We pushed ours out. I did not want to worry about the heat from the 22k burners tarnishing the backsplash. I also wanted to bring part of my makeup air in under the cooktop and around the front and back. I bumped the hood out (not up) so that the front burners and front of the grill are under it. It seems to work well.

Blindstar, would you please explain about the makeup air coming from under and behind the cooktop? Does this mean that there's a gap between your island trim and the backsplash? Is it bridged with some sort of stainless steel grillwork, or is it simply open? And what's below your cooktop?

Thanks.

In back of the cooktop (rangetop) the backslash extends down about 12 inches below the top of island trim. There is a 2 inch gap between the backsplash and the the back of the island trim. The gap is open, you see the backslash extending down behind the island trim until the island trim blocks your view.

The rangetop is mounted in such a way as to create a 6" air space under it. There is an opening in the backslash, below the bottom of the rangetop that dumps makeup air into that space. The makeup air flows up between the backsplash and the island trim and out grillwork under the front of the rangetop. The grillwork forms the front of the 6" air space under the rangetop.

I did this because I really like to grill and stir fry, it maybe over kill for your application.

Edymoreno, sorry if I'm hijacking but I had the same question as you, only for a 48" cooktop over new cabinetry that will replace our former range.

Blindstar, thanks for the explanation. Is the opening you mentioned connected to an ERV or HRV? Or is there another source for the makeup air? I've become highly aware of indoor air quality due to some family medical issues, so this is of great interest. Last year, I had an ERV installed (we're in the humid south) and there's an HVAC register at the base of the island across from where the range will go, so about 42 inches away (in addition to several others in the kitchen & breakfast nook.) When we still had the range, I'd ramp up the air exchange rate on the ERV while the vent hood was running. It made a huge difference, particularly when we'd stirfry or pan fry fish.

Since ours is a minor remodel on a budget, the tile backsplash won't be replaced. The builder didn't run the tile below counter level before installing the original Wolf range, so we'll have to put something else there. Because it won't match, I don't want it exposed but could possibly fill the gap with a strip of perforated stainless steel.

One more question for Blindstar. Would you please detail how your rangetop is mounted to provide the 6" gap beneath? Do you have cabinets or drawers below?

rockmanor: no worries, we're both looking for the same answer, but in different sizes!

I suppose we could have our contractor put a wooden spacer between the granite and the vent hood to push out the hood. Since it's surrounded by cabinets on both sides, seeing the spacer shouldn't be an issue.

Our rangetop is 48 inches. I had it configured with 24" center grill, 3-22K burners and one simmer burner. The hood is a 58 inch Prestige high capacity insert with a 1800cfm external blower. The makeup air duct is a rectangular duct that fits between the studs. We used 2x6 studding, on the relevant wall, to allow for a larger duct. The rectangular duct converts to a 10" round duct in the attic. There is an electric damper in the makeup air duct that is controlled by the pressure drop in the vent duct. At the moment, the makeup air is being pulled from the attic. Since it being delivered directly to the rangetop then sucked immediately out I thought I would try it without using a heat exchanger or tempering coil, although it is designed so that either can be added. We have not gone through a winter yet so I don't know if the untempered makeup air will be a problem. It was my builder's idea to pull the makeup air from the attic instead of directly for the outside. I asked on a couple of forums and no one responded that it was a bad idea. It is an easy run to an exterior wall if I need to change it.

I believe that the correct design is to replace around 70-80% of the vented air via the makeup air duct. The remainder is pulled from the living space so that there is sort of a negative pressure zone around the hood to help contain any "smoke" that may want to escape.

The rangetop is supported by 2" x 2" stainless angle that is attached the sides of the adjoining cabinets. This creates a "ledge" which supports each end of the rangetop. I was planning to weld some cross supports between the angles, but after looking at the way the rangetop is constructed it didn't seem necessary.

I took it one further. I bumped the range out 6" from the backsplash AND I made the counters 6" deeper than typical.

I also had the counter behind the island trim raised so there's a "shelf" behind the rangewhere I can park finished dishes to keep warm (usually from the heat rising from the oven vent).

And the 6" deeper than typical counters? We LOVE them. It allows for appliances, canisters, knife blocks, etc to live on the counter and yet leave a very workable amount of space in front of them. I suppose that I'm 5'11" and my wife is 5'8" helps.

Oh, and yes, we made our upper cabinets 6" deeper as well. Yes, some stuff ends up "lost" in the back but I rather have stuff lost in the back than not have anywhere to live at all.

Peter
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