I have a range and wall oven. We are in the middle of having lots of gatherings at our house. We are in our late 50s. I did get a range for one oven because I thought it would be good to have it under the hood. I use it mostly though when I a cooking for a big group and cook the long cooking things in it. I probably would buy separate pieces when I do my next kitchen. Some advantages for separate components for me would be - the ability to pick the "best" of each - the ability to place each appliance in the best place ergonomically - each piece can be replaced separately if need be I think ergonomics is one of the most overlooked things in some of the kitchens I've seen. I don't think looking ahead a little is a bad thing especially if you want to age in place. Changes in your abilities can come on suddenly. A friend of mine has issues with balance and the first thing the occupational therapist told her was no bending over to the oven.

Posted by gabethan I'm trying to decide range vs cooktop and wall oven Questions... 1. Is it true that it is better to have a range because heat will flow out better from the oven vs. having a wall oven built into your cabinets?? Many of the wall ovens vent to the front so I don't think a wall oven is a problem. There does seem to be some variance in how much heat is released and may be due to how well they are insulated. I have had two brands in my wall space in the last several years. The Electrolux that I have now does not put as much heat into the kitchen. With a range, a gas oven vents much more heat than the electric ovens do. 2. I have read about the porcelain chipping in the wall ovens. Is that true for 2013? If you search on this forum you will find that this is an ongoing problem. It is hard to tell how wide spead these issues are. In my area(small market), Wolf has replaced other liners to ranges but you don't read about it that much online with the ranges. The wall ovens in the future from Wolf will have a replaceable bottom and you would want to make sure you get that if you choose a Wolf oven. The range will not have that. I have the Wolf DF range and the porcelain has failed a little after four years. They cannot give a fixed estimate for a repair and just the labor starts at $800. They will only warranty the new liner for one year. It would seem that since this has been an issue, they would do better than that. I don't think the blue chips are fixed but they are making it easier to repair. It is a shame because there is no other range with an oven like that. I'm thinking 36" Dual Range OR 36" Cooktop Double Wall Range Those packages come out to roughly the same price. Trying to make the numbers work!! I would go for the components. You can pick exactly what you like and if one goes, it can be replaced. I have a very expensive storage cabinet at present. It is not safe to have food cooking with glass shards flying around. Appreciate any advice. I've looked at every brand and keep coming back to Subzero and Wolf . If you want Wolf range, I would go for the all gas because the enamel is not blue. I would buy the longest extended warranty you can get if you buy something with a lot of electronics or any type of blue porcelain. I have had blue enamel failure with Dacor, Electrolux and Wolf, all in different ways. Dacor was bought back for multiple issues, Electrolux was fixed under extended warranty and Wolf I am out. The dealer told me Wolf would stand behind their product and I would not need an extended warranty. This was true because they have replaced double ovens 4 years old with new ones for $500 for someone on this forum. They don't do that anymore. I was a big fan of Wolf until this happened. One reason I bought that range was the supposed "peace of mind"---HA!

I do a lot of one pot dishes, meat and potatoes, stroganof, bean soup with ham, spagetti, etc., then after working to make lovely (and very high calorie food) I grind it all up in a food processor. No matter what the food, it always appears to be something gray with butter in the end (or red if it's spagetti). So I wanted lots of counter space for prep, a huge range to cook in and on, and somewhere to keep the food processor busy while grinding and cooking. Then I package it all up in 6oz packages and freeze it. This is all for DS...I don't normally cook our family meals (DH is a fabulous cook). I never envisioned myself grinding and freezing food LOL if anyone knew I'd lose my "Amatuer chef of the year" award from the mid 80's...I wonder if I could grind up a cheesecake...heh heh DH does all of the cooking when we entertain and for our family dinners. We planned the kitchen so that he could work efficiently, with a stainless counter run between the main sink and stove. That huge stove, with appropriate hood so he can stirfry, and prep space behind him to work on vegis while meat is happening on the stainless side. On the other side of the island we have a sink, and two counters. They're sort of "my" zone when we entertain, for appetizer prep, salad prep, and landing zones for dishes between courses. Our sink and DW are lined up with the main dish/silver storage, so that some day, when DS becomes useful, he can put away dishes or set the table without being in DH's way. The fridge is between the two zones so that we can both access it easily. So far it flows very well. We made our isles bigger than they were (they were about 29" wide prior) and planned appliances that don't fill the isles when open. Dish and food storage is planned based on when it's used and how, so that they're close to the functions that make sense (ie wine glasses and decanters are close to the dining room door since we tend to use a lot of them during parties). But no matter how well we planned...we couldn't increase the size of the kitchen, so after a dinner party for six...it all looks pretty much like this LOL: I was half way through cleaning up when I took those pics LOL we really do make a mess, and having lots of counters to toss it on between courses was a big deal to us.

I can't speak from actual experience, but we just ordered a cooktop and wall oven for our kitchen reno. Like Weedmeister says, you have more options. I didn't like the configuration of the tops on the ranges in my price point, and I found that it was easier to find the induction cooktop that appears to meet my needs by going with separates. Also, it looks like it will work with my small kitchen better. It made it easier to actually set up zones.