Your comments are easing the pain of this long drawn out reno we've been living in. I started the demo in Jan and have been working every day, night and weekend as I've done all the work myself. I've already used up all my vacation time for the year. I can't comment to much on the "actual" cooking experience as DW is the only cook in our house, I just reap the benefits. This kitchen is for her for because she deserves it and has always wanted an AGA and a beautiful kitchen. Our first meal was pancakes of course! The kids love pancakes. quiltgirl Regarding our counters, we have about 36" to the right and about 60" to the left. There is a large island directly across from the AGA. The granite was templated a week ago and should be ready for install in a week or so.

Somehow, this thread went on for years without a mention of make-up air. Assuming a hood with sufficient flow rate, particularly for the larger cooktops, make-up air is another significant expense and (for an existing house) potentially an architectural pain to implement. Also, the claims of the VaH sales lady that the centrifugal extraction process of the squirrel cage blower removes ALL of the grease particles is beyond suspect. If it were true, the configuration would be a great help to commercial kitchens that have to pay to have their ducting inspected and cleaned once a year. It is true that the extraction efficiency is a function of the rotational air velocity, but the finer particulates would need something like a turbocharger impeller ( > 100k RPM) to be affected). Also, the VaH wheel is not moving extremely fast; if it were, then the acoustic noise from the air turbulence would certainly exceed that from the supposedly less effective baffles, yet in the testimonies above the VaH fans are described as quiet. The plot below shows a baffle example, and I would yield on any assertion that a squirrel cage blower could have a different extraction efficiency curve. But I won't yield on the claim that the VaH embodiment is 100% effective. The way baffles operate is to remove the larger particulates that would settle or impinge on the duct surfaces and hope that the remaining particulates would be expelled into the outdoors. There is a factor often overlooked in that commercial systems have external upblast blowers, and these can also perform some centrifugal grease particulate removal of their own. Wolf/Broan and Abakka down-roof centrifugal blowers may also achieve some effect there, but at that point the grease is outside anyway. One other comment on VaH squirrel cage blowers: These blowers are more affected by duct and MUA restriction than conventional blowers. They start out with the advantage of no baffles (this is a significant pressure loss in a conventional system), but when an entire system, including MUA is evaluated, VaH will start to lose advantage with added ducting or insufficiently controlled house pressure. Last, I want to remark on the claim that commercial hoods have vastly more airflow than residential hoods. What is important for containment is the velocity of the air entering the hood. If 90 ft/min is achieved, the Greenheck Guide table copied below suggests sufficiency for most residential cooking. One difference is that commercial hoods, which are very high, typically have only one bank of baffles, so the air velocity in the baffle slots can be two or three times that of a typical Wolf hood, say, with its expansive baffle arrangement covering the hood entry aperture. This will improve particulate capture somewhat.

How are you filtering your return air? A larger grille will help with air noise, and could help airflow if it's a filter-grille (less restriction) - but otherwise, especially if the ductwork is "necked-down" it really can't help with return capacity. Insufficient return capacity could cause sweating - because the return gets "too cold" from the coil - because there isn't enough volume of air passing over it. A temp drop of over 20 degrees at the coil is bad because it shows that there isn't enough air making it over/through the coil - and sweating occurs because that super cold air could be 50 or more degrees cooler than the air in your attic. The big temperature differential, along with the very high humidity you have there gives you very tough conditions to prevent condensation & sweating. Your ductwork needs to be insulated extremely well, and your return air setup must be setup perfectly to prevent problems. Whatever contractor you choose, be sure to send them packing if they aren't doing things like measuring temps and airflow into each room, and providing you with room-by room analysis of system requirements.

While waiting for other responses, there are dozens of threads that discuss aspects of your request and, if you haven't already done so, you might want to try checking them out. OTOH, maybe you are still in the "OMG, how does anybody ever sort through this" stage? Here are some thoughts about some things you could consider. CD fridge with internal water. Might help if you explained the size of fridge you want. Also, you will pay a large premium for a CD fridge and they don't seem to get discounted on holiday sales the way standard models do. I think I've seen some smaller (30" wide) models from Samsung and LG that run around $1200 to $1400 (for 16-17 cu. ft. models). Everything else seems to start around $1900 and asking prices of up to $3500 are common. Beyond this, you may want to consider longevity/durabiity/reliability. Consumer Reports does annual membership surveys to find out about real world experience. As best I recall, the latest results are pretty depressing. According to the 80,000 CR members who bought a fridge in the last five years, pretty much one-in five bottom freezers fridges will have a serious defect, warranty call or failing in the first five years of ownership. This a huge jump from when I bought my FD fridge three years ago. Back then, some brands were down around 8% and only GE and LG were around 20%. Now, everybody except Electrolux-branded bottom freezer fridges are just as bad as the GE and LG brands. Electrolux is showing a shocking 45% defect rate. Induction Slide-in Ranges: Much as CD fridges command a large price premium over standard depth fridges, so also induction slide-in versions command an $800 to $1900 premium over the freestanding versions. The least expensive sllde-in (and one of the better models) is the GE PHS920. It has a nice array of features including a full-power (2000 watt) third element convection element for the oven , and three burners that can take heat larger diameter pans (and two of which can be used together for a burner straddling griddle.) The posts here have been pretty positive (do a search on PHS920 and the predecessor PHS925.) It lists for around $3100 but vendors such as AJ Madison often offer them at around $2500. The relatively new Samsung Slide-in, the NE58H9970WS sometimes shows up in that same price range but more often seems to be offered at higher prices. It has knob controls down front (which some prefer) and the unique divisible oven. However, it only has ten heat settings for the burners and many of us regard that as too few and too crude. There's a new Kitchenaid induction slide-in that is a bit more expensive but I haven't seen anybody here reporting on owning one yet. It apparently has the convenience of having timers control the cooktop burners (the Bosch slide-in is the only other one to offer that) and also offers a steam-baking function. However, it only has ten power settings for the burners, uses Whirlpool's Aqualift self-cleaning function (which has been heavily panned), and KA electric ranges are among the least reliable according to CR's membership surveys. Apparently there is a similar but more expensive version sold under Whirlpool's Jenn-Air brand. I kind of recall somebody here talking about buying one but I think he ended up getting dual ful range instead. The other induction slide-ins start at $3100 and go up from these, which may be above your planned budget. Not to be insulting, but I have to ask this because we've had conversations here in which some folks think that because freestanding ranges slide into place, they are "slide-ins." Do you understand that a "slide-in" refers to a style of range without a thick and tallish backsplash/vent riser at the back and with a lip to the sides of the top that overhangs the countertop to give a more built-in look? Freestanding induction ranges are substantially less expensive. The GE Profile free-standing PHB920 goes for a more budget-friendly $1700 as does an Electrrolux freestanding model (sorry, can't recall the model number). If you do not use multiple large pots at a time, Electrolux/Frigidiare makes several freesanding ranges which it sells under its Frigidiare brand and which Sears sells under its Kenmore brand. One of the Kenmores often turns up on sales at around $1250 - $1300, making it the least expensive induction range currently available. As for induction and renters, and being confusing for somebody new -- well, kinda. Depending on who your renters are, the touch-pad controls may not be intuitive. Biggest problem is that folks who haven't used induction before will be startled at how fast pans come to heat and how you often use lower heat settings than you might expect. If I were putting induction in a short-term rental, I'd want a run through with the folks before letting them use the stove and also might be inclined to get one of the less expensive Kenmores. 3. Dishwasher Bosch does make good units and you are familiar with them. Don't know enough about your set up to provide help on the rest of your equipment.. Anybody else out there want to chip in?