Installing induction hob over compact laminate worktop

dunroving

Hi, as the thread title indicates, I want to fit an induction hob into Caldeira worktop, from Howdens.

If you are not familiar, this product is made by Wilsonart, under the trade name Zenith, and is only 12.5mm thick. It is extra strong, water resistant, and has a solid black core rather than compressed fiber with a glue-on edge and top.

Here's the problem: All of the hobs I have looked at so far indicate the worktop thickness needs to be > 12.5mm. For example:

AEG (downloaded technical manual for several models), diagram on p. 2 indicates min. 12mm worktop thickness if installed above drawers/cupboard, or min. 28mm if above built-in oven.

Bosch (same scenario; downloaded multiple technical sheets), under Performance/technical information, it says, “- Min. worktop thickness: 30 mm”

Neff (same scenario), indicates worktop thickness min. 16mm if hob is installed above drawers/cupboard, or min. 30mm if above built-in oven.

So, as the saying goes, NASA, we have a problem!

I've searched for threads in MSE and elsewhere on this issue and have found nothing. Wilsonart instruction video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdthlOM0AWU also has nothing about minimum worktop thickness.

I understand that induction hobs are deeper than other hobs, and that this, in addition to a skinny worktop, may necessitate dropping the oven to give enough clearance to avoid overheating. This seems to be unrelated to the above issue, because the manufacturers give clearance requirements separately.

Does anyone else have experience with this, or can give expert advice? I can’t see a product being sold if it doesn’t allow something basic like installing a hob, so I'm a bit stumped!

grumbler

I am not an expert, but I'd think only about the ventilation gap above the oven - and this is only because of the oven cooling, not the hob. Unlike other hobs, induction ones heat the pans, not their surface, and, I guess get much less hot themselves.

neilmcl

grumbler wrote: »

I am not an expert, but I'd think only about the ventilation gap above the oven - and this is only because of the oven cooling, not the hob. Unlike other hobs, induction ones heat the pans, not their surface, and, I guess get much less hot themselves.

They don't but they also have cooling fans and will also be affected by heat from an oven below.

FreeBear

As long as the minimum clearance between oven and hob is maintained, packing pieces can be fitted to the underside of the worktop for the retaining clips to bite on to. You'll probably need a custom sized filler strip at the bottom of the oven as well as the top - For the latter, use a ventilation grill so that the heat can get out.

Doozergirl

Our hob requires more depth than the worktop.

We have drawers underneath and I expected to lose the top one, but all we had to do was adjust the back wall of the drawer box to allow it to open.

Sometimes you need to get these things on site and do a bit of jiggery-pokery. What you do will depend on what is underneath the hob, but most things are possible.

Easier with drawers, but if you have a single oven then what free bear says is true. If you can have some artistic license, thing will fit, it just takes a bit of thought and time.

dunroving

Thanks all, that's reassuring. The kitchen fitter (by an accident of fate, I have ended up with one of the best) also was a bit stymied by the information I sent him, because it clearly states a requirement separately for what I call "clearance" from a requirement for a specific worktop thickness. He has fitted these hobs in the skinny laminate before and has used some of the workarounds that have been described here. He was, as I, stymied by the seeming requirement for specific worktop thicknesses in the technical manuals of all these manufacturers.

From your responses, and from a reply I got from Howdens this morning, it seems that Bosch, et al. are simply confuzzling this issue. The fact these "manuals" are more like children's cartoon books these days doesn't help matters.

Thanks again!

dunroving

FreeBear wrote: »

As long as the minimum clearance between oven and hob is maintained, packing pieces can be fitted to the underside of the worktop for the retaining clips to bite on to. You'll probably need a custom sized filler strip at the bottom of the oven as well as the top - For the latter, use a ventilation grill so that the heat can get out.

That's exactly what Wilsonart/Zenith show in the YouTube video I watched (they used the offcut compact laminate to make small packing pieces, as you describe).

Will be back on the phone to John Lewis to order the hob this morning.

FreeBear

dunroving wrote: »

Will be back on the phone to John Lewis to order the hob this morning.

Get a small magnet and see if it sticks to the bottom of the pots & pans you already have. Any that have a nonmagnetic base won't work on an induction hob. Depending on how many of your pans fail the magnet test, you might want to order some new ones while you're on the phone.

dunroving

FreeBear wrote: »

Get a small magnet and see if it sticks to the bottom of the pots & pans you already have. Any that have a nonmagnetic base won't work on an induction hob. Depending on how many of your pans fail the magnet test, you might want to order some new ones while you're on the phone.

Thanks, I'm already on it!

I bought some new pots and pans 3 years ago, and when I looked at them last week, they all say "induction" on the bottom and a magnet sticks to them. There's just one big frying pan that's not magnetic, so that's some money saved!

I've been using an Ikea portable induction hob for a while (my kitchen was ripped out 2 months ago by the kitchen fitter that bailed out, so I have been using a temporary kitchen). The pots and pans all work well with it. I love it.