I had the same dilema. I am not a fan of a huge hood, and I went with the downdraft with a remote blower. Although we really didn't have much choice with change in ceiling height and a host of other obstacles. I'm not a chef, just a regular cook. The downdraft is only effective on the back two burners. In my case, the 2 large burners are in the front and it's totally ineffective on those. Because of this, and some other reasons, we're going to replace our island cooktop with one that has at least one of the larger burners on the back. In a nutshell, your DH and the salesperson are right. Sorry, I know it's not what you want to hear - but it's the truth. Good luck!

I cooked for 19 years on a GE electric cooktop with a built in downdraft down the middle of the cooktop. I actually thought it worked pretty well. It was not a remote blower and I am sure it was not 1600CFM but more like 300CFM. Because the downdraft went right down the center, each of the 4 burners was equally close to the draft and it did a good job of pulling the steam down even with boiling pots of pasta.

I have now had my new Thermador 30" induction cooktop working with a popup vent system for 1 week. The vent system is at the back of the cooktop, nearest to the 7 inch and 12 inch burner. Another 7 inch and 6 inch burner is at the front of the cooktop and further away from the vent.

I am finding it is taking some adjusting, but I do think it will work fine once I figure out the nuances. For instance, boiling a pot of water with the lid on creates a tremendous amount of steam when I take the lid off and I found my vent could not handle all the steam even when on the high setting. (it is a 600CFM integral blower) But if I keep the lid slightly askew so that the steam can escape as the water heats up, I find the vent can create a proper draft and pull the steam down consistently even on the medium setting.

I am very glad that the large 12 inch burner is at the back because the burners closest to the vent popup are definitely easier to vent. I am still learning my way around the new system though...both using an induction cooking system and the popup vent vs a downdraft. My popup is the 14 inch Thermador brand so the extra height does help when using tall pots. But honestly, my old GE flat downdraft did a great job of sucking steam right out of the tall pots and down to the surface.

So far I am not overly impressed with the popup vent system, but I AM impressed with the induction cooktop. I have no regrets about making the switch to induction.

I am considering a small 2 burner induction cooktop for the island. It will be fairly close to the big 42 1200 CFM hood over the gas rangetop. I live in California and my kitchen is very open to the outdoors. Do I still need a ventilation system for a little bitty 15" induction that will be used primarily for boiling water and making breakfast.

i've had a center downdraft in electric cooktop for 20 years---it works fine as long as you tilt pan lids to vent steam toward the downdraft. we are remodeling kitchen and i'm also looking at an induction cooktop to be put in island, either bosch or thermador most likely. what popup downdrafts are good options? i've seen a kitchenaid with internal 600 cfm blower, KitchenAid KXD4636YSS. Thermador has a taller downdraft at 14", Dacor has a 15" tall downdraft with separate blower. Anyone who is using popup downdraft with induction cooktop, please tell us what you like/don't like. Thank you!

I love my Dacor down draft...we were advised by sales to purchased the strongest motor separate blower no problems so far.

I am debating the same issue. I want to remove the huge cabinet that houses the vent over my induction stove on my island. I am considering the downdraft vent instead. I don't really understand how they work. Where does the smoke go? A filter? What is a remote blower? Any help with my ignorance is greatly appreciated!

I love the induction & downdraft combo very much. Just consider that if you have both, you can not put pot drawers under your cabinet. The downdraft ventilation piping takes up some space in the cabinet and the induction system needs about a 30 inch clearance to prevent fire. That said, you can keep pots & other items in the open cabinet cavity but not drawers.. Do research before purchasing and consider your options. There are trade offs to everything.