Brendan, the duct already is in your cabinet, right? Generally, cabinets above range vents are sacrificial to some degree or another. I would be very cautious about cutting the clearance between your vent "bottom" and your range "top" too close. As you practice with your Bluestar you will find yourself getting more salty with the pans and it is nice to have some clearance in there so you can "toss" the veggies and shrimps without having to worry about banging something. Also, I have a few brewpots for beermaking that are around 18" tall and I would not want to worry about having to lift them off the cooking surface with only a few inches clearance. Just some thoughts, YMMV. Best of luck whatever you decide.

I had a sudden oven failure in my older 30" RNB, and happened to see the obvious cause. I don't have a wiring diagram, but the circuit is so simple that it's not really necessary. The line from the plug goes along the side of the range to the control knobs, spark unit and igniters. It delivers 120v to the thermostat. When the oven or broiler is switched on, the thermostat passes that 120V back to the thermovalve, which in turn sends it down to the appropriate oven or broiler igniter, which in turn connects directly to the neutral wire from the plug. My range's problem was caused by a misrouting of the wires that bring power up to the oven igniter. Instead of having been passed through the big hole that's obviously provided for them at the front of the range, they were pinched between the side panel and frame of the range, squeezing them very tightly. Finally the insulation degraded enough to cause a short, with a moment of sparking that made the location of the problem obvious. The short damaged the internal circuitry in the thermovalve, which is not protected by a fuse, so the thermovalve is shot. It only hurt the oven-side circuitry; the broiler, which is handled by the same valve, is fine. It's conceivable that such a short would knock out the thermostat, but in my case it didn't. I will have to replace the thermovalve and the wires going to the igniter, rerouting them to avoid a repeat performance.

I just wanted to add my similar experience with my Bluestar. After about 5 months of ownership and several uses of the oven, I noticed the discolored door yesterday when my wife was baking cookies. I opened my pullout next to the stove to find the side of the door scorched. This appears to be slightly different from OP's issue. The scorching is next to the louvered toe kick. There's no door seal to blame here. There's a 3/8" air gap between the edge and the toe kick. One of the concerns I saw about the Bluestar when researching was that the door, knobs, and handle get very hot. I do not find that to be the case for me. I find these to be acceptably warm. It was the toe kick that I noticed was insanely hot. I was concerned that maybe an internal heat shield or insulation was missing. After posting to the kitchen forum, I was lead to this thread. I guess it sounds like this is a standard "feature" for the Bluestar. Yes, the stove is not a rocketship. That simplicity was a benefit for us. With that simplicity also comes a lack of engineering. That's not a total knock against Bluestar. It just seems like Bluestar employs more craftsmen/artists who put out a really nice looking product with some killer features than engineers/scientists who run tests and further improve the design. Pulling out the heavy stove to protrude from all cabinetry is a fix, but it's just a bandage. We followed all of the installation instructions to the tee. The stove exterior surfaces should not get that hot. We love the open burners and will have to learn to deal with the quirks of the range at this point.

I am so glad that you piped up about your Frigidaire issue, Practigal. Thank you. I don't think it was a coincidence that you were participating in this thread. So..is it crumbs of rust dropping down from the burner...or, is it rust coming up through the paint...or is it oxidation of the gas itself, that maybe it is burning "dirty"? Good ideas, Mrsnyefnyef. I have an update, but I'll share it at the end of my post. ; ) I agree, Eurekachef. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the BS rangetop after test driving it (unless you don't like standing over a high heat cooker.) "my regrets comments was that I just didn't want you to finish your project and then turn back and say, well I should have..." Ah, I understood what you were getting at much better that time, Gooster. That makes a lot of sense. Here is the update: I found 2 incredibly good deals at Goedekers website this weekend for scratch and dent Miele's. The cooktop (yes, a cooktop, not a rangetop) is 42" wide and has 6 burners. They looked like they are configured *perfectly* for the way we cook. Originally I was looking for all the same BtU's on the burners, but these should work fine because of the configuration. Originally I was looking for sealed burners, which this has. The knobs are off to the side rather than on the front. I find this to be a nice feature since I tend to lean into whatever I'm cooking. This way I won't be lighting the stove with my belly! Also, little ones will have a harder time reaching the knobs. Finally, at about $1200 less than full price, it was too good a deal to pass up. They also had a set of 30" Miele Master Chef double ovens for almost half price (open box). I hemmed and hawed for a while on this one. It's definitely more high-tech than what I was originally looking for. In order to do the cooktop, we'd have to head into wall oven land. Wall oven land was full of techy gizmos. Given that, I might as well try one that is highly regarded by bakers and has the lowest repair rate in the industry (according to Yale Appliance's website, anyway.) Thank you all for helping me process this big decision! I really appreciate the input each of you gave me.