Remodel the kitchen. If it’s got one of those old pigs in it, it’s time. And you obviously need a better layout.

I just got rid of my Jennaire downdraft. I did not put in another downdraft. I only used it a couple of times a year, and I hated how crumbs would drop into it. When they install the new cooktop, they will take out everything but the tin pipe. All you need to do is stuff that pipe with some expanding foam or cut it down with tin snips and patch over the opening. I went with a touch control - loving cleaning without knobs in the way!!!

We had a downdraft that suddenly shorted out on us last year. Every time you went to start a burner on the left side, the fan came on! With so few downdraft choices, and such poor performance, we replaced it with a regular gas cooktop. And then moved the vent into the cabinet above it. Luckily (I guess...) we had just had a major (baseball sized) hail storm, and so were getting the siding repaired anyway. When the painters/siding guys came out, we just had them put a hole in the siding at the upper cabinets and paint out the new exterior vent hood. We were lucky because we had the perfect cabinet to retrofit a new fan into. Honestly, it looked like that was where it should have been to begin with. Good luck!

We just threw our 80's Jenn-Aire in the trash and replacing it with a Lacanche Cormatin. So glad to have that space sucker out of the house.