We have 2 homes with gas cooktops and pop up ventilation. One is in a large kitchen room (28 x 18 ) but with a standard height ceiling. The one is just off a great room - the kitchen area has a standard height ceiling but it's completely open to a 2 1/2 story vaulted great room. In my situation there doesn't seem to be a significant difference between the two vents because of room size or volume. I think the slight difference is due to the length of the duct.

You will definitely have to open the cutout for a rear downdraft. The units with the pop up have typically a notched cutout at the rear to accommodate the approx 2" deep downdraft body.

On this front I would recommend one of the many 15" rise downdrafts because they seem to get better results due to the additional height. There are versions of this from dacor, kitchen aid, Bosch and several others. If price is a consideration Broan makes the best price downdraft I know of.

Jen air has some new fairly nice downdraft cooktops as well that might be worth investigating

Thanks for the reply. I am going to see what 30" cooktops I can fit in without having to cut too much. The issue is that the countertop is granite so I would have to get a granite guy to come out and cut it.

I like the looks of this Miele induction top:

http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KM5753.html

And it seems to be less deep than other ones so I might be able to squeeze a vent in there, probably not though. I need to pull out the current cooktop and measure what the current cutout is.

We're remodeling and replacing the 30" Jenn Air cooktop & downdraft. Our island cabinet was not deep enough to fit the downdraft - it was just a standard cabinet base (24 deep), so we have to have a "custom" cabinet built that will be deep enough (29 interior if I remember correctly). We're going with Bosch induction and telescoping downdraft -- can't wait for it to be installed

txjoyce,

I think I am going to have the same issue as you. Based on my measurement, the cabinet is 24" deep. The island has an overhang on the other side of the cabinet where stools will sit. I could possibly extend it out the back a little but don't want to protrude much into the seating area.

Did you use a kitchen shop for this or a custom cabinet builder?

I am hoping that I don't have to spend a fortune on this cabinet.

The back on cabinets is not usually structure and may slide into dadoes or be pinned to the sides.You may gain space by removing part or all of it. It may have been covered with a finish panel to give a furniture look to the seating side. If you move that panel into the seating space it may affect legroom in that area. Pilasters or picture framing segment to bring them out on the seating side may work.

Two thoughts: Since no one else confirmed joboxes, I just wanted to confirm that the two inch notch is required to be cut in the counter. I was surprised that the original installation (the hole for the cooktop and popup) was cut on site rather than at the granite place. It is cut with a high speed grinder saw. It appears to be a risky opperation but the installers didn't seem to worry about it.

Second: admittedly I don't do a lot of high heat searing or other roaring flame cooking; but I don't use the vent very much. It does work to catch too hot oil smoke and some bacon type spatter, but I think it misses some on the front burners anyway. I am very surprised that I don't notice that the ceiling (or pendant lights) is covered with gunk after 5 years. My point is that if you perform expressive high heat cooking, that a real, ugly overhead hood would be wiser; AND if you don't, perhaps a vent is unnecessary.

Here is a picture to get an idea of what the current situation is:

You can see that there is a chandelier above the cooktop. I plan on redoing the kitchen, someday, not in the near future.

Like I said, they are 9 foot ceilings and a very large room, but I think I would want at least SOME venting.

We used a custom cabinet builder that our general contractor recommended. I went to Lowes and talked with the kitchen planners there, hoping I could get something standard, but none of the standard cabinets were deep enough, and they said it would have to be custom.

By that point, we knew the appliances we wanted (Bosch) and pulled the specification sheets off the web. The general contractor came over and we measured like crazy to be sure we would have enough space.

To me, that's a nice kitchen ruined by a Jenn-Air POS.

I would think about replacing the chandelier with a hood. (HORRORS!!!)

An under counter (inside the cabinet) blower will take up space. But you could go with an inline or exterior blower, depending on what is below the kitchen.

The pop-up might be anywhere from 2" to 4" thick depending on whose you chose. There are many out there and the taller the better.

You will probably end up loosing your overhang since the cabinet will need to be deeper, but maybe not by much. But with deeper cabinet comes deeper drawers.