Why is he wary of induction? Until you (and we!) know that, it will be hard to counter any arguments against induction that he has.

We had gas and now have induction. We both prefer it for all of the reasons that you are already aware of: easy to keep clean, energy efficient, cooler to touch around burners, less heat escape into the room and of course FAST and responsive. The negatives are: some limitation on cookware, especially if you are trying to use eco friendly non-stick pans or are not wanting to use heavy cast iron cookware. Oh and you can't char a pepper on it!

It also has been in use in Europe and Asia for years and is finally catching on in America.

Let us know so we can help!

Thanks, I'd appreciate some help. He feels induction really isn't that different from halogen except is more expensive and uses more amps. They are both easy to clean. I've told him about the faster boiling times and the cool burners but if we haven't had those features before, then what's to miss. (again, his arguments, not mine).
I'm pretty weary of the whole debate to be honest...
I'll probably just go ahead and get what I want...I am the one cooking after all!

We have had both, I probably had the fanciest and most expensive electric cooktop made (Caldera). Probably about as powerful a one you could buy back in 2005. It was a bear to clean,everything that got spilled on it burned on.
Worst of all was when something got on the touch pad (it was not separated from the burners) I would clean and clean and clean some more and maybe , get it working for a while----it was radiant , not halogen, so Halogen, since it has the ability to get even hotter than this thing did would even be worse, as far as buring stuff on the top of the cooktop. Well the thing died in less than 2 years, the company went "Belly up" so I replaced the thing with Elux Icon Induction Cooktop.

Boy what a DIFFERENCE! Amazing how fast it can boil water and yet maintain a low simmer temp of only 119 F. The cooktop itself does not get hot, but after a pan or pot has been boiling a while, It will heat the glass directly under the pan, but even this takes a while, and it is cool just ouside that pan or pot.

Mojavean and I had a boiing and simmering contest a couple months back, and it is on UTube, maybe your hubby would like to see that, or you?
Since the induction heats only the pan it's efficiency far surpasses Gas or Halogen (Actually it doesn't really heat the pan, by using magnetism it cause the pan to actually heat itself.
We are absolutely 100% satisfied with induction, wife still tells me how much She likes it, as well as the rest of the kitchen.
Clean up is usually just removing the paper towels we put under the pots and pans to catch splatter, but even if we don't do that, cleanup is still very easy, as nothing actually gets hot enough to burn onto the cooktop.
Hope This Helps!! Good luck with your decision!

I am attactching the link to the video on UTbube, should you want to see it in action and see what sounds it does/doesn't make (Ours is completely silent)--at least with all the pans I have tried so far.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boiling water using induction

Halogen not different from induction? That's like saying an EasyBake oven is no different from a microwave. A halogen unit heats with light. It's faster than a coil top or ribbon radiant, but it still gets the surface hot in order to heat the pan. Induction heats the pan, not the surface.

Which one of you gets to clean the cooktop? The halogen will burn stuff on the glass just like a radiant. The only way you can burn stuff onto an induction top is to pour it onto the surface and set the pan down right on top of it, then turn it on high for a while.

Now, you have to use magnetic pans. Pans that a magnet will stick to. Aluminum, copper or glass (pyrex) won't work. Some stainless won't work either, you have to check.

I don't know what halogen electric is, so I'm not sure how it would compare to induction. I've used ceramic topped electric stoves for about 15 years (four stoves in three houses). The last one I had (it just went out the door tonight) was a great stove. With good solid flat bottomed pans, I could heat up water in 10 - 15 minutes. It wasn't all that hard to turn the heat down, just had to make sure to start going down before it got as hot as I wanted it. I canned on it quite a bit.

Cleaning wasn't too bad, I'm a bit of a slob but with 15 - 20 minutes of scrubbing, I could have that top looking like new! Was kind of a pain if something spilled as I did have to wait until it was quite cool, and it took a while to cool down. Had to keep hot pads around to move kettles off the burners as they retained a bit too much heat and things would keep cooking for quite some time.

We've had the induction installed for a few weeks now. There is no way - NO WAY - I would go back to regular electric ceramic topped stoves. I can boil cold water faster on the stove than in the microwave. I can turn down the power and see immediate results. What have I needed to use to clean it - a damp sponge because NOTHING gets cooked on.

I expected to like my induction cook top, but both DH and I are surprised by just how much we like it - it has surpassed our expectations.

My only big disappointment (and I knew about this ahead of time) is I can no longer can on my stove. Big canners are aluminum, and that won't work. I'm an avid canner so that caused me quite a bit on consternation - but I solved it by purchasing a big 220 hotplate for indoor canning. I have a powerful coil cook top in my summer kitchen for seasonal canning.

