i spent days and weeks reading all the material I could find and whether I should buy the 36" GE monogram induction cooktop. Nov. 15th it was installed and I LOVE IT!!! IT is a THING OF BEAUTY and function! The blue circles are not noticeable....a little hum but with the exhaust on you do not hear it. The lock function is a plus... I already had all-clad pots so I was ready to go.. I worried about every little comment I read concerning buying this product but after researching every question I could think of...I cannot believe how happy I am and how I love this cooktop!!!

In order to get UL and similar entity approval, the manufacturer has to establish installation instructions that account for whatever worst case scenario UL etc. specifies. Proximity to wood cabinet walls is one limit; another is distance to a shelf or other wood panel below the unit. Spacing will depend on wording, that is, whether the one-inch is measured from the cut-out size, the glass cooktop size, or the actual dimensions of the housing that hangs from the cooktop. In any case, one inch plus three-quarters inch is a total width increase of three and one-half inches more than whatever part of the unit the gap is measured against. To answer the question, my 36-inch Kenmore Elite (Electrolux Icon clone) sits in a cabinet that is 42 inches wide, outside dimension. I can't recall whether I defined this size based on the induction cooktop's installation rules, or by one of the many other factors that affected the kitchen design, such as preplanned ease of repair, or door width for pull out wire shelving. For stone countertops, it is also worth considering early whether your design will lead to significant weight (including filled pots or leaning guests) being borne on relatively narrow pieces of stone countertop that might need supplementary support underneath. I guess we should include bearing some of the weight of the person who has to clean inside the hood now and then. kas

Ours came from Thermoworks. They had one for $39 before the holiday but DH always wants the best. He bought one with the circle IR and a probe. We didn't need the probe because we have the Thernopen also. I use my TP all of the time. The IR was a Christmas present this year. I don't think it would work for oven temp but others might know the answer. You just point to an object and get the temp of the object. Whichever induction you buy, you will love it. There is a learning curve. I generally preheat my pan for 1-2 minutes before sautéing and with my new toy, I can verify the pan temp. No matter which unit you purchase, there will be noises but even gas makes noise- just different noises. One GWer said there induction did not buzz and posted a YouTube video - it made noise just like mine. With the fan running, it is hard to hear the noises. Pans- if the magnet sticks- they work. I have an eclectic collection of pans for my induction. All Clad, CIA, LeCr, ScanPan, Staub and more- but only one of each size except for 2.5 qts- I have 2 of this size. Here is a link that might be useful: IR laser

Just thought I'd update. In the end, I didn't go with the floor model, as I was concerned about how long it would last. I did go with the exact same model, but brand new. BIG MISTAKE and I will never buy Bosch again. Yeah, I get it... there's a pandemic and supplies are an issue, etc. OK, back up: The induction top stopped working a couple of months ago. The error that comes up is not listed in the troubleshooting guide, and nobody online seems to know what it is for sure. It was JUST outside warranty, but thankfully I paid with a credit card that extends the warranty by a year. HOWEVER, now I'm getting a runaround because they'll pay for the parts and labor to fix it, but the technician says the parts he thinks he needs aren't listed as an available part and I'll need a new stove. I'm in total limbo here and using a $50 single-burner hotstove in the meantime. So frustrating. Bosch said they had the part and $300 later all it was was a plastic cover for something that sort of sounded like the part the tech says we need. Sigh. Bosch says the error code isn't a "real" error code, whatever that means. I see other people searching for the same thing (the code is 0513 and you'll find various threads suggesting it has to do with being miswired, but this came with the cable factory installed and it worked fine for a year). So frustrating. Never again Bosch... never again. And, actually, even before it broke it wasn't that great. For being a "high end" and "professional" unit... it takes FOREVER to preheat the oven and doesn't bake any better/evenly than any cheap oven I've ever had. The controls are annoying to use. The induction was great (while it worked), but that's just a function of the technology not the brand/model. Minor, but the oven light was terrible. With the placement of it, it just sort of backlights everything so you get nothing but shadow. Overall, really not impressed even when it did work. $4000 wasted unless Visa comes through.