>> "Does induction cooktop require 240V service? Yes.

>> "How involved/expensive is this to initiate?"

I do not mean to sound rude, insulting or hostile, but there is no way to answer that without a lot more info. It might be inexpensive. It might not be. It depends. Assuming that your kitchen does not have 240v service already, you need to ask where is the electrical panel in your home/buidling and how far and how hard is it get from there to where you want to place your stove or cooktop? ? How far is the panel from where your stove or cooktop will be? How hard/easy is it to get from your electrical panel to where you need to run the wire? Can you run it through open basement with an open ceiling (so that 6 or 8 or 10 guage Romex can be easily strung from the panel tbeanth the subfloor and then just poked up through a wall or floor at the stove location? Or, would somebody have to fish cable into an attic and run it over to the kitchen (maybe through insulation and/or walls) and then fish it down inside a wall? Do you live in a building which does not have 240 service to the living units and no ready way to cabling through the walls? Tons of variables. Impossible to answer.

>>"Secondly, since cooking surface only heats under pans, is a hood required?"Again, it depends. There is no simple answer to this question. First thing is: if you do much cooking, you probably want a range hood or ventillation of some kind. There are ton of postings here about this subject incluidng postings on ventiallating with OTR microwaves . Use the search function. Search on "induction + hood" and "induction + OTR."

Second, how do you cook, what do you cook and do you care if you get gunk on your walls and thome is greasy/smoky/stinky//odiferous? If you have ten foot ceilings, windows you can open, do not do much high heat cooking, and live in mild climate, then your ventilation needs will be minimal and will not require a hood. If you just steam rice and vengetables, and cook oatmeal on the stove, ventillation will be irrelevant.

The general rule of thumb for electrical stoves is 100CFM of ventillation for every linear foot of electrical cooktop. Just because Induction or more standard electric cooktops do not need AS MUCH ventiallation power as gas stoves, it dows not mean that you can dispense with ventilation altogether. So, without more info, this is impossible to answer.

>>What brands (and model/series names) of induction cooktops are the best in your experience?There is no such thing as "the best," The question is "best for whom to do what with what budget in what kind of space." You may find it more helpful to try searching these forums and slogging through the many posts that discuss the many variables and personal preferences that have to be taken into account in figuring out what is best for you in your home with your budget.

Have a look at the site linked below. Hopefully it will be helpful, and it might answer some of your questions.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Induction Site . com

Here's a recent thread with people talking about their induction cooktops.

Here is a link that might be useful: Favourite Induction

We are deciding between slide in induction range or separate cook top/wall oven. Electrician here in Denver will charge us $288 to MOVE the current 240v line; $520 to install an additional 240V (if we go with the cook top/wall oven).

We have a GE Profile Advantium microwave over the range, and have been consistently informed that we will not need additional ventilation/hood. Hope that helps.