About Us

Solving the problem(s):

I.C.V. Induction Cooktop Vents Pty. Ltd. have designed a stainless-steel vent, which not only replaces the rail, it is stronger than the original rail and can also be painted to match the same colour as the doors, drawer or panel.
They come in brushed stainless steel and can also be left as stainless steel finish to match ovens, microwaves or steam ovens, or be painted in polyurethane by your kitchen manufacturer or supplier, to match the colour of the kitchen.
They can also be painted black to match glass fronted ovens etc.
All I.C.V. Vents have been patented.

I.C.V. also supply vents that fit along the front of the bottom shelf of the cupboard, which allows the passage of fresh air into the cupboard and into the back of the cooktop.
These can also be painted to match the colour of the cupboard carcase or left as a stainless steel finish.

The heat shield, which is also in stainless steel, fits under the cooktop to prevent any accidental touching from below, or any pointed knifes etc, from piercing through the front vent or fans, causing damage, which is a stipulation on some manufacturer’s warranty conditions.
A heat proof blanket material, can be cut to size on site and fitted under the cooktop, if necessary.
Where the cooktop is fitted above an oven, there are matching vents that fit above and below the oven, to allow fresh air to circulate up behind the oven.

These may not require a full heat shield and a shorter one can be used.

The heat shield attaches to the front stainless steel rail vent and reaches to behind the vent in the front of the cooktop itself and a heat shield division is fitted across this and up under the cooktop.
These divisions are adjustable in height to account for differing thicknesses of the benchtop material.

Pyrolytic ovens get extremely hot in the cleaning cycle and a full heat shield should be used with a heat blanket on top of the heat shield to help protect over heating of the cooktop.

The I.C.V. narrow vents are recommended for pyrolytic ovens.
They are required to have at least a 10mm gap above the oven to allow hot air to escape.
The heat is so intense from these ovens that the panel or doors above the oven becomes warped and discoloured over time.
If they are a vinyl wrapped door, the vinyl wrap will eventually melt and peel off, as does PVC edging on doors and panels.
It is better to separate the gap from blowing superheated air directly onto the door or panel above by using a stainless steel vent.

The I.C.V. vents can also be used for microwaves, when fitted under a bench.
There is a microwave kit that has the same venting as the oven alongside, to give it a matching appearance.

The bottom shelf vent is also perfect for built in fridges and freezers, to allow the air behind the door to dry out and not condense, which forms water droplets that drip onto the bottom shelf and eventually, cause water damage to the shelf.

The vents can also be used for wine fridges when they are built into the kitchen, instead of leaving a large gap around them.
Zip Hydro-tap water heaters that are fitted in the sink cupboard, also require venting or are not covered by warranty.
There is currently, no vents available that are attractive enough for this application.
I.C.V. have developed a narrow vent that can be fitted along the top rail, that can be retrofitted to any existing application.
These can also be tucked up under the benchtop on a breakfast bar or end panel, as well as the front door rail.
When painted in polyurethane in the same colour as the panel, they are hardly noticeable.

There is now a vent for every application in a kitchen situation, where there hasn’t been anything specifically designed for kitchens before.

Most people will buy something from the Hardware store which is usually a “make do” application.

There are no vents made, anywhere in the world, specifically for induction cooktops, yet every induction cooktop installation manual, requires the cooktop to be vented, with numerous warnings if they are not.

Every manufacturer’s warranty is void, if the cooktop is not installed, according to their installation requirements and must be vented.
Unfortunately, the homeowner is dependent on either the sales person, the kitchen designer, the joinery, the electrician who installs the appliance, or the builder, who eventually signs off on the job, to have had it installed according to the installation instructions supplied with the appliance.
The homeowner rarely, if ever, reads the installation requirements and therefore, runs the risk of having an appliance that can be over $10,000 to purchase, without warranty and even if extended warranty is taken out at extra cost, it isn’t worth anything if the installation isn’t according to the supplied installation manual.
The homeowner also runs the risk of, earlier than necessary, product failure when the warranty period expires.
The problem of Induction cooktop failure, due to overheating, is so prominent in the market place, that manufactures are only giving 12-month warranties, when, if installed properly, they should last up to 20 years or more.

