Best Rangetop to use with DownDraft System

11 years ago

Hello Again Gardenwebbers,

You were all so helpful with my oven dilema, that I am now hoping you can help with our rangetop decision. We are looking to purchase a rangetop and I was wondering what brand you all would recommend? It needs to be a rangetop that comes with a compatible downdraft system as our kitchen does not have a ventilation hood (dont know why this is--but it really limits us). I have looked at the Wolf 36 inch sealed burner rangetop, and the thermador. DO any of you have other suggestions? I'm not sure if Bosch or GE make a rangetop that can be used with a downdraft system. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am looking primarily for reliability and more cooking surface. We currently have an old viking cooktop-5-burner with the viking downdraft. It's fine, but i would love to have more room for multiple pots and pans. In addition, my viking is finicky--burners dont ignite (have to use a match half the time), sometimes the clicking sound doesnt turn off, etc....

I look forward to hearing your suggestions on a great 36 inch rangetop.

Featured Answer

ratflinger

11 years ago

Forget it. Even the Jenn-airs that had an integral downdraft didn't work very well. I punted ours after less than 2 years & went with a recirculator. Heck, that was even better than the downdraft. I too had to run through the floor joist to get our Modernaire in, but it is well worth the effort.

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Comments (6)

User
11 years ago
There isn't a rangetop that is compatible with a downdraft system. If you want to upgrade what you have, then have a HVAC person come out and see what it will take to run ventilation ductwork from an overhead vent.

Otherwise, simply replace your cooktop.
kitchenkat
11 years ago
I second Live Wire Oak's comment. There isn't a downdraft on the market that will perform anywhere near as well as an overhead range hood. I installed a Broan Elite canopy hood over an island mounted BlueStar cooktop and ran the ducting between the floor joists that separate the first and second floors. Not the easiest job but; well worth it for the improvement in ventilation compared to the basic gas cooktop with downdraft that I had before.
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I definitely appreciate everybody's input and advice, so, thought I'd come back and give you all a little update. There are some issues with changing the layout, specifically moving the range to the interior wall. The venting is going to be problematic, because of location of the garage doors and also some HVAC equipment in the path. Would involve a rather long, inefficient run with multiple turns to avoid these things. HVAC guy basically said, Please don't move it there. Not only that, but the small wall that Karenseb suggested to remove - is part of a larger load-bearing wall. I have a healthy mid-range kitchen budget but these changes could be a real budget buster. Especially as we don't know what other surprises are lurking once demo begins. With that in mind, and my husband's wish to have the range and hood as a focal point centered between the windows, aesthetically nicer than staring at a fridge from the island seating, as well as simpler ventilation, any other suggestions? Should we keep dishwasher to the right as it is now? I plan to move the sink further down the run, ending at the right end of window instead of centered, to increase counter space on right side of range. For the few times a year I would cook a large spread of food for entertaining, I do have a butcher block island on wheels that can be rolled over to serve as surplus counter. Plus the big island directly behind. Other changes - we are leaning towards forgetting the separate oven and going with the aga range (plus my trusty Breville smart oven). I think then we would just make the beverage center section all countertop, space for Breville, and center the bar sink on that run. I asked my kitchen designer to draw up an L shaped window seat, into the alcove, maybe shelves or small upper above. As we can have lots of pantry space, with affordable shelving instead of cabinets, in the current hallway/future walk through pantry.
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Sophie is correct, if a bit harsh. Serious cooking and in general gas cooking leads to significant uprising cooking plume velocities (up to 4 ft/s). Less with induction. Each plume expands as it rises. Ideally, each plume is overlapped by the hood entry aperture (capture) and pulled past a filter into a space (containment) from which it is expelled outside. A recirculating hood with an extensive filter pack can also perform this task, at least in principle, but may also be as expensive as an externally exhausting hood. It will negate the need for a separate make-up air system, but in my view should only be used with CO detectors. Humidity could be a problem. The Vent-a-Hood ARS system is the only one that has been reported on here by a user. He considered it adequate in removing smoke and grease, as I recall. https://www.ventahood.com/index.php/about/innovation/ars The flow rate would have to be compared with what would be required for good capture. I haven't investigated what they provide. One hopes that VaH has selected a blower that can handle the necessary flow rate in the presence of so much filtering. Pop-up, down-drafts, etc., violate the capture principle, attempting to pull air sideways and into a vent where it is forced to move against its initial velocity vector. A rear pop-up's capture from front burners is likely nil, and at the front side of the rear burners there will be missed plume. Some configurations will disturb the gas jets. Demos with hot steam or smoke candles are not adequate examples of functionality. Either use peanut oil at the smoke point from hot pans, or schlieren photography with pans at the smoke-point temperature to determine capture capability.
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Why don't you have a real hood? Downdrafts are useless for anything other than pots/pans right up next to the fan -- and then, the pots/pans must be shorter than the top of the fan by several inches. They are also noisy and, at best, only just barely useful. (Experience speaking!) In addition, if the fan is strong enough to be even marginally effective, there is a good possibility that it will interfere with the gas flame. Do you and your home a favor and get a true overhead hood.
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"...which will require a hefty downdraft." So hefty that in order to divert hot cooking plumes toward the pop-up structure one would require an entire hood on its side pulling at least 1 m/s air flow at the most distant edge of the most distant pan. The issues with pop-up down drafts as well as the even less capable down draft vents have been treated here in some detail and may be found using 'downdraft' as a search term. It is worth keeping in mind that the most effective and efficient cooking ventilation schemes are those used by commercial kitchens. The farther one deviates from the functional principles effected by commercial hoods, the less capture and containment effectiveness will be achieved. Residential overhead hoods with baffles and appropriate blower volumetric flow rate are at least an approximation of commercial hood function. Overhead hoods operate by allowing the hot cooking plumes to rise to the hood where they are entrained in the air flow. This airflow does not suck up cooking effluent at the pans, but at the hood. A downdraft has to divert the plume inertia to flow sideways to the pop-up vent structure instead of continuing upwards.
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MichelleDT
11 years ago
I have a Dacor downdraft with 800 CFM fan with remote blower (oversold by the appliance dealer) and it is TERRIBLE. I can't wait for our new home and a real ventilation system. We are using it (or really not using it as there is no point in turning it on) with a GE Monogram Pro rangetop. I would never do another downdraft system...and certainly never with a pro style rangetop.
jadeite
11 years ago
The gas cooktop and downdraft we just took out were both GE Monogram. They both performed poorly, but the downdraft was so bad as to be useless. Even with induction, I would not use another downdraft.

Venting is turning out to be a major headache, as we have to make holes in the wall, install ductwork through wood blocks above the cabinets and make a hole in the new roof. But we are biting the bullet and getting it done.

Cheryl
sub-zero_wolf
11 years ago
Dear LiliaRothchild,

We thought we could be of some assistance. As stated by others on this thread, overhead ventilation will always work better than a downdraft system. That being said, there are two models of Sealed Burner Rangetops that Wolf has approved for use with our downdrafts, the 30" wide SRT304 and the 36" wide SRT366. These are both all-burner models.

Also remember to purchase the required accessory piece, part 810215. This is a transition piece that fits between the SRT and downdraft unit.

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this or any other issue, please contact us directly. You can contact us via phone Mon-Fri. 8:00-5:00 CST at 800-222-7820. We can also be reached via email at CustomerService@SubZero.com.

Thank you,

Customer Care Team
Sub-Zero/Wolf Appliances

Here is a link that might be useful: SRT366 Quick Reference

Best Rangetop to use with DownDraft System

ratflinger

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kitchenkat

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