By Helen, Chesapeake, Virginia
If you’re planning a kitchen renovation and invisible induction is on your wishlist, the key insight is this: plan for it from day one, or don’t plan for it at all.
Invisible induction is not a feature you add late in a renovation process. By the time your countertops are templated and your cabinetry is installed, the decisions that enable invisible induction have already been made — or locked out.
Here’s the complete planning guide to get it right.
Month 1–2: Design and Specification
The decisions that can’t be undone:
Countertop material. Your countertop must be induction-compatible. If you fall in love with a material in the first weeks of planning, verify its compatibility before committing. This is the one decision that forecloses invisible induction if made wrong.
Cooktop position. Unlike a standard drop-in cooktop (which can go almost anywhere a cutout fits), invisible induction’s position is fixed in the countertop. Zone positions need to be thought through in the context of your workflow: where do you stand? Where do the plates go? Where are the cabinet doors? Get this right in design.
Cabinetry below the cooking zone. The base cabinet below the cooking zone needs to accommodate the induction unit housing, provide adequate airflow, and include service access planning. This is not a standard base cabinet spec — your cabinet maker needs to know.
Electrical. A dedicated 240V circuit needs to be specified in the rough-in electrical plan. Note the panel location and run distance so your electrician can include it in the rough-in schedule.
Month 3: Contractor Briefing
Every trade needs to understand invisible induction before they start:
General contractor: Understands the overall integration and sequencing
Electrician: Running dedicated 240V circuit to the cabinet location
Cabinet maker: Building modified base cabinet with service access
Stone fabricator: Fabricating and installing compatible countertop to specified thickness tolerances
If your stone fabricator hasn’t installed invisible induction before, connect them with our technical team for a briefing before they do the template.
Month 4: Rough-In Phase
Electrical runs happen during rough-in before cabinets go in. The circuit location should be inside the cabinet cavity below the planned cooking zone.
Month 5: Cabinet Installation
Cabinets are installed with the modified cooking zone cabinet in place. Verify service access design before the cabinet is permanently set.
Month 6: Countertop Template and Fabrication
This is the critical coordination point. Your fabricator templates the countertop, noting the exact cooking zone position. They fabricate the slab to the correct thickness specifications. No cutting for the induction unit — the surface is continuous.
Month 6–7: Countertop Installation and Induction Unit Mounting
Countertop is installed. Then the induction unit is positioned and mounted from below. This requires the electrical supply to be accessible in the cabinet (stub-out from rough-in).
Month 7: Commissioning
System is powered up, tested, cooking zones verified, safety features checked, surface temperature monitored during test cooking. Sign off.
The Coordinator’s Checklist
- [ ] Countertop material confirmed compatible
- [ ] Induction unit model selected and on order
- [ ] Cabinet maker briefed on modified base cabinet requirement
- [ ] 240V circuit specified in electrical rough-in
- [ ] Stone fabricator briefed with manufacturer technical documentation
- [ ] Service access designed into cabinetry
- [ ] Compatible cookware ordered (can be done anytime before completion)
Download our full Specification Kit or contact our team for project-specific guidance.