I have the new Icon induction cooktop (does not have the metal strip between the controls and elements) . Like you, I considerd the regular, but did not like the two 8" elements.

Mine has been sitting in a box upstairs for three weeks. DH and I had a setback in getting the cabinets, and decided we'd just hack something together so we could use our new cooktop. By last night we had the temporary laminate countertop installed, ready to be cut for the new cooktop - I'm taking off work early so we should have it installed tonight.

I bought some new cookware yesterday, not expenseive stuff but good enough so I can at least cook. Once I have the unit up and running I'll give it a test drive and provide you a report.

I do think you'd need the kit. There is a bracket on each side that helps control spacing (is not for support) and they are designed to screw into the edge of a laminate countertop. They are the only thing in place to keep the unit from sliding side to side in the opening. Not sure how it would attach to granite, but for sure you are not going to be able to screw it into place.

The unit is suppose to be hard wired. Because we are doing a temporary install (may be for 8 months though) DH is putting a plug on the end of the cable so we can plug it into the outlet that is in place from the range we just removed. I'm not sure why it is suppose to be hardwired, don't know if there is a code or something - seems silly to me since it's perfectly fine to have regular ranges plugged in and it's the same darn circuit.

Hopefully I can provide you a report tomorrow as to how the controls work with the elements. I'm so excited to finally be able to use it. Now I just keep my figureds crossed that when we plug it in, everything works like it should.

Cathy

Good question. I saw elux icon this weekend that said flex to fit 6.9" to 12 inches adjusts to pan size. So, it seems to me a 5" would adjust to 6.9". I'm curious what owners say about it.

I have the Kenmore elite which is made by Electrolux. Mine has the 10" element. You cannot put a 5" pan on the 10" element as it will not recognize it. I have no clue about the infinite control but there are new induction tops out there that will recognize pans wherever they are put on the surface. In fact the whole top can be used with no restrictions of specific areas.
Don't bother with the granite install kit. It is a metal bracket that is to be glued to the granite with heatproof silicone and it supposed to support the cooktop from below. Mine is snuggly put in the opening of the granite and is just fine. Another poster on here has done the same thing. If you really want, you can probably use the brackets that come with the cooktop and fill the holes with silicone instead of screwing them in... as a matter of fact, the brackets were identical. We ordered it, had a look and refused to spend a 100 bucks on a couple of pieces of metal and a tube of heatproof silicone.
As to the controllers, I can't speak for the cooktop you are looking at but mine operate the heat zone that is mostly perpendicular to the control (most directly above) if that makes sense.
Overall, I am very happy with my Kenmore Elite. It was significantly cheaper than what else is out there and is working just as well. It may not have all the bells and whistles but it does heat water incredibly fast and has all the fine heat control one would want when cooking gourmet meals.

well, if they want something like $100 for the kit, that would be a real ripoff. Just buy some high temp silcone (auto parts store) and stick the metal ones to the granite. From what I can tell, the only purpose is so the spacer tabs on the bottom sides of the cooktop has something to press against - they do not provide support to the bottom edge (may be different with other brands) I'll take pictures to show.

Thanks everyone. So the cooktop is supported by the rim and not from underneath?

Cathy, hope your hubby heals quickly. I'm eager to hear how the new cooktop works out. And hopefully the controls are logically arranged, not the way the picture shows. I haven't found anyplace that has Icon cooktops on display here.

From my interpretation of the install guide, the brackets are there to hold the unit in place. The brackets are screwed both into the countertop and to the bottom of the unit. They probably don't provide complete support like some other systems, but are there for extra support in case one of the dumb teenagers down the street comes in and sits on it.

We didn't get the unit installed last night (spent the night moving plumbing for the sink and DW instead). But I'm leaving work in a half hour so it should get done tonight.

I always love a reason to share pictures.

