Quick help! Freestanding or slide in??

8 years ago

I'm debating between a freestanding induction range (love the feature of quicker cooking but have lived without it thus far) or a non-induction slide in range (lov e the look). We are remodeling our kitchen and I like the built in look. However, I am a little afraid that my three-year-old will mess with the knobs on the front of the slide in range. They can be locked but that will require much diligence to do it every single day.

Is it really that much of an improvement in looks, knowing that we will still have a microwave over the range instead of a hood.? I have to decide today! Ugh!

Btw - yes there are slide in ranges that are also induction, but they are out of the price range for our budget.

Excuse the mess, cabinets are being painted. But this gives an idea of where it would go.

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Comments (3)

sreedesq
8 years ago
I would purchase a higher quality freestanding and place quality and knobs out of reach over aesthetic.
sjhockeyfan325
8 years ago
I would choose induction over non-induction regardless of aesthetics or location of knobs. Even if the tot could turn on the induction cooktop, they won't get badly burned with induction - in fact, without a pot or pan on the cooktop, nothing will even get hot. So it's not important to lock the controls, what's important is to keep pots and pans put away.
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Thank You warmfridge for getting all those measurements. That helps me tremendously. Aren't you the one who had problems with your electrolux? Did you ever get it fixed? Are you happy with it now? Weedmeister: The oven is smaller because in the freestanding it's listed as 5.7 versus 4.2 in the slide-in. But since cubic feet doesn't always translate to useable space I wasn't sure if the difference matter for normal cooking. I'm glad to hear you're not find a noticeable problem with the space available. So far this is sounding like a better option for me. The electrician said it would only cost about $75 to upgrade the breaker since the wiring is already done. A carpenter friend is trading my husband a couple of hours of work and he says he could handle the countertop issues easily in that timeframe. So now I have to go read the installation manual (thank for that link) and see if there are other potentional problems. Thanks again, Stephanie
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Cooking on induction absolutely rocks. Immediate response, consistant temps--it's wonderful. I hate to clean, but cleaning up an induction cooktop rocks just as much as cooking on one. Nothing ever burns onto the cooktop, ever. Make a huge mess. Swipe with a soapy rag, swipe again with a clean, dry rag, shiney and clean. Done. Haul hubby out to a different demo. If you can find a Miele or Wolf showroom, go to one of those. Then he can be impressed with the performance but shocked at the price point, and you can "settle" for something much less expensive that works well but with fewer bells and whistles, and he'll be impressed with your research and happy to come in on budget. And you can be a happy cook with a spotless range and very little effort. ;-p Cj
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Well,... I still didn't get an opportunity to see one in person today. We got pounded with snow here in Baltimore, and all I was about was getting my tush home. Did a lot of reading last night (this mornig) and discovered I WANT a Cafe DF with GE's Trivection technology in the oven. To my knowledge, only the Profile electric sports this technology. Unfortunate! Someone commented in a thread over at Epinion that a Cafe DF with Trivection was on the near horizon,... Can anyone confirm this? I would happily wait for it,... if it's around the corner. I was hoping to have my three items (refrigerator, Dish Washer, and Rane) in by year's end, but I'd wait on the range if this is true and move the Dish Washer up to item #2. Quick question about the Cafe: How well did GE think through the art of catching cooking grease from the center grilling option? Easy to clean after burgers and bacon? Or did they not give it much attention? I've heard of some horror stories about that with respect to other solid and grated cooktop grills, and I haven't seen it mentioned here. Is the Cafe center grill both solid and grated? In none of the pics did I see the grill option(s), or any indication of how the runoff is handled. Also, I'm wondering if the bottom oven electronic menu have the same cooking programs found in the Profile double ovens,... like for pizza and such. Also, of the folks here who are Cafe owners, did any of you opt for the optional backsplash? And how much extra did it run. In the pictures, it looks like it sports a rack bar. Correct? Then in another pic of the Cafe, the backsplash looked to be no more than a couple inches high. Are there two backsplash options available? I'm pretty much sold on the Cafe (guess that's not hard to tell), and the ony thing keeping from landing on one this weekend is the upcoming availabilty of trivection to the Cafe line. If not,... I'll go with the All Gas version. Everyone seems to be happy with that. Either way, I have both gas AND a four prong outlet in place so I guess I"m good to go with whatever version we settle on. Marv - I understand free-standing vs slide-in a little better now. Slide-in will look similar to a Dish Washing coming out of the box,... naked sides! Sounds like the Cafe sports the best of both worlds. Well to a degree of course! Shawn
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jwvideo
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Get the induction range for the reasons that sjhockey and sreedesq gave plus these.

The top cooking surface on most electric slide-ins (both radiant and induction) will be more confined than on free-standing ranges. You would not think so but most of them have slanted control panels at the front which eat more space than you might guess. This might or might not be a concern for you.

You are replacing a freestanding range that sits flush against the back wall. Many electric slide-in ranges have an oven "bump-out" at the back. That means the stove top will not butt flush to the back wall. Having one of those will require a countertop fiiller strip or cover of some kind back there to fill the space from the back edge of the stovetop to the wall. (A recent post here on slide-ins also pointed out that those slide-in ranges that do go flush to a back wall and those which sit in an island also may have 1" gaps at the back corners, too.) Something to consider since your countertops are already in place.

For the built-in look you like, your countertops can't have raised "drip-stop" bulges at the front edge (from your photo, seems not a problem for your kitchen) and there can be a gap between the countertop and the slide-ins' stovetop overhangs if your countertops are not close to 36" high. (Many standard base cabinets and countertops only go up to 35¼" to 35½" high.) This might or might not be a problem with your counters.

You also would need to put something non-flammable on the wall behind the slide-in range, from 5 or 6 inches below the cooktop on up to the OTR. You could tile a backsplash. Many hardware stores sell stainless and painted sheet metal plates for this and metal shops can easily fabricate one for you. Another option is mounting a tempered glass plate (frosted side to the wall, smooth side out) which you can order through a local glass shop.

Also, it looks like your OTR (over the range) will be a recirculating unit rather an being set-up to vent externally. Induction will produce significantly less waste heat than a radiant electric stove-top, so the kitchen may be less uncomfortable when cooking in the summer.

If you really have your heart set on a slide-in, there is one induction slide-in that may be within your budget, the newish Frigidaire FGIS3065PF. With July 4th sales "events" going on, the price seems to be in the $1500 to $1700 range, depending on where you shop.

The "yes, but" items for this slide-in range are: (a) as with the radiant electric versions of this range, the oven vent is at the front of the range, right beneath the oven control panel (a design which has led to some complaints on the radiant-topped versions of this range); (b) the oven cavity is not as large as on most freestanding induction ranges (which may or may not be a consideration for you); and (c) it is is one of the slide-in ranges that will not go flush to the back wall.
Barkley thanked jwvideo

Quick help! Freestanding or slide in??

Comments (3)

sreedesq

sjhockeyfan325

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