[linz06]

Does anyone out there have an induction cooktop? And if so, do you like it? I have done some research and some people are saying it can be really unhealthy from the magnetic fields but I'm not sure what to believe!

Here's our situation... we are slowly changing out our appliances from white to stainless. We will be putting in dark colored counter tops in the future, so we'd be good with having a dark cooktop as well. Our first idea was to put in a gas cooktop. We already have a gas line running to the island that just needs to be hooked up (put in by previous owners). However, we do NOT have a range hood, and we're not sure yet if it's possible to put one in without a lot of work. We live in a 100 year old 2.5 story house, and the kitchen is on the main floor. We would probably end up having to lower the nice tall ceilings, and we likely would have to vent out the front of the house because of the way the floor joists are running (and the kitchen is in the front of the house). It sounds expensive, and there must be a reason that the previous owners never switched to a gas cooktop when the line was already there.

I really really hate our coil electric cooktop we have currently. But, if gas was a viable option, I'd be willing to get a less expensive electric flat cooktop to use for the next few years until we would have the funds to do the work needed for a gas cooktop. The other option would be to not worry about doing all that work, and just switch out the one we have now for an induction cooktop for a bit more money.

I don't know anyone who has induction so I have nowhere to turn for advice! We do have friends with a gas cooktop in their island as well and they love it. The power goes out quite a bit here, for a few hours at a time, so it would be nice to still be able to cook. Our friends do not have a range hood, and it is not required to have one here, but I'm concerned that without one we may be building up dangerous fumes in the house. It's winter for half of the year here, so we can't open windows for ventilation.

So I guess what I'm saying is... gas would be my number one choice, but if we can't do it, what do you think of induction? And I guess as an extra question - am I right to be worried about having a gas cooktop without ventilation to the outside?