After years of dealing with an inadequate Jen Air I had a Thermador telescope that worked much better.

i believe i'm going to order the dcs gas cooktop and the dcs downdraft.... it is 600 cfm which is highest of downdrafts that i could find without putting a blower outside(would interfere with our deck)... i am trying to work with our current jenn air venting.

We have a Dacor 600 CFM downdraft with a remote blower that works well. They also offer a remote blower that is rated at 1000CFM but the outside remote blower is quite large. We would have ordered that one if we had the room. But we're satisfied with the 600 unit. It's much better than our 18 year old Thermador unit it replaced.

we're going thru the same quest -- a powerful, but quiet downdraft. think the thermador with the height is going to win it for us. so, when you say the remote blower is quite large, how large is large? 3' x 3' x 3'? larger than that? haven't started looking at them, so have no idea how large they are.

We also looked at the Dacor downdraft. They have 2 remote blowers that are designed to be mounted outside. The REMP 16 is 1000CFM. It's 26"wide, 9 9/16" high and 33 1/2 deep.

The 600 CFM REMP 3 is 19"wide, 5 13/16 high, 25 1/2 deep.

We picked the smaller unit because we vented through the crawl space and I just didn't have the ground clearance to mount the larger unit along my foundation. I guess if I needed the 1000CFM's I could have excavated down 10 inches built a window well around it. But my run is short with only one bend so the 600 CFM works fine. And it's quiet.

The dimensions might seem a little confusing. When they state that it's 5 13/16 inches high it really means that it protrudes 5 13/16 inches out from the side of the house.

Hope that helps.

Quilly- is there any way you could post a picture of your mounted blower? We're getting the same one and I'm worried about mounting it. How far off ground is yours? Did you have to bore a hole through your foundation to get your ducting out of your crawlspace? Panchoandlefty, hope you don't consider this a hijack... it's the one detail I'm most concerned about in my new kitchen. Hope you can use the info too. We have been told over and over that this is a very solid downdraft and it has a button on it. Wolf has to have a remote button mounted somewhere else. Also, with this one the undercounter part is only 2 inches deep (no blower box on it) so I can fit my undercounter wall oven right under it.

I just went out to measure - we have 6 inches of space between the bottom of the metal cover and the ground. My foundation is high enough that we didn't have to bore a hole through the concrete foundation. The duct vents right above the sill plate. Our contractor also told us that the unit can be mounted horizontally or vertically- so the height and width can be switched depending on your application.

We've had this unit for 3 years without any problems.

Hi. I was going to post the same question and was glad to see this thread started. Thanks, panchoandlefty! :-)

I have an island cooktop too and cannot put in an overhead vent (I wish!!!) I need a new cooktop in my island and am looking to put in a 36" electric or, if I can afford it, induction cooktop.

I am stumped on what telescoping vent to get. Are there any that are definite no-nos? Particular models where the telescoping part breaks down?

I'd like to avoid the higher end products, as I am already over my kitchen budget. However, I don't want to compromise performance - I just want to know that if I spend more $, it's because it's warranted in the performance I get and I'm not just paying more for a name.

How are the GEs or Kenmores in performance? My current vent has only one bend with an 8' run.

Finally, to repeat one of the original posted questions - does it matter if the cooktop and the vent aren't by the same brand?

TIA!!

Ciana, it doesn't matter if they are the same brand. Just make sure there aren't any clearance issues.

I just had installed a 14" tall, 600cfm inline blower Bosch downdraft and have been pleasantly surprised. Thermador (owned by the same company as Bosch) also makes a 14" tall one that is a bit more expensive. I'm using it in the island for a 36" Miele Induction cooktop. I could not use a hood. I live in a log home and had very limited options. I cook extra smoky items on the back burners and I would say that about 95% of that smoke is being pulled in. It is less (maybe 65-70%), when using the front burners. Since you are working against the normal flow of hot air, height of the downdraft is very important, as well as the CFMs of the blower and the length of ducting. I wouldn't hesitate getting one of these again.

Thanks, Baver! I will look into the Bosch downdraft.

We went with an external blower made by fantech. It has a continuously variable slider control on it. Even on it'slowest speed it draws very well, and you kick it up, and it really sucks!!(lol).
We bought it from:
HVAC
1585 North 4th Street, Suite BB
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 437-1557

They were a lotta help, sent us brochures on the different models, told us what tubing, elbows, grill, etc etc to buy, so the install was a snap.

It is quiet unless you trun the slide control up, quite a ways, then ya hear the sound of rushing air.

At very low speed you can hear a slight 60 Hz hum, if that bothers you, I suspect you can get one with a DC motor.
It doesn't bother us, and we have no problem hearing the TV in the adjacent family room.

Good Luck!!!

Gary

I have exactly the same problem. Replacing old jenn air gas cooktop with integrated downdraft with 36 inch Blue Star in Island. Will be installing telescoping back vent.
Technician came out today to review installation. Considering Broan and others. All would require in line or exterior fan to get more than 400 CFM. He recommended and I am going with Jenn Air 36 inch downdraft vent. 600 CFM and I do not have to install inline or exterior fan nor do I have to replace the 6 or 7 inch round vent.

Hope it works well.

I'm curious with the Jenn Air 36 inch downdraft vent do you need to buy a separate blower or is it included in the downdraft? In general, I am wondering if the telescopic downdrafts have integrated blowers and if so are they sufficient? Which ones are considered the best?