I think that if that near zero ft/s rising steam were instead 3 ft/s rising grease vapor from a pan or hot wok, this device would fail to adequately capture and contain it. I also think that it would take N. Tesla mere minutes to grasp the fluid dynamics principles underlying hood operation and reject this use of his name.

I know, it's terrible isn't it that Elica uses Tesla's name for this awful cooktop!

I have no idea about Elica, but here in Sydney, there is a (supposed to be very well known, well regarded) German brand, Bora, which has specialisation in down draft system.

I went to one of their cooking demo at Sydney showroom, and quite impress that it works. Well, it seems to work most of the time, at least.

For flat fry pan, their built-in teppanyaki cooktop, not too tall pot, the down draft system seems to be able to pull steam, fume, oil, odour down. Their claimed figure is 4m/s, probably measured at the downdraft area.

I was really impressed when teppanyaki plate was used to sear steak and cook other things. Pretty much everything is sucked though the system.

On the other hand, I tried boiling water on their induction wok hob, but the system does not seem to be able to pull steam down as well as when using smaller fry pan. Perhaps, diameter of the wok is too large, and its rim is too tall for it to work as well.

Beside a dedicated downdraft unit, Bora also has an all-in one unit similar to Elica's model above. It does not seem to function as well as a dedicated unit from the demo though.

kaseki wrote, in part: ".... and reject this use of his name." Actually, given Tesla's history, he'd probably litigate. I suppose we should give Elica the benefit of the doubt and assume that they were associating Tesla with induction and not ventilation, but then, naming the unit after Faraday would have been a better choice, given his priority in discovery.

Chanop wrote: "Their claimed figure is 4m/s, probably measured at the downdraft area." This illustrates another principle, but one would have to move a velocity sensor around the cooktop area to directly measure how quickly air velocity drops away from the boundary of an aperture.

4 m/s at the aperture is pretty good for nearby capture, but using a plot given on page 30.4 of the 2003 ASHRAE Handbook: HVAC Applications, we can see that the velocity is down to to 20% of the aperture velocity at 100% of a 3:1 tapered hood's short-dimension aperture width distance away from the aperture (along the center-line -- lower toward the edges), and for straight pipes (page 30.3) it is under 10%. So the Elica or Bora duct's effectiveness against the hotter, higher velocity plumes will rapidly decrease as the distance to plume generating pan surfaces grows from one to two duct mouth diameters.

This demonstrates why it is easier to capture and contain naturally rising cooking plumes from above, viz., because the plume does the work of getting to the aperture, only modestly aided by the hood flow until close to the hood.

The above notwithstanding, if only modest cooking is envisioned where a hood configuration is impractical, this scheme may have advantages over down-drafts behind the cooktop or pop-up side-drafts due to the more central location and potential for better aerodynamics. Noise may be an issue. Spillage could be a disaster, unless mitigated by a combo ventilation/garbage disposal scheme. :)

kas

i think it looks fascinating and new. Repeat new. I don't care who it's named for. I don't know what basis the OP uses to call this an "awful cooktop" unless it's awful because you can't afford it.

Elica is a well established company that is nearly unknown in the US. Their business centers on highly designed recycling vent hoods. They are light years beyond others in terms of design. I don't know how Elica hoods function as I've not seen one in action but they have managed to stay in business and enjoy a good reputation.

I'd love to try out this cooktop!

I think the awful was not wanting a vent in the middle of the cooktop to be in the way and capture all kinds of spills and boilovers. Either the Elica or Bora would be a mess of spatter, salt, condensation drips, etc., if I were cooking. One of the things I love about the induction, is I get to wipe everything up as I go instead of watching the well under the gas grate get fuller of burnt on gunk.

It's a beautiful looking cooktop, and I believe them--without further evidence--that it works better than other downdrafts. But I surmised the caveats that Chanop said about the Bora. I cook very little that's flat and low. OTOH, I was finally trying out the multicooker I was given, sitting by the plug on the baking counter, perpendicular and to the side of the cooktop area. When I was reducing the slow cooked caramelized onions (yippee for Breville, a slow cooker that sautés and reduces!), my honkin' overpowered twin 600 cfm blingy brass hood at top speed came to the rescue and sucked a whole bunch of onion steam right out of the house.

