General Viking Information
Viking is another company, like Wolf, that positions itself far upscale and imposes strict territorial sales restrictions (at least they allow prices to be quoted). Curiously, though
they push their quasi-commercial image (but read their warranty forms--any true commercial use voids the warranty), their historical reliability rate, as an overll brand, has not been
good--check Consumer
Reports. Whether their "super-premium" image and reputation is worth anything is up to you to decide.
The Viking induction units are apparently made for them by Luxine. They have some "mixed" units combining
induction elements and radiant elements; we have not listed those here, for what we hope are obvious reasons.
The Viking units, unlike many others, have their controls as knobs, in a channel down the right side of the units; some prefer knob-type controls, but others don't like them because they
make cleaning more of a nuisance than smooth touchpads; also, that channel eats up space that could be used for cooking, effectively reducing the "cooktop" area width by several inches and
also rather crowding some high-heat-producing electronics, which does not bode well for longevity. Moreover, to be "childproof", Viking's controls are "push-to-turn", making them even less
convenient.
Viking has two basic units, but they each come with various trim options; we have listed the major trim differences as separate units below. Viking is one of the rare companies (Diva is
another) offering white-glass units as well as the now-standard black, but it costs dear.
From reports reaching us, Viking's customer service also leaves something to be desired, at least when it comes to induction units (that "something" is some faint understanding of what
induction is and how it works--what they told one customer would make your hair curl).
As always in these listings, we give these standard general--
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Important notes on these data:
We have spent a lot of time hunting these data--often in several places for each individual unit--but we cannot and do not guarantee any datum to be correct
(indeed, we often found conflicting data at different sources). Caveat emptor! For those units we offer for sale, the prices shown are never over an hour old. For other items, the prices shown are the lowest we found with moderate but not fanatic
searching; moreover, they are not updated very often and are only intended as a rough guide to comparative unit values in cost/power terms. Most "Features" are not terribly important, and are nearly standard among roughly similar units, regardless of brand name. If some "feature"--shown or omitted--is especially
important to you, check on it, because we did not take great pains over the "Features" data. Dimensions given here are, as the makers themselves warn, only to be used as guidelines in planning--never do anything till you have your actual unit to hand. A very important datum is the "MaxPower" value. Many units show individual-element powers that add up to impressive totals that the unit cannot really supply.
For example, a unit with 4 elements each listed as "2.4 kW" might have a true unit maximum power of 7.2 kW: that means that you could, in this example, run up to three elements at
their full power, but if you tried to run all four at full power, each would only be putting out 75% of its nominal maximum (7.2 kW divided 4 ways is 1.8 kW per element, which is 75%
of that nominal "2.4 kW"). That is not necessarily a flaw or defect or misrepresentation--there are good reasons for that approach--but you should be well aware of just what
you are paying for in actual cost/power terms for the unit as a whole. Many units nowadays offer a "power boost" feature for some or all of their elements; that feature allows a "boosted" element to temporarily, for some short period (rarely
specified, but typically 10 minutes or so), run at well over its nominal power, to help--for example--get large pots of water to boiling. There are no free lunches: if the unit as a
whole is running at its maximum, "boost" works by diverting power from the other elements. In the example above, if you were to "boost" one element to, for example, 3.2 kW, there
would be a maximum of 4.0 kW left (7.2 kW total maximum minus the 3.2 kW being used by the boosted element) for all the three other elements to use; you could run one other at full
power, or two others at 83% of nominal, or all three others each at 75% of nominal during the "boost" period--be aware, though, that different makers arrange their "thefts"
differently. (This, too, has valid reasons behind it, but--again--you need to know how much true, steady-state power you are really buying with your money.)
(For much fuller information on power, read our page Kitchen Electricity
101.)
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Viking Induction-Unit Data
We found, not counting color and trim variants, two Viking all-induction induction-cooking induction-cooking models:
Viking VICU105SB
Do we sell it? Yes, though only within southern California - click on the unit name above for the "buy" page.
Viking VICU105SB
(maker's product page)
- Elements: 4
- Boosted: 0
- Powers:
· 2.7 kW - left front, 9-inch diameter
· 1.8 kW - left back, 7-inch diameter
· 1.2 kW - right front, 7-inch diameter
· 3.3 kW - right back, 9-inch diameter
(Elements are outlined by squares, but are actually round.)
- Max Power: 9.0 kW = 100% [no power sharing]
- Levels: ?
- Controls: push-to-turn knobs
- Timer/s: 0
- Induction Elements Made By: Luxine
- Features:
· pot recognition
· auto-safety switchoff
· residual-heat indicators
· color and trim options available (at extra cost)
- Size: 30-3/4" wide x 21" deep
- Cutout: 29" x 19-1/2" deep x 5-1/8"
- Color: black or optional white
- Trim: stainless steel
- Voltage: 240
- Load: 40 Amperes
- Maker's Warranty:
· labor - 1 year
· parts - 5 years
· surface & trim - 90 days
- Online documents:
· Product Specifications (PDF file)
· Installation Instructions (PDF file)
· Use & Care (w/Warranty) (PDF file)
· Cleaning Tips (PDF file)
- Prices:
· US $2989.00 in black w/regular trim (VICU105)
· US $3049.00 in black w/brass trim (VICU105T)
· US $3049.00 in white w/regular trim (VICU105W)
· US $3109.00 in white w/brass trim (VICU105WT)
- Cost/Kilowatt:
· black w/regular trim, US $332
· black w/brass trim, US $339
· white w/regular trim, US $339
· white w/brass trim, US $345
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Viking VICU165SB
Do we sell it? Yes, though only within southern California - click on the unit name above for the "buy" page.
Viking VICU165SB
(maker's product page)
- Elements: 6
- Boosted: 0
- Powers:
· 1.8 kW - left front, 7-inch diameter
· 2.7 kW - left back, 9-inch diameter
· 2.7 kW - center front, 9-inch diameter
· 1.8 kW - center back, 7-inch diameter
· 1.2 kW - right front, 7-inch diameter
· 3.3 kW - right back, 9-inch diameter
(Elements are outlined by squares, but are actually round.)
- Max Power: 13.5 kW = 100% [no power sharing]
- Levels: ?
- Controls: push-to-turn knobs
- Timer/s: 0
- Induction Elements Made By: Luxine
- Features:
· pot recognition
· auto-safety switchoff
· residual-heat indicators
· color and trim options available (at extra cost)
- Size: 36-3/4" wide x 21" deep
- Cutout: 35" x 19-1/2" deep x 5-1/8"
- Color: black or optional white
- Trim: stainless steel
- Voltage: 240
- Load: 55 Amperes
- Maker's Warranty:
· labor - 1 year
· parts - 5 years
· surface & trim - 90 days
- Online documents:
· Product Specifications (PDF file)
· Installation Instructions (PDF file)
· Use & Care (PDF file)
· Cleaning Tips (PDF file)
- Prices:
· US $3839.00 in black w/regular trim (VICU165)
· US $3899.00 in black w/brass trim (VICU165T)
· US $3889.00 in white w/regular trim (VICU165W)
· US $3949.00 in white w/brass trim (VICU165WT)
- Cost/Kilowatt:
· black w/regular trim, US $284
· black w/brass trim, US $289
· white w/regular trim, US $288
· white w/brass trim, US $293
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Residential-Use Products Available in the U.K.:
