ᐅ Induction cooktop with downdraft extractor, unducted recirculation – any experiences?

Edit / Update. My husband just went to check, and there actually is a small gap in the baseboard of the new kitchen. 😀 As far as I know, we didn’t have that in the old house.

Since several opinions have already been shared here, here are a few facts:

This is how it has looked in our house for many years:



There’s no issue with mold, swollen cabinets, or anything like that – and I admit, I didn’t believe in such problems until we were invited to a cooking event at the kitchen showroom. I was less than two meters (6.5 feet) in a straight line from the chef (around the corner) and still didn’t smell anything, while he had already happily made 100 meatballs in an open pan (which I never do)...

Because when I turn on the extractor fan, it’s instantly noticeable (NEFF).

However, one clear statement: we have a ducted system.



For us, it’s two lost drawers. Experience has shown anyway: the more space, the more clutter is stored... In reality, everything we REALLY need would easily fit in the cabinet area visible in the first picture... And the fact that there’s more than that doesn’t need to be explained further...

Final point: exhaust air outlet:



Especially when I cook in summer, I like standing here quite a bit... it’s wonderfully cooling in the galoshes...

Summary: obviously, ducted systems are better – but the extractor fans themselves are great and trouble-free. No matter where or how they are installed.

In the instructions from various manufacturers, you will see an image showing unguided recirculation air, also with AEG. The air escapes BEHIND the back panel of your cooktop cabinet, blows into the narrow gap (at least 60cm (24 inches) from the front edge of the cabinet to the wall), and spreads into the plinth.

The plinth is planned to be slightly shortened so that the air can escape between the cabinet carcass and the plinth. Without this gap, your cabinets will eventually develop mold because the moisture has nowhere to go.

However, if this was a DIY job, you probably did not connect the unit correctly, and the warm air is blowing into your drawers. There should be an opening in the cabinet back panel like this

into which a part is inserted

that came with the cooktop. With this part, the air is directed down into the plinth.

Personally, I would choose guided recirculation air with an odor filter in the plinth. The moisture stays in the room. The distance to wall cabinets should be no less than 60cm (24 inches). This setup works fine as long as the downdraft extractor is turned on during every cooking session.

If I operate a downdraft extractor with recirculation mode in an island, I wouldn’t even turn on the fan when just cooking pasta. The steam stays inside the house anyway.

Just a quick question: what is installed under the floor beneath the kitchen cabinets? We are also using a downdraft extractor in our island, but we planned and installed a direct exhaust vent through the floor slab/subfloor to the outside. In our previous kitchen, we also had a downdraft extractor, but it had to operate with recirculated air. The air outlet there was fitted with a filter integrated into the kickboard. That worked quite well. However, in the current kitchen, the extraction with direct exhaust works significantly better.

Thank you for your responses. I reviewed the situation again. The roughly directed air is blown against the wall, and the kickboards have a continuous 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 inch) gap. No bend or similar duct to guide the air downward was installed, nor was it included with the AEG unit.

Attached are three pictures of the installation situation. The base cabinet has about 8 cm (3 inches) of space behind the back panel. I hope the installer cut a hole in the back panel and the air isn’t being forced directly against it :o