I would put the hood over both because my Jenn-Air Grille/Griddle cooktop is horrible at venting. My cabinets always get a ton of condensation on them because of how inefficient the downdraft vent is. I am currently planning a kitchen for our vacation house and I definitely am using a hood over the cooktop because of living with the Jenn-Air.

If you read through the messages in the forum you'll find a lot of discussion of various induction cooktops. Most of us who have them absolutely love them, and those who don't usually want to have flames of gas. Induction is highly responsive, efficient, easy to clean, and fun to use. There aren't huge differences in quality between the various makers. The differences are in power, element size and layout, and how the controls work. The makers all have their own controls. Besides the physical controls, there are differences in included features, like "true timers", which, when included, let you set a time for the element to stay on and turns off at the end. The downside is that you need cookware which has an iron content (inc. steel) and is flat on the bottom, and your cookware will handle differently, so there's a little learning curve. You can see if your pans will work by trying to stick a magnet to the bottom. If it doesn't stick but the pan is stainless it might still work, but if it does stick it'll almost certainly work. My own preference is for venting up. It just works better because of the physics involved. And I love my induction. :)

Yes Soly, the red aura is the inner workings of the top when powerfully lit from above. I saw a little red on a Miele in a showroom, but the Kitchenaid I saw recently was alarmingly red. When my hood light is on I can look closely and my Gagg hobs are slightly burgundy, and if I peer down I can see a tiny bit of the workings in red. I don't know if the showroom lights were way more intense than a home hood, but the KA I saw really turned me off. You didn't have to be right above it to see it as you need to be with mine. There's no difference when it's operating...you know it doesn't glow red-hot like an electric smoothtop. Mine always appears black unless you're searching for the reddishness. The Thermador I saw in the showroom didn't seem to glow red either. And it looked really cool. But not as cool as the silver one! The Thermador was a top contendor...I just got a great deal on a fully warranty-ed discontinued Gagg for about what I'd pay for a GE...and I LOVE the knob! Maybe take a flashlight to a showroom and pretend to be a hood? Have you checked out the Bosch's? I think they now have the shut off timers, and Gagg, Therm, and Bosch are all made by the same crew. BTW, had a service check on my Gagg (5 year warranty!) and the dedicated Gagg/Therm/Bosch guy came out in his cool Bosch van. It was SO refreshing to have a tech actually know the product in and out. He says he responds to very few service calls on the induction units...just "is this what it's supposed to sound like" calls like mine. I'm sure it's the same with the Miele dudes. You'll love it no matter which you select!

Hi, I may be replacing my Jenn Air electric cooktop - 4.5 years old and a lemon. Jenn Air is being very customer friendly with this 5th major repair on the same burner. I may have to go with Jenn Air if I want induction. Any thoughts, opinions, or warnings? Thanks, Adele