@epressler, tarheel72 - thanks for the links @marie_cate - we have kinda exact setting like yours where the vent can go down the island into the crawl space and turn 90 degrees to go along the crawl space and out the kitchen sink window which is right behind the cooktop. So I will plan to get a remote blower and vent it out the wall, which will be audible if and when I open the sink window. The diameter of the duct if I read it correctly and understood it, it says 8" for the 10" Dacor hood and 10" duct for the 15" hood. @PeterH2 - thanks for the heads up on the induction issues. Haven't cooked on either induction or gas - so we'll see will go with gas because I have the line in place and all the friends who are gourmet cooks love it and will kill me if I don't go gas! :) Just didn't get a chance to go to the store yet! to check wolf and dacor out and will still keep in mind the Bosch cooktop (NEM8654SS) that I originally saw - just didn't know how good or bad their downdraft hoods were. Anyone with any experience with that let me know. Always good to have someone with hands on experience than any reviews by Consumer Reports and such.

Some of your consideration regarding this question should be devoted to your style of cooking. If the induction cooktop is to be your daily cooking surface, what type of ventilation are you likely to need there? Do you do a lot of high heat cooking? Wok use? Deep fry? Etc. If so, you will want adequate ventilation that a downdraft will not supply. I have not looked into downdrafts for several years, but, historically, they have been inadequate. My kitchen has a 60" range under a downdraft hood with makeup air, etc., located on a wall at the short end of a u-shaped kitchen. On a long side is a separate 30" gas cooktop with its own small hood and less powerful, sealed, burners that I thought I would be using daily for light weight cooking, simmering, etc. It has turned out that I do not use the smaller cooktop on a regular basis, because I enjoy the open burners and the use of the large range so much. I also have one portable induction burner that I use mostly for making tea. Were I to do it over, I would add a built-in induction module there. In neither case would I use a downdraft. Until this year, we frequently hosted large overnight fund-raisers and had a houseful for dinner, breakfast, etc. (We may re-institute that practice next year, depending upon some personal health issues.) Those events and family holidays are when both cooktops get pressed into continuous use, and I'm always very thankful for having both. Neither faces the guests, but I confess that I prefer it that way, as I need to concentrate on my cooking. I appreciate that multiple cooks and helpers (and sometimes, caterers or chefs) can be separated by about six feet of counter space, but both have access to a prep sink. The main, large clean-up sink is closer to the big range, so were there a need for a second sink nearby, that one can be accessed.

While going from cooktop to oven isn't unheard of, it's not a common enough even that I would fret about it. We're with you on ovens. In fact, we're putting in the Bosch swinging door ovens because my wife is short and she has a hard time reaching over a normal oven door. As for single-vs-double. I had a 48" Thermador range two houses ago. I rarely used the second (smaller) oven. However, I moved into a townhouse with double ge ovens (and a ge gas cooktop) and boy I got used to that in a hurry. Yeah, I had to carry a pan to the oven to finish under the broiler or bring the pan of drippings back to the stovetop to make the gravy, but the few extra steps weren't going to kill me. So what we ended up with is the Bosch 688 cooktop and double Bosch ovens.

Happy Friday! Let's BURN some time :) If I were the person who created this post, I'd be like... why on earth are these guys still arguing after 2 years? LOL. The logic is very simple: Not everyone has a gigantic backup generator. When the law prohibits gas, gas availability becomes a value-added feature of a house. 60% of US electricity is generated from coal (20%) and natural gas (40%) Woah wait... did I say natural gas is the top energy source of electricity?? Yes, that's the case for the US. So burning gas at 40% efficiency at the power plant to get electricity and then getting 90% efficiency at the induction doesn't seem to save anything. The math shows it's even less efficient than burning gas directly for heating (cooking). For me, I was stuck with electric for 20 years before switching back to gas, and I never regret about it. Everyone's cooking method is different. Carbon/stainless steel pans need to be preheated HOT and seasoned every time so they become nonstick. It's not the kind of seasoning that's done in the oven. BTW, some people just refuse to use nonstick pans coated with "forever chemicals" that flakes into the food and release toxic chemicals at high temperature. No one should install an under-sized ventilation system that doesn't match the stove, regardless of what stove to use. If the ventilation system can suck up the smoke, it can suck up the CO2 as well. For people with compromised respiration system, sure they should pay extra attention. But for the rest, we are just cooking food, not meth. Okay, I've said enough, and I should retire from this. I have better things to do. People who read this have my warnings. For people who disagree, enjoy your electric stove. Before I go, I highly recommend this for people who do stir fry or need to heat up a big pot of liquid. It can do both on the big burner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DRGUiVWsqs