our cabinets & wood trim. Anyone with experience with them? Looking at ads it appears that you have to purchase the ventilation system separate from the hood. If so that really runs up the price though that's not a major deciding factor. Also, would you purchase a hood the size of your range or wider. If wider how much? Currently we're considering a 10' wide island with either a 30" or 36" range.
TIA,
boog
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Auxvasse, MO | I have a gas jenair down draft sucks all of the flame to one side needs to be over head. MIL has a electric down draft and it works. |
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Western EC Iowa | We took out a monster range hood when we moved here and just covered the hole with a round vent cover for 10 bucks. Our oven is on a peninsula and a range hood really makes the space small. I would have ventilation, but forget the hood, IMO. Ben |
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central - east central Minnesota - | In my opinion, if you do any cooking at all, get an overhead vented system -
The down draft systems are "ok" for those that really don't cook (or use it much), as the whole kitchen is mostly for show or house decor . . . . .
I've never seen a down draft system in a commercial kitchen, resturant or other place, where daily cooking acturally happens . . . . . |
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| iseedit is right- depends how/if you cook. I think it's a big mistake, putting a cooktop in an island. Last fire you saw- where was the smoke going? Up. Takes a mighty wind to make it change its mind and go down. There's a very good reason we put cooktops against a wall- we need the backstop to capture the smoke/heat/fumes from cooking. At the very least, you're sucking away heat that you wanted to use for cooking.
Who's sitting at the other side, trying to eat? Young children? Want them that close to your hot surfaces? Want to reach across the cooktop to serve them?
If you want to put something in the island, put the sink in there. Most time spent in the kitchen is at the sink. Time was when wife needed to watch out the window to keep an eye on the kiddies or throw the water out when finished. Nowadays, we want to be facing our guests during prep and cleanup.
If you do want to go with a trend-on-the-way-out, then go ahead, but you MUST vent to the exterior. Most of what you are venting will be moisture- don't forget that. The blower can be anywhere in the stream.
If you don't cook, then it doesn't matter. Be honest with yourself and decide accordingly. |
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central - east central Minnesota - | Yoosta B - 8/5/2012 08:24 iseedit is right- depends how/if you cook. I think it's a big mistake, putting a cooktop in an island. Last fire you saw- where was the smoke going? Up. Takes a mighty wind to make it change its mind and go down. There's a very good reason we put cooktops against a wall- we need the backstop to capture the smoke/heat/fumes from cooking. At the very least, you're sucking away heat that you wanted to use for cooking. Who's sitting at the other side, trying to eat? Young children? Want them that close to your hot surfaces? Want to reach across the cooktop to serve them? If you want to put something in the island, put the sink in there. Most time spent in the kitchen is at the sink. Time was when wife needed to watch out the window to keep an eye on the kiddies or throw the water out when finished. Nowadays, we want to be facing our guests during prep and cleanup. If you do want to go with a trend-on-the-way-out, then go ahead, but you MUST vent to the exterior. Most of what you are venting will be moisture- don't forget that. The blower can be anywhere in the stream. If you don't cook, then it doesn't matter. Be honest with yourself and decide accordingly.
You did a much, much better job of elaborating on the system . . . . . the why/why not ~
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| Have put in several for family members. They are better than nothing but not much. Any stove/oven will need to be vented completely outside. Fan can be mounted any number of locations. For my house, put in a mushroom fan outside ducted to a stainless hood I built over a 6' commercial stove/grill/two ovens. While the stove can put out more heat than most home furnaces (by two) if canning or seeing a lot of use, it takes that kind of flow. Horse and a half fan on a variable speed control. Real key is matching the equipment to the use. House lay-out and the trouble to get it installed may impact the choice. |
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| Thanks mmaddox. I''m not really in favor of a downdraft range but right now that seems our only option, unless we can make a "pop up" exhaust system work. Wife really doesn't want a big overhead hood. Would a ceiling exhaust fan like "SamsDad" mentioned use work? When my wife was catering that's what we used in her catering kitchen but we had some problems with grease & stains on the ceiling around. it. But that was under a much more severe cooking enviroment than what this will be.
