Are you factoring in the cost of the required commercial ventilation with integrated fire suppression system? How about the required make up air? Your soapstone slab, is it sitting on a wood or metal equipment table? how far away from the wood wall is it pulled out? Have you discussed your plan to use commercial equipment with your insurance company and purchased a rider covering special circumstances fires?

You didn't read the Appliance Forum FAQ did you?

i am aware of the cfm requirements for a commercial range, also how to calculate amt of cfms in relation to btus i have had a garland range in the past. one of the reasons i want to reduce the btu's somewhat is i don't need that much power and it would reduce the amt of cfms i will need. the soapstone slab will be on a non-combustible material. i will be sure to adhere to any clearances to combustibles.

sophia, i did not read the appliance forum faq but i will do so now. have i done something egregious?

i appreciate the concerns. i will, of course, adhere to any instructions, requirements in the owner's manual. i have read through several and they are very specific with regards to safety.

I think what Sophie meant was that after reading the FAQ, most people here would be dissuaded from getting a commercial range, so you might not get very many recommendations from people here. It seems like you've already done quite a bit of research so maybe your post will help others who search for this topic.

The cost of the needed ventilation and gas line upgrade will more than eat up any difference between a pro style rangetop and a ''cheap'' commercial cook station. As will either the insurance cancellation or additional fee for maintaining such a fire/burn hazard in a residence.

i did read comments about commercial type cooktops here, i did not know what she meant by specifically faq i was afraid i had mentioned something that was not acceptable, like not recommending commercial equipment for the home kitchen. i am not recommending it for anyone but myself and all others must weigh the pros and cons. i just hoped someone else had recently chosen a commercial cooktop. i have seen many commercial stoves in homes in my little village. it is not unusual. are the countertops scorched near them ....yes, are they safe installations? in my opinion no, with the exception of a few. i put in a 6 burner garland with a raised broiler and griddle 25 years ago that is still in operation (massive ventilation hood)

i will say, i am surprised more people do not consider commercial equipment.

comstock castle website speaks to this issue on their website, they point out what needs to be considered if you will go with commercial. they have some excellent points. it is worth the read, certainly the high end appliance salesmen will try to scare you into buying their products and to be fair some of this fear is justified, i do think a thoughtful intelligent decision can be made by a reasonable adult. i do not think it is a decision for anyone who has never designed a kitchen or is not familiar with restaurant equipment. most likely not for the first time homebuyer.

i think there is much to be said for designing a kitchen around these appliances. i love the industrial look, the incredible quality and the variations of cooking styles available. imperial has a interchangeable burner with a wok burner and saute burner that can be purchased separately if desired.(very reasonably i might add) it appears to simply be traded out for the burner that comes with the stove. i like the options. i am aware the bluestar can have a wok used on the burner and i commend them for that.

comstock castle has a three burner 36 " length cooktop on a stainless steel stand with shelf that i can imagine working really well . i like the idea of having three burners side by side rather than four front to back. i rarely use four burners at once.the concept of not reaching over the front burner to get to the back is very appealing. i think it also comes in a four burner 48" length. i am seriously considering this unit. it would be a unique cooktop for sure.

i do hope someone's creative side is peaked.

i am certain there are more things to consider before i take the plunge.

if you google gas hot plates you will come up with many different manufacturers.

if you look at commercial gas burner parts on ebay you will see just a few variations on the cast iron burners for the many types of commercial cooktops. i find this very interesting.

they are very similar to what bluestar and capital culinarian are using.

for green design. i do not think the units i am looking at are "cheap". they are very similar to the home versions. look at the video at the imperial website about their pyrocentric burner. the design and quality of materials is evident. their grate design, in my opinion, is better than culinarian or bluestar. please, view it ,and tell me what you honestly think.

imperial has a home version of their stove and it does not appear to have the quality of the commercial one.

The very first reason that you gave for your choice was price. Initial price of the unit is the cheapest thing about doing the project. The back ends costs will mount up to be much higher than going with a UL listed residential model rangetop. The difficulty of the project is doubled as well. Not to mention that you will now have significant wasted space in your kitchen because of the required clearances to combustible materials.

Tracie - I'm glad you brought this question up here, because not everyone in Houzz world is aware of Gardenweb world, yet. Sounds like you're doing your homework thoroughly, and this conversation will be helpful to other Houzzers going down a similar path, no doubt.
If you've already got a Garland, you're already well aware of the pros and cons of using commercial appliances in domestic situations. One issue, certainly in my area of Canada, is that in doing so, one voids the warranty, and the insurance company may also look askance at your choices.
Ask around your local restaurants to see who has what, I'd suggest. And what would they really want, too. Ditto dealers in new and used restaurant equipment. That'll get you some pretty expert advice.
It has been my observation that Sophie Wheeler is often abrasive, or blunt, in his/her responses to perfectly reasonable questions. You committed no cardinal Houzz sins here!