I have been in the kitchen industry since 1981 and over the last few years, have asked numerous joinery company owners and installers about what they do for the venting of induction cooktops.
None of them knew what I am talking about until I show them in the installation manual what is required.

Some of these guys have been in the industry for over 30 years, building top quality kitchens and they don’t know anything about it.
Even the salespeople in one of the biggest retailers in Australia, have never heard of this, yet there is a website from there own company, outlining the requirements for induction cooktops.
This is the website.
https://www.appliancesonline.com.au/manuals/ci6se1/ci6se1_installationrequirements.pdf

Induction cooktops have a bad reputation for breaking down from 3-5 years and many people are very hesitant to buy one. The only reason they have a bad reputation and break down, is because they are not vented.

Prime features of the I.C.V. Vents

There is currently nothing available for this application and I.C.V. vents surpass any existing suggested solution.
The company I used to work for, built the cupboards, according to the requirements of the Appliance retailers and continued this for about three months, back in the early 2000’s.
Every client complained about the big gap under the cooktop though which you could actually see the metal front of the cooktop itself.
So, we stopped doing this and fitted a rail or new door or drawer under the cooktop to fill the gap.
I would then bore a series of 50mm holes all along the back of the bottom shelf of the cupboard and three 50mm holes either side at the top front of the cupboard into the adjoining cupboards, trying to create a more adequate supply of air.

This didn’t work very well either, as in many circumstances the kitchen was fitted on a solid base and there is no air available under the cupboard.

Also, the air blown into the adjoining cupboards, soon heats up and returns back through the cooktop.

It also allows mice, cockroaches and insects into the cupboard.
Some Induction cooktop warranties are also void if insects are found in the fans or vents.
I.C.V. vents are easily retrofitted or can be built into the cupboard at the construction stage.
Top of door vents and rail vents can be painted in polyurethane, in the same colour as the kitchen, either in the manufacturing stage, or even retrofitting stage, which make it blend in with the kitchen.

This blending in, makes the vent look attractive and purposeful, and actually looks like a thoughtful feature of the design.

Detailed Description:

There are two main applications for these vents
One is above an oven and the other is above a set of drawers or a cupboard.

The bottom oven vent, lines up with the width and depth of the oven frame/glass and allows fresh air to enter the cupboard, underneath the oven and up the back of the oven into the inlet fans at the rear of the cooktop.

This fresh air is then passed through the cooktop and out through the vent at the front of the cooktop itself.

This is then expelled through the matching top vent, at the top of the oven cupboard.
At the back of this vent, there is a stainless-steel rail, that has ports cut in it to match the outlets on the front vent.

This provides a very sturdy support for the narrow 70mm stone rail, along the front of the cooktop.

Stone benchtops are often joined under the centre of the cooktop cut-out, as this is the shortest join and easiest to hide.

The support must be very strong in this area and the stainless-steel rail/vent, is superior to any HMR or vinyl wrapped pine rail, which actually impedes any air from escaping through the front of the cooktop anyway.

Failure to remove the timber rail allows the super-heated air, to circulate back into the oven cavity and taken up by the inlet fans at the back.
This causes the cooktop to overheat and eventually fail.

Usually, a shorter heat shield is fitted to the bottom of the I.C.V. rail above the oven to the bottom of the cooktop. (Unless it is a Pyrolytic oven.)

The heat shield fits across the cupboard and fixed into the sides.
This is attached to and also adds extra support for the benchtop support rail.

If the oven is a pyrolytic oven, then you will need a full depth heat shield with a heat blanket on top of the heat shield to prevent the heat from the oven overheating the cooktop.
There is also heat barrier upstand and foam strip fitted to the top of the upstand, across the heat shield, which the cooktop sits down on to prevent any hot air returning back to the rear of the cooktop.