Cathy

For decades I used a Deluxe GE Range, with Conventional Coils, and loved it. A year ago we moved into a new place that had a brand new Maytag radiant smooth top. I hated it! You spend a great deal of time with a razor blade scraping off the top. Everything burns into it. Also, compared to coils, radiant smooth tops are so sluggish. I found that liquids would still be boiling 15 minuets after the element was shut off! I just replaced the "new" Maytag with a "Brand New" Electrolux Induction, and love it. It responds instantly, and the top doesn't burn everything into the surface, like radiant & halogen. As far as I know, most major makers don't produce Halogen anymore.

"... but if we haven't had those features before, then what's to miss. (again, his arguments, not mine). "

Apply that same logic to..
- Horseless carriage
- Answering machine
- Cell phone
- DVR!!!
- fristless fridge
- Self-cleaning oven
- Microwave

you get the idea. :-)

One of your husband's arguments against Induction isn't quite right. This is a little tricky to explain, but I will try. Even though the induction unit you are considering may be rated at higher AMPs than another type of smooth top, in actual use it will use less electricity. The AMP rating refers to how much energy would be used if every element were to be used on the highest setting at the same time. In real life use, Induction is more efficient than other forms of electric smooth tops, and cheaper to use. Of course, the initial cost of the Induction appliance is probably higher.

The following is information gleaned from Jenn Aire and other appliance sites.

The speed at which induction boils and stir fries is much faster then any other method. And the energy consumption for boiling 2 litres of water by induction is 745 kj as opposed to the much greater inefficiency and greater usage of halogen at 1,120 kj.

Technology Efficiency Time to boil 2 quarts of water

Induction 85-90% 4 mins & 46 secs

Halogen 60% 9 mins

Electric 55% 9 mins. & 50 secs

Gas 40% 8 mins. & 18 secs

Energy consumption when boiling 2 litres of H2O from 20 C

Induction 745 kJ

Halo0gen 1,120 kJ

Electric 1,220 kJ

Gas 1,700 kJ

Greg

BTW - if you go to appliance stores, make sure you only talk about induction to salesreps that actually know what it is. I live in a rural area where it's very new and few places even have it offered (none locally). I have been told the most outrages things about induction by salesmen that did not have a clue what they were talking about, but only wanted me to change my mind and buy something they had on the showroom floor.

One told me about a local woman that had fried out her induction unit TWICE because someone put a non-magnetic pan on it and it almost burned down her house!

Yea right - you know what happens when you put a non-magnetic pan on an induction cooktop . . . NOTHING - it won't turn on unless it senses a magnetic pan is in place.

I did some research on Halogen because I was curious. My last stove was an electric radiant cooktop (but not halogen) so it was quite similar to what your husband wants to stick with. I am so glad my old one when down the road, and it was a very good stove, but does not compare favorably in any way to my new induction (well, except that I could can on it).

Cathy

I have had both. I had a Dacor ceramic cooktop with one halogen element for 18 years. Last September, we installed an induction unit. I would not go back to the halogen for anything. Nothing burns on the induction unlike the halogen element. It is also so much faster that it is unreal. Your husband needs to see the stove in action to believe it. One more plus of the induction is that you will not burn yourself on the cooktop unlike halogen cooktops. The only negative that I can see is that you do need magnetic pots whether they be stainless steel or some kind of iron (cast, enameled, blue steel, etc.)

Many on this forum have found that purchasing a small, portable induction burner and giving induction a test drive helps to quell any reservations they might have regarding using Induction. I'm one of those people, and after a few days I wanted to dump my smoothtop electric and just use that one little induction burner for all my cooking. Perhaps it will help convince your husband as well?

In the end, though--the cook makes the decision. Get what you want. I haven't heard of anyone who has regretted the move to induction. I'm installing an induction cooktop in my new kitchen, just a few months more to wait!

Good luck,

Cj

I'm sold and I'm going to show all of these well-thought out, helpful arguments to my DH. This website is an invaluable resource and I appreciate very much the help I've received! Now my only decision is the 30" or 36" induction top!

My vote: 36" induction!

I agree with weiss - 36" induction.

I have a ICD pace maker. No way can I use it unless I can stay two feet away from it. All heart Dr.'s will tell you that..

For those not familiar with the acronym, an ICD is an "implantable cardiac defibrillator."

Thing is that not "all heart doctors" will tell everybody with
pacemakers (ICD and otherwise) to stay away from residential induction cookers any more than
they tell their all their patients to avoid using microwave ovens, cell phones, hearing aids with external receivers, iPods, bluetooth receivers, laptop computers. electrostatic loudspeakers and other such devices.

Some folks with pacemakers certainly will need to avoid those things. Most will not.

If your doctor says to avoid these things, then avoid them.

For anybody who wants links to previous discussions and the medical literature on this subject, you can find a lot of links by starting here:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3530547/are-induction-cooktops-safe