I wound up going with all gas to save money. I realized that I don't really cook in a way which required the dual fuel (i.e.; I do most of my cooking range top for instance). Adding a 220 line to my already escalating electrical costs was just too much to handle. I was also told that it takes longer for them to preheat, and for me - this was a consideration as I really dislike waiting around for the oven to come to temperature. Oh and, they really don't cook any faster either. So overall I couldn't justify the difference in price. Also, after weighing the pros and cons of both open and sealed burners, I went with the open. Personal preference for me. From reading up, I think both types will have some issues with cleaning/maintenance so I went with the one which I believe gives better performance. I had wanted a Thermador, but this too went the wayside as the 30" all gas was coming in at $4000 and change. I went with a Viking instead, as this was around $3700, plus they were running a $250 rebate special and, the store was able to discount the Viking another $250, plus I got 5% "builder's discount" off my entire order (I'm in the business). Thermador apparently was more strict with allowing discounts. I guess the Viking came in around $3100 when all was said and done.

My home is under construction so I am not yet using my appliance choices. I am going with Blue Star. I have never used Capital so I can not comment on that. I have had the Wolf cook top and wall ovens, viking range and thermador range in past homes. Of those I would say that Wolf AND Viking were equal. However, Wolf is having issues with the interior ovens cracking, I am sure you have read all that. Viking is just making a comeback so who knows. I did have to open the Wolf oven to turn my food for even cooking. The Wolf cook top is not that powerful. I think with Wolf in particular you are paying for the name. It lacks power. It is pretty, and you will get the best service. So if that is the most important thing for you then Wolf is your best bet. Thermador was a very big disappointment for me. The oven cooked unevenly and the griddle took a life time to get hot and never actually did get hot enough to enjoy cooking on it. The Viking was a work horse and eventually had issue with the screws on t the door. Not a big deal. I know they had issues with this but it really was not a big deal. After I had mine the company sort of went down hill and got a bad name. I am going with Blue Star Platinum range top and the new electric wall ovens. I want the the open burner. (personal preference) For me, I also want the 25K BTU burner for wok cooking. It does offer a true simmer. I will be able to throw the griddle on where I want and getting hot enough is not going to be an issue with the high power burners. I am not a trained chef but I love to cook and do A LOT of it. I have not heard any feed back on users of the new BS electric wall ovens but I like that it has a pizza stone in the bottom. I am hopeful that this feature will prove to be wonderfully useful with pizza and rustic breads. It fits a full sheet pan and has 5,000 watt Infrared broiler. My top priority was a wall oven with French Doors. I think I found an oven that had even more than I was hoping for. All in all, just consider what is your number one most important thing to have and go from there. Then just consider how you cook and what you really need or want. You will find comments positive and negative on everything. Wolf will give the best service, or so everyone says. If that is the most important thing for you then just prioritize the other things on your list and see what you are left with. Coming to my decisions were gut wrenching for me. I changed my mind what seemed like a 100 times. I finally figured out what was important to ME besides the french doors. Once you really consider how you work in the kitchen one should start to rise to the top. Trust your instincts.

"4 burner ranges don’t actually use the same amount of space - there is dead space in the middle and it seems like more around the sides too. Whereas the 5 burner range uses more of the actual 30”." The 30" width is the constant between the two choices. The "dead space in the middle and more around the sides too" on the 4 burner configuration is exactly my point. That is why there will be room for your 12" pan and your dutch oven at the same time. If you cannot find the Thermador 5-burner range on display, just go to a store that has several other brands' 30" 5-burner ranges on display, like Best Buy or whatever local appliance stores there are. Bring your pans with you. You will still be able to see the difference in layout and how your pans fit on a 5-burner 30" range vs. a 4-burner 30" range. Perhaps you will like the 5-burner setup. I do not because of the reasons I've stated about fitting pans. Also, I have never needed 5 burners at once, even on Thanksgiving. A totally different approach would be to go to a 36" cooktop. You won't have the industrial look your husband likes, but unlike with a rangetop, you can fit an extra drawer under it, and you won't have the issues of fitting pans, and even have some room to set down pans that aren't cooking. I understand you said you cannot fit another 6" of width. Perhaps post your layout on this forum (post separate thread, entitled with something catchy like "Pls help me fit a 36" cooktop in my kitchen!"). You will need to provide measurements. There are some amazing layout gurus who hang out here, like amazing.

@Lisa “I think that Bluestar can be out, I'm feeling that the BTU's are just overkill for my needs” There is more to it than the BTUs. Bluestar also has a 48” range with ring, capped burners and a sealed burner tray, the RCS. Most people buy BS for the star burners though and they have one in the 36” that is lower BTU than the RNB and it is the star burner but that doesn’t help you. There may be some other things on the RCS that would be benefits. You mentioned the griddle. One of the big problems with griddles is getting them evenly heated. There are two things you can do to help this. You can make the heat source over a greater area and/or you can make the griddle of a material that conducts heat well. Thermador has done both. They have a cast aluminum griddle which has very good heat transfer properties and the heat source, which is electric is wide. It is supposed to be nonstick though so durability might be an issue. Wolf used rolled steel which does not heat as evenly as the aluminum. They do try to provide a more even heat with an infrared burner. Wolf depending on where you read on the website has a 1/2 thick surface. VVVV This is BlueSta,s burner. The griddle is half as thick as the Wolf griddle. I would also consider an add on griddle. It leaves all of your burners open if need be. They are very inexpensive. This would be more of an issue with a 36”/6 burner. You can use whatever metal you want as the griddle. I know some who have aluminum, aluminum nonstick and rolled steel. You can have almost 50% more cooking area with a 2 burner add on than you do with a built in. Some people use these as a holding area or like a French top. This is the Royal Industries version and Chef King makes one about like it in rolled steel. I have picked this griddle up full of food and and put it in the oven. This is why the built in is smaller. The size is constrained by the burners next to it. The add on kinda steals a little space from the neighbors being 15” wide. You also have a lot more heat available because the BTUs for the builtin griddle are around 15K total and the Thermador is a little more. The heat for the add on can be whatever the heat of the two burners is combined. 30K + The built in does give you a way to consistently have the same temperature. When you turn it to 350°F, it heats to the same detergent each time. The add on griddle is like adjusting a really big pan. The aluminum add on adjusts very quickly. Wolf takes a little longer. As as far as simmer BTU ratings, BS does not disclose It. Wolf and Thermador are both very low but the Thermador does that by clicking on and off. Wolf has the dual stacked burners. As to these types of burners on prostyle ranges, they are wide. If you can find a place to see how they are with your pans that might be helpful. This is all of them together. The top two are capped burners. This gives you more flare on high heat. The Wolf is stacked so it seems like the flare is not as bad as some. The BS capped burner would have a little more flare but check it out in person. The bottom two are a triple ring burner by Capital and the BS Star. As you turn up the BS, the flame stays more within the footprint of the burner because the flame goes out from the sides of the star rays. The Thermador is more like a modified ring in that as you turn it up, it flares. The star has better heat dispersal if you use cast iron or steel which are poor conductors of heat. The capped burner can leave a cooler middle in the pan unless you are using heat conductive pans like heavy aluminum or heavy copper. The open burner tray just makes it easier or more difficult to clean depending on your perspective. Check the oven size. The BlueStar has enough room, that you can fit a full commercial sheet pan or 2 half sheets side by side. Check with Thermador, I don’t think the 30” oven on the 48” is big enough. Wolf is not that big. Check the broiler size. These are infrared and tend to be smaller.