In the case where the cooktop is fitted above draws or a cupboard, the front of the bottom shelf under the bottom draw, is cut back 25mm from the front and a vent that is the same width as the cupboard, is fitted in place.

This vent allows fresh air to be drawn into the cupboard by the inlet fans at the back of the cooktop.

The stainless-steel heat shield fitted below the cooktop, is the full width of the cupboard and screws into the sides.

This can either be a short, medium or deep heat shield, depending on requirements.

This is attached to the bottom of the front rail vent and has a heat barrier upstand half way to the back, which has a flat surface on top to stick a 20 x 20mm foam strip, upon which the cooktop sits down on, effectively, blocking any hot air from the vents at the front, recirculating back into the rear of the cooktop.

Depending on the thickness of the benchtop, it may not be necessary to use the upstand and just use the foam strip.

If it is a thicker benchtop, there is an extension to the upstand to allow for the foam strip to reach the bottom of the cooktop.

Depending on the style of door or draw, the rail can also be the vent, or a vent is fitted to the top of the door or drawer.

This rail is painted the same colour as the kitchen in polyurethane to blend it in with the kitchen.

All vents can have either vertical or horizontal slots.
There is also a narrow rail option, which is only 20 x 20mm at the top, to prevent any loss of clearance height above a draw, for ladles, knives etc, instead of using a deeper rail.
Sometimes a deeper rail will cause the draw to be unable to open, as a ladle or knife has turned or is sticking up and catches behind the rail.
This is common in continuous handle situations.

These can be used where the client doesn’t want to fit a vent on the front of the door or drawer.
The door or drawer can be adjusted down 5-6mm to allow for air to be expelled above the door/drawer.

This would require the doors/drawers alongside to be adjusted down as well, to align the top and bottom of the door/drawers.

This narrow rail is also supported by the stainless-steel heat shield from underneath.

Advantages:

The advantage of these vents, is firstly for the manufacturer.

Induction cooktops have a bad name for failing soon after the warranty period has expired. The main reason for this, is because the cooktops have not been installed, according to their installation specifications.

The main reason is because there is nothing available to the industry to overcome the venting problem and as no one has come up with a viable solution, the sales of induction cooktops aren’t as they should be, though it is growing quite substantially now.
In 2015, the global induction cooktop market was estimated at USD$9.16 billion and is set to grow to USD$13.53 billion in 2022.

Induction cooktops are far better than any other form of cooktop, but their bad reputation for failure, has had an effect on their uptake.

This reputation is not earned by the quality of the cooktop, but by the inadequate preparation of the cupboard ventilation.

Secondly, using I.C.V. vents, prevent any blame being levelled at the cooktop retailer, the kitchen showroom designer, the joinery shop, the electrician and the builder and can prevent any claims by the client, for replacement or poor workmanship by any of the trades.

This could result in a claim through the Dept. of Fair Trading to any one of these people, which could cast a shadow on their integrity.

The induction cooktop vents are not replacing anything that has been before, they are an entirely new concept and a solution to a problem that has been around for nearly 20 years that has cost many people, many thousands of dollars for new appliances that should have lasted for more than 20 years.

According to one of the top appliance manufacturer’s claims, their induction cooktops are supposed to last for 13-20 years.

Many induction cooktops fail between 3-7 years, only because they are not adequately vented.

Modifications and improvements:

I am also working on a design that allows for a cooktop to be fitted to an existing kitchen, that is actually a drop in box.
The cooktop sits inside the box and is vented from the top at the front of the cooktop, or from the top, front sides of the cooktop.
The inlet fans at the back, draw air from the top venting at the back, or sides of the back.
It depends on the depth of the cooktop if the vents are at the front and back, or the sides of the cooktop edge, it requires a bigger cut-out from front to back.
Some spills may go through the vents as they are open at the top, but as there is a stainless steel box under the cooktop, this water would be caught up and dry out very quickly. The cooktop can be lifted out of the box at regular times to clean under, if necessary.