I moved from gas to induction in 2013. i missed some of my cookware that was not induction compatible. I also missed being able to cook peppers and stuff directly over the burner flame. With that said, I have loved induction and am never going back.

There are hundreds of threads, going back decades on this. Do a Google search. Maybe 2% eould ever go back to gas.

Which induction cooktop do you own? Thank You.

We switched from Fisher Paykel gas to Wolf induction and I’d never go back.

I think one of the most cost-effective is the Frigidaire Gallery 36-inch, which I have. (I don't know what might have changed since acquiring it about 5 years ago.) A 5-year warranty extension may be economical for this type of device.

Is it important to have large burner areas, or is a conventional layout without bridging between zones acceptable. I have noticed that on certain models they seem to allow multiple zones/areas to be used together.

@kaseki I will inquire about an extended warranty of 5-years or greater.

@clt3 - Do you have the frameless or the framed cooktop? If frameless, is it hard to clean the space between the start of the cooktop and your counter? Thanks!

Frameless and no it’s not hard to keep clean.

Ikea offers induction cooktops made by Electrolux with 5 year warranties included. Good pricing. Link. Bosch and Miele are brands with timers and more power steps.

Thanks All. I appreciate the feedback. I was able to demo an Induction cooktop a couple of years ago and it was really responsive and powerful. All of the controls and options seem pretty amazing.

As mentioned above there are a few gas diehards, however the vast majority of people who switch swear they will never go back to gas or radiant electric. Myself being one of them. Just for clarification. Your title reads gas range top. Then you ask about 36" cooktops. Are you searching for a range or cooktop?

There is a small learning curve like learning that you do not need full power for everything. Maximum power is needed for very few things unless you just need to boils some water very quickly. You don't need lots of time to heat up your pans as you would with gas. There tends to be a greater failure rate with induction as opposed to gas, as heat and electronics do not play well together. Some people get years of service with no problems. Some people get a few months, you just never know. Make sure it is installed properly with the proper clearances for ventilation, if it is a cooktop.

There are tons of threads about this subject, you can probably get a lot of the information you are looking for through a search. Probably even answer a few questions you did not even know you wanted to ask.

I last had gas back in about 1982 which — IMHO — is where it belongs It was nasty, dangerous, and left a chemical film on everything. I switched to radiant and in about 1999 began marking the months until induction came over from the EU and became readily available. Then I gutted my kitchen and bought my first induction cooktop. My learning curve was zero. My joy was immeasurable. Bosch has always been my brand. Enjoy your new life free of elbow grease, open flame, and smell.

We have been very happy with our Wolf 36" induction cooktop.

@kevinande - We currently have a 36" Natural Gas rangetop. As part of our remodel, we plan to replace the rangetop with a similar sized Induction cooktop. Thanks so much for the feedback and additional information on the clearances. We will also purchase an extended warranty.

We will also be changing the countertops and the cabinets.

@MizLizzie - I suspect that in future we will look back and wonder why we cooked indoors using gas with an open flame for so long.

The research that I have read suggests that gas stoves may be exposing many people to levels of air pollution in their homes that would be illegal outdoors under national air quality standards. I always now open our windows and turn on our fans to create a properly ventilated space.

NPR Article - Gas Stove emissions - Health Risks

I have always had natural gas stoves, building a new home and went with a 36” Thermador Freedom Induction cooktop. I am so excited to start cooking on it. My home should be completed in December, but unfortunately the Thermador appliances we ordered in March are not here yet. I just wanted to let you know to make your decision and get to ordering lol. I think that most brands are backordered. I have spent over a year in a rental while my home is being built, using an electric cook top, and it makes me so eager to have the ease of induction top cleaning. Electric has got to be the worst! good luck w your kitchen.

"We want to remove combustible compliances from our home and improve our indoor air quality for our young children."

Very commendable on wanting to improve indoor air quality but it's a bit of a fallacy that this will do it. Cooking itself, whether gas or induction, produces significant amounts of VOC's, Carcinogens and PM.

YOU NEED THE SAME VENTILATION FOR INDUCTION AS FOR GAS!

If you want induction because you like it better that may be a good reason to get it, IAQ not so much.

More: https://bamasotan.us/range-exhaust-hood-faq/

One more thought. We know the risks of gas and how to control those risks (good ventilation). We do not yet know the risks of induction and it will likely be some years before we do. Radiologists I've talked with will not allow them in their own homes.

It's important to remember that both gas and induction become much more dangerous when not designed, built or maintained correctly and likewise both are likely safer when designed, built and maintained well.

There are two more bonuses to the induction cooktop:

1) It goes with the current trend of all electric conversion, cars, green homes, etc. Those who are lucky enough to have an upgraded home with electric solar panels may and will benefit. Some of the costs of electric may be reduced. Check with your local architect/engineer to look over a cost summary.

2) Cleaning: with its flat surface it's something to look forward to as it is easy cleaning.

3) On the other hand we still.see top chefs in restaurants using gas burners to prepare meals. Some are using induction burners for small demos!...

"There is no hood over Kephart's stove to vent the pollution outside. Instead, like many Philadelphia row houses, there's an old room fan high up in a wall. It vents outside, but even after Kephart turns it on, NO2 levels remain high. Kephart says that's because the fan is about 6 feet away."

That is a critical bit from the NPR article.

That's kind of like analyzing a bridge that's 9' wide, 300' long and with no guardrails and noting that numerous cars plunge off of it so we should not have any bridges.

I fully agree with the part of the article talking about the need for better ventilation. But focusing on gas and ignoring cooking itself or saying that induction needs less ventilation, especially when some of the best data on the harmful byproducts produced from cooking come from LBNL which is located in California, is ignorant.

Based on the sparse data that I've seen on plume velocities, it is possible for a gas fed cooking plume to have a higher vertical velocity than the plume from the same cooking energized by induction. This is due to the hot gas combustion products being (at least initially) hotter than the seared steak grease or whatever is the primary cooking plume content. Hence, for good entrainment into a baffle filter in residential (low reservoir volume) hoods, the minimum hood CFM for full containment for induction may be lower than the CFM for full containment with gas, all else being equal. Nonetheless, I generally suggest 90 CFM/sq.ft. of hood entry area for both cooktop types to cover the myriad details that only computational fluid dynamics could find for ensuring as full a capture and containment result as the hood size itself will allow.

Good points. Response here: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6099827/exhaust-hood-faq-ii

Good discussion. Thanks everyone. Appreciate all the comments.

There's another huge bonus of induction when you have children: safety. The induction cooktop surface stays much cooler than a gas burner or radiant electric cooktop. Your child might burn herself on the cooking pan, but she's unlikely to hurt herself on the recently-used induction burner. This is personal for us. We have a special-needs teenager who recently decided all on her own to start cooking. If we still had a gas cooktop, our house would be ashes. But with induction, she can splash oil all around the cooktop, and I can pick up the pan, wipe the burner down with paper towels, and let her just keep going.

We have the Wolf 36" induction, because I really liked the burner layout. It has one large burner on the right, with 4 smaller ones to the left. We can use our 16" paella pan on the right and still use all the other burners. Most other induction models have a big central burner with 4 satellites on the exterior. Using a large pan in the center can make the other burners almost un-useable, except for tiny saucepans. The downside of the Wolf though is that you can only link the small burners, not truly bridge them. When you lay down a large griddle over 2 burners (or over 4, you can link all 4 small burners), you will have a cool spot in the middle between the burners. If you need an evenly-heated large griddle surface, you would want to go with a model that offers a continuous heating element between two burners.