WE have also talked about switching to an electric range . That would eliminate the pulling of the heat away from the pans but after years of cooking on gas I'm not sure she would be happy with an electric stove top.
Edited by boog 8/6/2012 10:04
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Highland Center, in Southeast Iowa | The issue I see with using a "pop-up" vent with a drop-in range is the room both units consume under the countertop. I was amazed at how much space our "pop-up" took up when it was installed. I wish there had been an alternative for us. If the storage space under your proposed island is critical, it may be a deal-breaker. If you have plenty of other storage options so you can afford to lose the under-island space, the "pop-up" is a nice alternative. We really like ours, have had it for about 5 yrs, no issues. |
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| Have only dealt with one pop-up style installation, but several times. IMO the pop-ups are more worthless than the jenn-air type. The amount of air moved is less, and the raising and lowering part is troublesome.A ceiling exhaust would help, but the grease and smoke build-up is going to be an issue. It a case of matching the air flow and the placement of the hood/vent. The closer/tighter to the source/stove, the less air needs to be moved. Person with the final say will have to make the choice. More than welcome to stop and look at what my wife is using, 45 minute trip one way??
Is it the look of the hood, or just something hanging over the island? If it's only the look, a more attractive set-up might be a option. Copper hood, hood incorporated into cabinets, hood that doesn't come down as low, or even one that raises and lowers (sort of an inverted pop-up?). |
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| Main thing is that "momma boog" doesn't like the looks of a hood hanging from the ceiling & thinks it will block off the "openness" of the kitchen. She likes having family & guests in & wants to be able to talk to them while finishing preparing the food & feels a hood will disrupt that. The hoods we had looked at were either glass or stainless steel which she felt didn't go with the atmosphere of a 100+ yr old farm house.
Thanks for the offer of allowing us to come see your kitchen. We spent the better part of the afternoon & evening looking at different settups . Found a dealer in IL that sells both appliances & cabinets and had several different settups on display. I think she has decided to go with a Jenn-air 36" downdraft stove top in the island with a raised Bar behind the cook top with room enough for 3-4 people to sit at while she cooks. She also wants to replace her wall convection oven with a wall mount double convection oven. Going to cost more than a downdraft dual fuel oven but not near as expensive as the custom cherry wood hood we looked at. I'll let you know if she changes her mind & wants to come take a look.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer,
boog
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C IL | You go, Boog! We have a down draft Jenn-air in the island. Works great. Drawers underneath the cooktop for pots and pans. Modify top drawer to fit around the exhaust fan that is under island. Exhaust through the floor out side of crawlspace. Very nice open feeling in the room. We have the "bar" raised 6" to somewhat hide the cooktop from the front. We don't eat at the bar, but can. Our bar is built deep enough for 18" cabinets facing the front, so the bar counter is pretty large. Please make your cooktop counter/cabinets custom 2" deeper since the large pots on the cooktop will be very close to the raised bar at the back of the cooktop. Respectful of others' opinions, and we just like the openness of our system, and don't notice the downdraft problems. Good luck to you! |
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| Thanlks for the reply "wildcat1000". After your & "mmaddox's" post plus talking with some local people that have downdraft stoves I'm much more comfortable with going that way. Thanks too for the tip n counter depth. I had already considered that but was planning an additional 4" beind the cook top. Do you think the 2 work just as well?
Thanks |
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C IL | 4 prob better |
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| Same attitudes here. kitchen has a sofa and TV, there is that much time spent. Current home is not that old (one that was over 100 burnt) but it is designed to appear so. Not sure all the stainless fits into that theme. Kitchen is not the place to cut costs, you pay for it a long time, and in many ways. |
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island range ventilation- downdraft ranges?