So what does everyone think two years on?? Did anyone buy the Elica or Bora downdraft hobs and how are they performing?

Thanks! It seems to be Absolutely Fabulous. (How about grease capture when searing?)

I'm super happy with it, it captures everything, I fully endorse it.

We are considering one as well. Glad to read you like it. How is the durability of the glass? Does it scratch easily?

Downdraft simply does not work well. It's a physics issue - hot air rises and does so with quite extreme force (think about nuclear reactors - most are steam driven as the pressure of rising steam is strong enough to turn turbines that turn generators that generate electricity).

If all you ever do is boil water then this may not be a problem. However, as @kaseki mentioned above, if you pan sear something then about 99% of the effluent including odors, grease, carcinogens and other stuff will spread out in your house. Besides unpleasant odors this can also be a health problem in typically poorly ventilated U.S. homes.

Downdraft are simply a really bad idea for people who use their kitchens for more than boiling water.

I'm still using my Elica Nikolatesla, 2 years later it's still capturing all the airborne grease, recycling it and giving me back clean air within the room, thank you Elica! Still endorsing you! The filters are long lasting, easy to regenerate, and everything is easy to clean. Re: Glass scratching, yes it is possible to scratch the glass, but as with everything, one must take steps to avoid doing that by using pans with a smooth base, if the base has ridges on it, and you are encouraged to slide the pan across the glass, it will be possible to scratch it, so best to avoid putting yourself in that situation in the first place by using the correct pans.

"2 years later it's still capturing all the airborne grease, recycling it and giving me back clean air within the room"

You may think that it is but it's not.

First is that downdraft capture less than 10% of effluent. The rest scatters throughout your house.

Second, no recirculating system for less than about $10k, even it it captures 100% of effluent, removes the more harmful VOC's, Carcinogens and Particulate Matter produced from cooking.

This is fine if all you do is boil water but is a health problem otherwise.

I beg to differ! I'm living with it, there is a huge difference in my negative cooking experience before having the Nikolatesla and my very positive cooking experience after, on top of which, I don't have to have to hang a huge undesirable structure over my island. My clients have experienced the Nikolatesla with me and all have purchased it! The Nikolatesla is far below $10k, at least here in the UK and is worth every penny

You can beg to differ all you want but physics is physics - it is not removing harmful VOC's, Carcinogens and PM. In recommending this you are putting people's health at risk.

If they have a number of windows open providing cross ventilation when they are cooking then they are likely OK but if their house is closed up then this is an irresponsible recommendation on your part.

Search on Woody Delp, Brett Singer, Range Hoods, LBNL.

Also: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwji6e_a_v3vAhXUVc0KHX0xBt4QFjAPegQIEBAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fefiling.energy.ca.gov%2FGetDocument.aspx%3Ftn%3D235047%26DocumentContentId%3D67939&usg=AOvVaw3wXVWPjO7UySPiN_jE15Si

Well, these guys are certainly dealing with the most modest of kitchen hoods. The described hoods fail the overlap requirement; they fail the 'containment volume' requirement (which is more than none with flush mesh filters), they aren't even up to the desirable flow rate for their minimal size. I question the use of 'performance' to describe one of the hoods. Please let me know if you come across a paper of theirs that addresses the performance of hoods we might actually recommend.

@Oui Design London, did you flush mount your elica or top mount?

Hi KC, I didn't flush mount my Elica at the time, but I do think it would be better to, it's a great look and it's also easier to keep clean

Don’t buy this. I did and it broke after 18 months of use. Elica just said to bad and sent me contacts for repair people.

Super disappointing since it is cool concept and pricey

Sorry to hear, must be very frustrating.. we're 2 years in with ours - to follow up on previous post did flush mount and really happy we did, looks great. We use it daily and no problems so far -- hope not to jinx anything LOL! Really love it, and also re another previous post we use silicon protectors to further make sure no scratching -- didn't have any previously to using them but love it enough to want to be super careful. Live in a city apartment with no outside venting possible and it's working wonderfully for us. Ours is the Elica Switch model, pictured. @Oui Design is yours still going?