RCS brochure http://www.bluestarcooking.com/pdfs/bluestar_rcs_30.pdf RNB brochure http://www.bluestarcooking.com/pdfs/bluestar_rnb_30.pdf RNB brochure mentions convection feature while RCS brochure does not. I think some retailers may assume RCS has convection,maybe Canadian/Costco version is different and does have convection. Last time I saw a RCS in the store(about two years ago)it did not have convection. I can see why someone who owned both a RNB and Culinarian would claim a superior perspective on which is better. Not someone who just own's one. Naturally you want to self justify your purchase and may be prone to becoming a cheerleader for one or the other. I don't own either,sell one or the other,nor anyway connected to the appliance industry. But I have used both now. And I like the Culinarian better.

Both of these ranges are All Gas, and don't have many bells and whistles. I have a Bluestar and use a cheap CDN digital thermometer with a probe and timer ($20). Seems to work fine for me, and I'm glad it's not built in. I don't think there are any better gas ranges than these. You can add Wolf and Capital and that's about it. Capital has the most features (no digital timers etc, but is available with self clean option and rotisserie). My neighbor has an American Residential range, and I have a Bluestar. I think they're both very well made. The Bluestar has big,8-pointed, Star shaped, open burners- and these are the best there are. The American has a couple extra indicator lights, a broiler that shuts off if you open the door, and 2 fans for convection. The biggest difference is that the top is sealed and stainless with iron grates. (The entire top of a Bluestar is removable Cast Iron.) If I had to do it again, I'd get the Bluestar (again). For no other reason than the top burners. BTW, both of these have large, powerful gas ovens with commercial quality infra-red broilers. They take a while to pre-heat, but it's no fault of the oven burner (30,000 BTU's) What I can't tell you is if one is better insulated than another. Someday I'll get a chance to bake with the American, then I'll know more.

Skoo -- I hate to rain on your parade, but to prevent a future problem... Costa Esmeralda has simply got to be some of the prettiest granite on the planet. That is, many slabs of Costa Esmeralda are; others can vary from disappointing to downright frightening. So until you pick out YOUR slabs of Costa Esmeralda, you don't know if the slabs your yard will have when the time comes will be grey-green, aqua-green, mint-green, 'where's-the-green?' green, lemongrass-green, or puke-green. Which makes Costa Esmeralda a uniquely poor granite to plan colors around. You may be thinking "Well, I'll just buy these slabs now" to guarantee you'll get the colors you want (need). And if you have a place at your house to store the slabs until you're ready to use them, this is a viable strategy. You'll run the risk of the slabs getting damaged in multiple transits, or possibly cracking in a freeze-thaw thing. But if you have the slabs in a place you control -- then go ahead. But do NOT rely on writing your name on some slabs -- even if you pay for them now -- then leaving them with the stone yard or fabricator. Because slabs are sold out from under you SO OFTEN that it's more the rule than the exception. Do a search here for "They sold my slabs!" and you'll see what I mean. Here's some Costa Esmeralda:

What is a "local safety officer"? What do you mean "a bunch of back and forth" with your "local safety officer and Wolf"? What prompted you to use your CO meter to test the levels? They are employed by our BC safety Authority who are the regulators for all regulated work, gas and electrical and such. As a licensed gas fitter I hold my ticket through them and they are the final say when it comes to appliance safety. Permits and approvals for equipment go through them. I chatted at length with him about the stove and he did agree we can’t do anything because it meets ANSI standards being below 800ppm, but he did say he wouldn’t have it in his house. His advice to me was if Wolf won’t do anything to then adjust the burner input by under firing the appliance to bring the CO back inline. I went to Wolf with this information and they said ‘based on your requirements I don’t think Wolf products will be right for you, would you consider a buy back’. Checking CO is very common here in Canada especially when commissioning an appliance. I didn’t mention the CO alarm going off because it never went off, however it did show peak levels in the 15-19ppm range after cooking for a short period of time. Enough to make me concerned with a pregnant wife and 2 yr old. This is what will happen if you in a room where the CO levels are 800 ppm. The ANSI standards are referring to the CO levels in the air coming out of the range vent. 800 ppm air coming out of the vent does not translate to a room concentration of 800 ppm. Especially if you have your ventilation on. Now, if you were getting 250-300 ppm where the cook was standing, that indicates a concentration of way more than 800 ppm out of the vent, and thus a violation of ANSI standards. Either way, those readings were way too high and Wolf's response was poor. Yes, I agree, somewhat. The stove should never be operating at the ANSI levels, your house would build up to a dangerous level of CO over time ie. When cooking a turkey for hours. Our utility will actually shut down any gas range over 540ppm during normal operation. Also they shutdown any other appliance if its over 250ppm while operating. I agree we need ANSI standards but as new homes get built tighter and with less makeup air having a cooking appliance pumping 800ppm at the vent/flue is insane. Consider this regulation was put in place in 1926, buildings have changed considerably since then. So, what happened when you tried adjusting it? Was 250-300 ppm the lowest it would go? That would surprise me, I have adjusted several gas ranges and have usually been able to get them down to 30-40 ppm from as high as 500 ppm. I knew this question would pop up, but yes I went through the full range of what is reasonable on a brand new appliance. Below is what I went through, to try and reduce the CO: Tested inlet pressure, adjusted within 1”wc of manifold pressure. ‘Wolf recommends having inlet pressure within 1” for proper operation’ – no change Checked flip top regulator and it was set to natural gas Checked manifold pressure on stove it was at 5”wc Verified orifice was correct as per spec sheet supplied by Wolf Adjusted air shutter, no change was actually higher and this was the lowest I was able to get the stove to run at CO tests were done after 10-15 minutes of operation and the burners were warm Clocked meter to verify burner input is correct Verified no blockage in burner tube Verified all secondary air ports were free and clear House is still very drafty, so not a lack of air within the house The only thing I never did was under fire it, as I didn't want to go down that road on a brand new piece of equipment. Wolf blew me away with their service and willingness to make a customer happy. From a cooking standpoint however, it will be Bluestar for us.