Need down draft on new oven for venting.

13 years ago

Hi all. We are taking out the upper half of the wall between our kitchen and dining rooms. It is the wall that contains our gas oven/stove, and the oven will remain on this wall. We will be purchasing a new oven to go in this same spot. I'm looking for one that has a down draft, because we won't have a wall above it to add venting (currently our microwave is above the stove and the vent is there) and I don't want to hang a hood from the ceiling. I think down draft is the right term--it's the type of oven that has a vent in the center of the cooktop, between the four eyes. Is anyone familiar with this type of oven--preferably one that doesn't cost $2500! I'd like it to be stainless, gas, and not have the raised portion at the back that has the buttons, clock, etc.
Thanks for your help!

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Comments (8)

tkey4871
13 years ago
a search for Jenn-Air will be your friend on this subject....just don't look to get many positive reviews.
weissman
13 years ago
Jennair and Dacor are the only "stoves" that have downdrafts. Jennair has them built-in, with Dacor it's an add on behind the range.

If you're just putting in a cooktop and putting an oven elsewhere, then you have more options for a downdraft.
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LaurenKD
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you for your responses.
So Jenn-Air isn't a great stove?
And it's a oven/cooktop combo.
weissman
13 years ago
Jenn-Airs are better than they used to be (a friend of mine recently replaced an older one with a newer one and the burners are much better) but your better choice would be to bite the bullet and put in a real hood. Downdrafts in general don't work that well and pop-up downdrafts work better than the surface mounted ones in Jenn-Air ranges.

When you say oven/cooktop combo are you talking about a range (stove) or a separate cooktop mounted above a separate oven (some people do this). This latter combo may not give you enough room for a downdraft.
CAGiselle
13 years ago
Hi Lauren, I've had a Jenn air down draft for years due to construction of house (no ceiling vent) newest model about 10 years old. I hate it. It doesn't vent very well and it's horrible to clean. We are doing a remodel and can't wait to get a hood. Perhaps the newer models are better.jmho
LaurenKD
Original Author
13 years ago
Weissman, I'm talking about a range--no separate cooktop or separate oven.

I get the thing about the hood being a more effective vent. However, my thing is that the whole reason we are taking out this half wall is to open things up visually and so I can see from my kitchen into the family room where my kids are. I know hoods aren't always huge, but seems to me that having a hood extend down from the ceiling will impede sight. (Plus, we're already dealing with having to have an 8-10 inch soffit on the ceiling above the range due to a load-bearing wall. The lowered soffit plus hood would be an eyesore in what I want to be an open space.)
Pattyjill
13 years ago
I have to chime in as well..I have downdraft on my Thermador and despise it! My KD has told me, in general DDs do not do the job and she would not recommend.

This is one of the reasons I am reno'ing my kitchen.
User
13 years ago
Look for a different location for your range or do an overhead hood. Overhead hoods aren't as intrusive as cabinetry there. There are even ones with glass that will help keep your vision open. More importantly, they WORK.

Post your layout on the Kitchen Forum and you will get better suggestions for tweakin it. Having your center of sociability be behind a steam and greasse spitting range isn't ideal. Prep is 70% of the time you spend in your kitchen, and if you can use that now open peninsula for it, you'll actually be interacting with the people in the family room rather than having your side or back turned to them 90% of the time.

Opening up a space to another room isn't always the correct design choice for the desired result. It won't change how you work in your kitchen at all, unless you change some of the locations of the major players.