Downdraft kitchen extractor

[skotl]

Hi all

looking at quotes for a new kitchen that will have the hob in an island, and the oven in a wall-unit stack.
Wife's not keen on an over-island extractor hood and we've been pointed toward a down draft extractor unit that sits flush with the worktop then rises majestically up, sooks up the gunk, then sinks back out of sight when you're done.

I must admit that it looks a neat solution. We realise that it needs around 200mm behind the hob for the unit, plus some under-hob plumbing for the extraction that goes under the floorboards.
Does anyone have any pros / cons for these kinds of devices? We see them at ~£900 - £2,000; any huge benefits for the higher priced models?

One final question is the grill in the built-in stack; will the downdraft on the island have any appreciable effect on fumes from the grill?

Thanks

 

[jj4091]

My only concern about those is that heat & steam rise naturally so it would need to be very close to the hob, perhaps even obstructing it's use. Never seen one so can't say how efficient they are. Doubt it will have any effect at all as far as the grill is concerned, our chimney extractor is only about 600mm away from the grill, but might as well be 2 miles.( it does work well over the hob though).

 

[captaincaveman1]

They do work well but the main fault that can occour on them is that the mechanism can stick and its a strip down job to rectify. Mind you i supoose you could always try popping a viagra down the vent to make it rise