Though my new sleepcomfort bed showed up today (real reason for leaving early) and that may get set up first. I'm tired of sleeping on a camping air mattress. Waterbed sprung a leak a few weeks ago - DH decided after 28 years, we were done with heavy waterbeds.

Cathy

Darn, my cooktop is still in the box!

But DH and I got the bed set up and the sink installed. He pulled out the foreman grill and hotplate to make supper - the new Braun hood works well. It is very quiet on the low setting and that was enough draw for the grilling we did tonight.

I so hoped to get the cooktop installed, but I did go take some pictures.

This one does not have the high profile and vents that the older model has. I'm not sure how high it sits off the counter, but appears to have small taps around the upper edge that may provide for about a 1/16th inch gap.

It looks like the farthest right control (under the foam) is for the big burner, and the next one over is for the upper small burner. The controls in the middle have a Lock/Power/timer. then there are controls for the two left burners.

And to my surprise, I found this tucked under the unit. Chantal 10" omelet pan.

I have an offer for a free "saute and serve" covered pan when I register the unit, and can get 20% off on a 4 quart soup pot and 6 quart dutch oven. Have to see if I like the enamel covered pans first. I bought a low end set just so I'd have something to cook on in the mean time.

I have hopes we'll get it installed tomorrow afternoon. I can't think of anything else that still needs to be done first.

Cathy

Thanks for the nice pics Cathy. Spend 2-grand on a cook top and get a free pan. Such a deal. I guess it is better than no free pan. It seems the picture on the web site is wrong (thankfully) and the controls are where they should be.

My sister has the select comfort and they love it. You will need a good night's sleep after spending hours playing with the new cooktop.

Cathy, just curious if you had a chance to install this cooktop. I have a chance to get a returned cooktop at a fairly cheap price, I'm wondering if I should go for it it not.

Texaskitchentoo, I just had this cooktop installed last week and am very happy with it so far. What are your questions and I'll see if I can answer them?

Paluvtocook,

Thanks for the help. Here are my questions...

- Did you install this in granite? If so was the "granit kit" used? Other posters seem to think it is not necessary
- How small of a pot can you put on the large elements? E'Lux calls this "infinite" but it seems all have a minimun size. When I wrote to E'lux they said I could put a 5" pot on the 10" element.
- Did your installer directly wire the unit or did he add a plug? I have a 4-prong 50Amp outlet in the cabinet and I'd love to use this instead of hardware.
- Oh one last questions... if you have the element on and you remove the pan (like to shake it), when you return the pan does the element return to its previous setting?

I'm hoping I can get a 'customer returned' cooktop at a very attractive price. I think this cooktop has the features and styling we want.

Texaskitchentoo,
- I have Corian and the cooktop is not bracketed into the countertop. It sits in the cutout and is supported by the countertop alone. If I wanted to I could actually move it a bit and pick it up. The installation instruction specifically say not to seal the cooktop along the edges so there is a bit of "space" that spills could seep into. By being able to lift it I figured I would better be able to clean along the edges if I need to. It is secure though, I really have to put some effort into moving it.
- I put my smallest pan, 5", on the largest element and it worked.
- I had gas before so the installer had to run a line to the box and it is hard wired.
- The element does return to its previous setting if a pan is removed and then placed back on the element. When the pan is removed the digital setting (i.e. "2.2") will start to blink and then stop blinking once the pan is returned.

Hope this helps!

