Downdraft Electric Cooktop

Downdraft electric cooktops are the last word in kitchen design choice and flexibility.

Adding to the benefits of downdraft range technology, the downdraft electric cooktop fills another important need in modern kitchens. By unbundling the different major components of a traditional range--cooktop, oven and storage--it frees up kitchen design even further, making it possible to situate the cooktop in almost any convenient location while the oven can be installed in a wall, for example, at a height that does not require bending as a tradional range would. This is in fact becoming a more popular option in today's kitchens, with convenience, safety and health benefits overriding the extra cost.

The downdraft ventilation mechanism of these electric downdraft cooktops are virtually the same as their range cousins and they will need venting installed either in the cabinetry below them and out through the floor to the outside or in an adjacent wall. Even though these cooktops don't need an overhead exhaust hood, many homeowners will install one anyway for a variety of reasons ranging from redundant air-cleaning and future flexibility to just a preference for the look.

Cooktop sizes

Conventional electric cooktop

The conventional downdraft electric cooktop comes in two basic styles--one with the standard exposed burner coils that we are likely most familiar with and the other with a smooth ceramic glass top. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks:

• The standard exposed electric coils are less expensive, heat up quickly and can accommodate many sizes of pots and pans. They are open to cooking spills though but, being easily removable and equipped with drip pans, cleanup is a relatively easy job. Replacing the coils is a simple and relatively inexpensive operation too.
  
• The smooth ceramic glass top cook tops have electric coils just below the surface and offer a clean, modern look and feel. They take a little longer to heat up the cookware but cleanup of spills is a much simpler affair as all one needs to do is wipe off the surface with a damp cloth. However, they are much more expensive than standard open coil type cooktops, both to purchase and to repair or replace. 

Induction electric cooktop

The downdraft electric cooktop offers the greatest amount of flexibility in design that a modern homeowner could want and the benefits should easily justify the costs.