Induction stove top on a range in a farm house style kitchen
Julie Hochman
5 years ago
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Do induction ranges remind you of tacky ceramic cook tops?
Comments (11)I agree with Hvtech, except in #1 I'd also say if you're planning to move soon. All the advice to make it an easy remodel to put in a gas range is good, but the induction range won't make your house unsaleable if you have to move unexpectedly. I do agree about the looks, however. Do you prefer a range to separate units? Is it an issue of price? If the induction range is as far as your budget will allow, get the range and be happy cooking on it. When it's time to sell, if it's a total buyer's market and there are ten houses like yours in your neighborhood begging for offers, make a few signs with few words, bright colors and pictures, to point out a few features in the house, like "Jacuzzi tub soothes your aches" with a cartoon of someone enjoying a bath. Put one in the kitchen on the range, "Induction range, cool in Summer, easy to clean" and a cartoon of a fresh as a daisy lady in a cocktail dress cooking. Make it fun, and almost like a treasure hunt. Also, teach your agent how to do the "You haven't seen induction?" demo with the frying pan and quarter inch of water boiling in seconds. You can sell anything if you try, and if you have the right price. People will pay overall a few grand more for a magazine ready kitchen (which will look dated in five years, so if you're not planning to move soon, is wasted unless you're doing it for yourself). People will pay a few grand less for a kitchen that's obviously tired. A lot of the ding from a tired kitchen can be countered with meticulous, thorough, every crevice cleaning. A lot of the bonus for a spiffy stylish kitchen goes away if the other rooms and, especially, bathrooms don't live up to it. More than anything else, a house sells for location and price, and intangibles like "I just love the tree!" Kitchens matter, but they don't matter nearly as much as the people who are trying to sell you things make out. If you're in a SubZero/Wolf neighborhood, people will come look at your house because it says those things on the MLS description, but they won't buy for them, or not buy for the lack thereof. It just might make a bit of a difference on the price....See MoreReplacing Electric with Induction stove and Range Hood
Comments (8)Vocabulary can be a slippery thing. From your photo and your budget, I'm guessing that you aren't actually thinking about a "stove" or "range" -- at least, not as those terms are usually understood around here. Am I correct that what you want to do is yank out that radiant electric downdraft cooktop (Jenn Aire?) and drop in a 36" wide induction cooktop while adding an overhead vent? Also, am I correct that budget of $3k has to cover both the cooktop and vent hood? If so, I have some suggestions for things to consider. First, cooktop cutouts sizes vary between model years and brands. You might be able to open up the cabinets and drawers in the island and find a way to measure the dimensions of the existing cut-out from below. Or, take your cooktop's model number and do an online search for a pdf of the install instructions which will have the dimensions of the cut-out. Then, check those specs against the specs for the induction cooktops you might be considering. Depending on the particular induction cooktop you are considering, it might: (a) fit in the existing cut-out; (b) you might have to trim one or more sides to enlarge the cut-out (which means budgeting for the work unless your countertop is something other than the stone it looks like in your photo and you have the diy skills and tools to make the necessary cuts); or (c) the existing cut-out may be too big for some induction cooktops, in which case you have to figure out how to (and budget for) build up the rim support under the cooktop. Second, I'm recalling that some of the older Jenn Aire radiant electric downdraft cooktops were actually 42" wide. Is yours one one of those? If so, it rather narrows your choices of induction cooktops. All of the 42" induction cooktops --- at least all of the ones that I can think of off the top of my head --- are from expensive brands like Miele which will eat up most of your $3k budget. If your present cooktop is a 42" model, you might consider going with a 36" model and have some sort of cosmetic and structural cover fabricated (maybe in stainless steel) to cover the gaps and provide support. I'm guessing a new countertop for the island is not in the budget. Third, Green Designs mentioned a possible need for an electrical upgrade. Here's what that means if you did not understand the comment. Some 36" induction cooktops can run on a 40 amp circuit but many require a 50 amp circuit. Not so many years ago, 36" radiant electric cooktops might only have been wired to a 40 amp circuit. Seeing the existing downdraft radiant cooktop makes me suspect that the existing electrical circuit probably is a 50 amp circuit. Only you or an electrician on site can determine whether that is the case. You need to verify that you already you have 50 amp service (checking the circuit breaker may be the fastest way to do that). Otherwise, there are not many 36" induction cooktops that now are rated to run on a 40 amp circuit. Frigidaire comes to mind as one, and worth considering in light of your target budget. Fourth, the vent hood is going to be more expensive. As Jaykaym says, the Home Depot unit is out of consideration because it is a wall hung model. The linked Cavaliere is an island hood but it is only 30" wide, which is too narrow for your cooktop. At least, look at the 36" wide model. The basic problem you have to solve with any hood is that steam and etc. spread out as they rise. Think of the plume of cooking effluent as an upside down cone that gets wider as it rises. You want the hood wide enough to capture as much of the plume as possible. so that the fan grabs as much of the plume as it can. Too small a hood and, no matter how powerful the fan, you will be raising the plume up higher and spreading some of it further around the kitchen. Lots of very detailed advice here on fan and hood sizing over the years (particularly from Kaseki, our resident vent guru) if you care to search for details. The rule of thumb around here for decades has been that you want the hood to be at least three inches wider in each dimension than the cooktop it hangs above. With a 36" wide cooktop, the standard advice is to look for a 42" wide hood. You can go narrower with a wall mounted hood because the backwalls and cabinets to help confine the rising plume. No such aids for an over-island hood. That said, budget constrains your choices, which likely means looking at something for $100 more, such as the 36" version of the hood in your link. It will be better than nothing and, indeed, will be noticeably more effective than the existing downdraft unit. Be aware that running a 900 CFM fan into a 6" duct will be considerably noisier than better (but maybe less affordable) choices. Fifth, speaking of that 900 CFM fan, have you looked into make-up air (MUA)? Do you have any gas appliances (say, furnaces or water heaters) or fireplaces? Unless you have an adequate source of MUA for what your hood is sucking out of the house, running a strong vent fan can backdraft copious amounts of carbon monoxide into the living spaces. Also, more and more localities are adopting code provisions that require MUA for range hoods with fans rated to draw 400 cfm or above. Best check your local codes before anbody starts cutting holes in the ceiling and roof....See MoreWould you choose a induction stove top or a radiant electric stove top
Comments (34)Probably not. If the Ceran doesn't get hotter than it does when induction cooking, I don't see any hazard to the unit. Surge protectors help, but even an array of them should not be expected to provide perfect protection. Some appliances/electronics use parts rated higher than peak wall voltage, but not as high as might get past a surge protector with a fast rising pulse. There are myriad ways lightening induced surges can get into wiring, so the best one can do is minimize the risk. After that, for complex power electronics not practical to connect to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), (e.g., an induction cooktop), an extended warranty is a good idea in my opinion....See MoreWould you do an INDUCTION stove top?