I have the model Elux Icon that just preceeding this new model. It looks the same as the new one (same burner sizes) etc, except it has the stainless steel trim around it and also a stainless strip between the touchpad and the rest of the cooktop.
I tried a 5" pan on the 10" burner and the hob recognized the pan and heated it. If I remove the pan the display flashnes F-2 (2 was the setting the burner was at) if I replace the pan within 3 minutes, the "F" disappears and the pan continues to heat on the setting it was at, (2 in this case). I also had earlier taken my largest Clad Pad (
Emeril 10" bottom or so) and put it on the smallest burner.
I had added a little water to the bottom of the pan, so I could see the bubble pattern--(and hence the heating pattern of the pan), At first (1 minute or so) I could see the bubble pattern that was the size of the burner (5") in the pan, but soon the bubble pattern had spread to the complete bottom of the pan-----so I suspect how evenly the bottom of the pan heats, has more to do with the construction of the pan, than the size of the burner(I would not expect to see a solid stainless pan do as well as far as even heat distribution goes (The clad pans are layers of copper, steel and aluminum and copper and aluminum are better conductors of heat).
If you watched the water boiling contest that Mojavean & I had, You will see that the cooktop is completely silent either on boost or the lowest setting. It makes no clicks at low settings, nor so far have I found a pan that hums or buzzes on boost, and the fan, if it ever has come on, I have never heard it---maybe if you boosted several burners at the same time, it would.
As a practical matter We never use boost as the thing heats so fast , even without the boost. Usually we just set the control at what we know will be a decent boil--without the danger of boiling over and leave it. If We gonna simmer we just set it at 1.
As other folks have said, cleanup is a breeze and usually we put paper towels under the pots so that makes the cleanup even easier---course ya woulnd want to do that if you were stir frying or Woking as that could get hot nuff to ignite the paper, Nor would you wanna use a high setting boiling something and leave (with the chance you might not return before the pot boiled dry.
Hope this answers many of your questions--feel free to ask any others you may have!!

Gary

I've had mine installed for a week now. My husband has been doing the bulk of the cooking and he told me yesterday we are NEVER going back to regular electric.

My husband is not the kind of guy to get emotional about appliances, but he keeps telling me how much he loves the new cooktop and wall ovens.

BTW - my cooktop is not silent. There is a hum when it is on. Don't really notice any "clicking" type noises though. For DH and I it is not bothersome in the least. It is not loud, if just about anything else is running in the kitchen you can't hear it.

DH says he'd put up with a lot more noise to have the ease of cooking and cleanup induction offers.

Cathy

Thanks paluvtocook, Gary, and Cathy!

I ordered this cooktop today and it is may arrive next week. I bought a cooktop that was returned, at a pretty steep savings. It looked like someone order the induction thinking it was radiant and returned it. I think they had ot right the first time! Wish me luck.

I also ordered a Kobe vent hood so I will be digging into the backsplash and installing the hood when it arrives. Hopefully before the cooktop. Don't want to drop anything on it!

Next is countertops, sink, faucet, backsplash (that's how this all got started) then...

In phase II I'll replace the oven and built in microwave. I'm leaning towards the Icon Speed oven + Icon single wall oven. The Great Potato Race convinced me to spend a bit more for the speed oven. Maybe can't afford to do it all right now, maybe later this year.

Thanks again.

Well today I received my 30" E'lux Icon Induction cooktop. I bought this 'used' from a seller on eBay for $999. Appearently someone bought it not knowing it was induction and returned it. I bought it from 'The Kitchen Guys' in RI in an auction and no one else bid. It arrived in the factory box, the protective plastic was not even removed from the SS edge. It even had the promotional Chantel pan. They then packed the factory box in a wooden crate (they used 90 screws) with foam surrounding it. It weighed 113 pounds! It was in excellent shape and at less than half price a great bargain. I am taking a risk on the warranty. I bought an aftermarket warranty but the cooktop came with the registration card so I'm going to register it.

I had a chance to temporarily connect it and it seems to work fine. No fault codes, all burners work. It does make a bit of a hum. I think this is more noticable because it is not installed.

I put the pan in the pic on the 10" element and it took longer to heat than a smaller element. I assume this is normal because I'm only using part of the 10" element, not that it is defective. It heats a 10" pan just fine. Overall I'm happy.

I also got my Kobe vent hood today so I'm going to hold off on the final cooktop install until I have the backsplash removed and the new hood installed.

Thanks for everyone's help!

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