I think the linear configuration would allow one of these units to fit in a depth similar to a typical commercial style range. They appear to require 6 -9 inches to combustible materials.

thank you all for the input. summery , you appear open to the concept , if not the actual reality of commercial equipment in the home kitchen. i did read on the warranties that using the equipment in a non commercial kitchen voids the warranty. the units are so simple, i am not worried about it. green design, i appreciate your comments. cost is not my main concern, not sure how you took my original posting as cost being paramount. i genuinely like the look of the commercial units, they are made to stand up to the rigors of a commercial kitchen. i tend to design outside the box, it is not for everyone.

palimsest, most of the commercial hot plate cooktops are from 28-30" debth. almost all are uniform in their tops 12" x 12" grates with a 4" -5 " stainless bullnose in front .

the uniqueness (imo) of the castle linear is that it is only 16" deep. the cooking area would be recessed , assuming your prep areas are approx 30 " deep ( i do not use stock cabinets and i always make counters a additional 6 " deep over standard.. i would have a non combustible area (shelf) behind the 16" cooktop you would have a slight step into the cooking area, this makes sense to me, i may hear from others who think this is crazy, but consider there is no chance of pivoting and knocking into a pan or pot.someone walking by the counter will not be close to the hot plate. i would make a shelf behind the cooktop (non combustible of course) so that it is not recessed in more than 6 " . this is all starting to make complete sense to me,if not anyone else.

still hope someone will chime in here who has bought a commercial hot plate, cooktop for their kitchen and how they dealt with the simmer issue.

i will go to a restaurant equipment store in my area. will be at least a 100 mile round trip. and see first hand hot plate units. the units i am specifically looking at are not available in my area (according to the distributors recommended on the websites) but some of the cheaper ones are.

summery, i am not computer savvy and cannot send you a sketch but if you put in imperial hot plate at ebay you will see several. i am looking at the 4 burner side to side one. it has a simmer burner that reduces to 7k btu apw wyott has one they claim reduces to 5k btu. i like the star burner on some of the hot plates but it is 7" diameter which is too large for smaller pots. i know the btu's can be reduced, castle stove will reduce their burner to 15k which is what i desire. their star burner is too large 7" so they are out.

many of the home "commercial" units have porcelain on their grates and burner tops. i want only unseasoned cast iron which if treated properly will season the same as a cast iron pan.

imperial has a nice design same as their commercial unit but then they put porcelain on their burners and grates, very difficult to maintain and clean.look at the video at the imperial website of their burner and grate design.

i have been studying the burner types at ebay under stove parts. i like the apw wyott burner design and also the imperial. the montague star looks extremely efficient but again too large.

i liked the star burner on my former garland range.

i will be using lp gas so the btu rating will be lower than the stated natural gas rating. i appreciate the comments here but if i can get the hot plate reduced to 15k btu per burner and 5-7k btu low i will only be dealing with 60k btu total with regard to ventilation. someone mentioned gas pilots are dirty. i had 8 going on a huge garland and never noticed. guess i am not that tidy. i am thinking the four burner side to side might only have two pilots, will have to look at the spec sheet. i will not have a gas oven.

i am aware of the gaggenau design, not sure if it is still available. i have considered and also cooked on induction. i smashed one with a cast iron pot one christmas, a sad story. i was impressed with the unit but i missed my falk copper pots, i have also cooked on the commercial induction units. they too are impressive, but i am set on having gas for this project.

Point of information. The Bluestar doesn't have any porcelain. The grates are all cast iron. They weigh a ton. You really need to go and look at one.

i have seen the bluestar, and i agree it is a great unit. true, all cast iron. i have found the electric igniters can be tricky, also require wiring. i do not mind pilot lights, if i cannot satisfy all my wants with a commercial unit the 30" bluestar will be my choice.

Tracie,

In my previous home, I had a Wolf Challenger Series 6 burner commercial range as well as a TEC infrared charbroiler. The burners were rated @ 26,000 BTU each. This configuration was used daily for fourteen years. Some things you may wish to consider:

Before you purchase anything, check with your insurance agent. Mine gave me the go-ahead PROVIDED I installed everything to code AND the manufacturers instructions.

Check with your local building inspector. Some locations strictly forbid commercial COOKING appliances in a residential setting.

Installing to code will require some surfaces in your kitchen to be noncombustible. Be sure to factor in that expense.

You'll need good ventilation. In my area, fire suppression hood inserts were/are not required in a residential setting. That may be different in your area.

More than likely, you'll need a make-up air plan. In my case, I had a commercial hood with an integral make-up air unit. These are not cheap. My unit installed about sixteen years ago was around 10K and I live in a low cost of living area.

I'm not trying to scare you, because anything can be done ..... if you have enough money.

It's important to discuss your plans with your inspector. I found that the cost of meeting the local requirements for setbacks of combustible materials and the space eaten up by the clear space requirements around the range made it both impractical and not cost effective. With the ventilation and fire suppression requirements on top of that it was way cheaper and easier to go with a home style range (CC in our case). I still hope to get my wok hole in the outside kitchen one of these days.