Comments (67)A fascinating thread! I believe the induction cooktops are made of Ceran (not Corian). Regarding scratching: I use heavy stainless steel cookware (Demeyere), and have slid the pot across the top, especially if it is too heavy to lift off the burner. I am not overly neat, but have never noticed scratching on the cooktop in the almost two years I have had it. For cleaning, I use a sponge, or on occasion, a Dobie pad. Never had reason to use a razor. Even if I didn't clean drippings when it was still wet, usually a damp sponge is sufficient to remove any spills on the cooktop. I am more disappointed that the stainless steel frame around the cooktop has shown scratch marks; not deep ones, but you can see the lines. I've learned to live with it because I don't think there is anything you can do about them. Regarding the questions as to the number of positions on the dial and whether they are continuous or discrete, please see: Induction cooktops: how fine is the control? (lots of levels?) and GE or Bosch slide-in induction range? (That last post is from 11/26/18, not sure why Houzz lists it as "last year" - I note this because GE has updated its Cafe models, not sure if Bosch has.) The point is do your research, make a list or table of the features of each that you are interested in. On some the placement of the large hob is important (back or front), and can make a difference in your choice, so think about how you cook now and whether placement of the burner would make a difference to you. For instance, having the large hob in the back bothered some people because of having to carry a heavy pot full of water even the few inches to the back burner (and back over the front burner to the sink) was more than an annoyance. Read reviews (you will learn which are helpful and which are simply griping), of cookware as well as the range. Buy the best you can afford, even if it means beginning with three pieces of cookware and slowly adding on. Also think carefully about whether you want or need that second oven when the main oven is so far down you must bend low to lift a potentially heavy pan, whether it be chicken or turkey or anything else. Even with the extended sliding (telescoping) shelves, you still must lift that pan out of the oven to the stovetop or counter. Also, the hob (at least on my GE Cafe) does NOT turn off immediately if the pot is lifted, you have a few seconds, so if you put it back on the burner almost immediately, you don't have to turn the burner on again. But, if you do have to turn it on again, it is not a big deal. Also, some misunderstanding above about the responsiveness; an induction range does NOT have to "heat up" -- if you put the dial on 5, it pulls electricity to get to 5 immediately. A gas stove always begins at the lowest or highest flame and has to be adjusted to the setting you want. Similarly, if you want to turn the setting down or up, it will respond immediately, not phases, like a flame. Therefore, if you turn off a boiling pot of water on an induction stove, it will stop boiling immediately; if you need to begin on high (such as boiling water for rice) and then lower the heat (such as after you put the rice in the pot), it will respond immediately, a sensitivity cooks appreciate. Don't drag a pan across the surface as you would in pulling it quickly to mix or rotate food. Don't expect to lift the pan to flip the contents and then put it back on the stovetop; I would think the hob might turn off in that amount of time of no contact. However, it is a safety feature, not one to be upset about in general. As to keeping the top clean, there have been discussions on cooking on paper towels or silicon or silpat (such as: WARNING: Silpat, induction and wok do not mix! and Avoid scratching induction cooktop and kas - use of silpat on induction cooktop?and General Search: "Houzz and silpat on induction"). I have used a thin silat under and beyond the pan when making spaghetti sauce as I find it 'burbs' over the top as it simmers and reduces. Regarding things being manufactured with a set number of uses in mind from the beginning, I think you are referring to planned obsolescence (where things are created to work for only so long before they break, compelling you to buy a new one sooner than your old appliances would have broken down). Some accept this as the reason things don't last as long as your old appliances. Some say the electronics don't last as long as the old mechanical way of manufacturing, such as 'less moving parts.' It's a difficult call, since we can know the experience people have had because of the reviews or talking with repair people or friends, however, the manufacturers are not transparent as to their goals. Your own research is important, learning if any companies have a higher incidence of repairs when compared to others. Consumer Reports publishes reliability findings as does Yale Appliances (here is one from May 2020 bottom of article has a comparison of reliability of induction ranges vs cooktops vs electric ranges). Do consider paying for extended warranties as electronics are very expensive to repair. Do not assume that the higher end models never need repairs because they were more expensive to begin with; in fact they can be even more expensive to repair. Also consider leaving the oven door open for 10-15 minutes after cooking until the fan stops, so the heat escapes and does not gather into the electronics portion below the cooktop area. Hope some of this helps. Much has been touched on by the answers above. Please do let us know your decision!...See MorePatricia Colwell Consulting
5 years agoJulie Hochman
5 years agoZalco/bring back Sophie!
5 years ago
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