Have you considred the Western Premier Induction downdraft cooktop?

Here is a link that might be useful: Induction Downdraft Cooktop

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. :)

Cookie08 - Thank very much for the link to the Western Premier Induction downdraft. That sounds exciting, but we only have a 30 inch space to work with.

pllog - Thanks very much for your input and suggestion to read past messages in the forum. Learned a lot and am getting excited about an induction cooktop. As far as pots and pans, mine are pretty old so were about to be replaced in the near future anyway.

Glad to see so many positives about induction cooking in this forum.

Thank You again cookie08 and pllog.

We have/had a 30" Jenn-Air downdraft and are replacing it with a Induction. I won't be missing the noisy fan that 's for sure.

We are replacing it with a 36" Induction top and a Thermador downdraft vent to pair with it, the telescoping type. Most people here are negative on that type of ventilation. I however have a skylight over the cooking area. Most feel that the ceiling mounted vents are far superior, and I believe it. However, as far as the induction vs. the jenn-air cooktop, hands down induction comes out far on top.

Thank you everyone for your help. I will be getting an induction cooktop and putting in an overhead hood.

If it's not too late memah, will add that we too had a 30+ year old jenn air w/downdraft. We replaced with ge profile induction and yes, it is all the good things previous posters have said. We installed a ge monogram telescoping downdraft, more powerful and quiet than the jenn air was, but also not as efficient as I would like. Using the back elements nearest the ventilation works ok though. A hood would have been better but was not an option in our case. Good luck with your choices!

Thank You everyone for your input. Last week we purchased a 30 inch GE Profile induction cooktop and a Zephyr hood. We bought new pots and pans for induction cooking at Costco. Our kitchen and master bath remodel just started 2 days ago and is moving along. If everything goes as planned I will get to use my new cooktop in about 3 weeks.