Downdraft Gas Range

[mipress]

Hi,
As part of a kitchen remodel we are considering a "Downdraft" Gas Range (ie we would have the downdraft vent the steam instead of a overhead type).

Can you please let me know what to look/look out for?

Thank you,
Mike

[Repair-man]

Hi Mike;

There are a couple of considerations when thinking about installing a downdraft range in your kitchen. The actual brands don't matter much, although you would be wise to stick with domestic ones like JennAir, etc, not some Euro brand that you can never get parts for later. Is your floor structure such that you can easliy add a 15-30 foot exhaust run under the house?

The other consideration is the actual performance of a downdraft versus a regular cooktop. A downdraft will not have the capability of removing large amounts of smoke or steam from a tall pot as effectively as one that has a vent hood over it . The downdraft will at least remove smoke from a griddle surface if you do mostly frying, etc. If you do lots of cooking with big utensils, you should consider adding a pop-up downdraft exhaust right behind the range, so that it pops up and catches all the steam from the taller pots as well as the flat skillets. Without this, you will not have the advantage over the smoke and steam that you would otherwise.

[mipress]

Hi,

Thank you for the reply.  We do have a crawl space under our house for the exhaust.

We are considering the downdraft range with or without  a pop-up (sometimes we cook pasta/corn in a big pot) because we'd like to create an opening behind the stove to open up our kitchen/view the kids playing. A convention overhead is best for the stove but it would hang down too low to make the "window" useful/attractive.

Thank you again for the pop-up suggestion and for any other ideas you may have.

Mike