A large gas range requires a larger high CFM hood and MUA. Don’t blow the budget on the range. The ventilation will be just as expensive as it will be. They go hand in hand.

@greendesigns, thanks. We put in a new hood with the original 36inch range 6 years ago, but perhaps didn’t spend much time deciding which one was best. any insight into how we would know if the current one isn’t optimal?

Search the archives. In particular, search for any postings by "kaseki". This is a frequently asked question. The oversimplified answer is that you want a hood that is wider than your stove (i.e. 42" inches wide). You want it to be as deep front-to-back as possible. You can do the exact math, but you probably need at least 1000cfm, better a little more for a 36" gas range. You want baffles rather than mesh filters. You absolutely need a way to make up for the air that you are sucking out. This is both a functional issue (you can't blow out air that isn't there in the first place) and a safety issue (backdrafting carbon monoxide from other gas appliances isn't a joke). Make up air (MUA) can get expensive, especially if you live in a part of the country that needs heated make up air.

For more details, read the archives.

@M,

LOL. Yeah, I guess Vikings were sooo 2013, when we bought our house. :-) I've seen your responses to other threads on ovens and I was hoping you'd respond to mine! Thank you! I appreciate your rec for Blue Star, I'll keep digging into it but I don't know if I'm up for the challenge. From what i've read there's a lot of tinkering needed...use a screwdriver to get to a simmer mode, adjust this or that. With a 3 year old and a 1 year old, I see enough screwdrivers swapping out batteries on sleep sheeps. Some days it's hard enough to get motivated to cook dinner, the last thing I need is another excuse to order, and needing a screwdriver to cook rice would definitely throw me over the edge. What's your experience? Have you had to do a lot of manual adjustments? Have you heard anything about performance since they refreshed in 2018?

Quite frankly, my standards aren't that high when it comes to stove/oven performance, considering the quality of our current NXR. So maybe it would work great for us and we would love it. I'm sure it's tons better than what we have now. I make due with what I'm given. Like my next task of trying to bake cookies for fathers day in an oven that either heats to 250 degrees or 450 degrees, no matter how it's set. I will seriously look into induction, but not so sure how I feel about having to get new pots and pans. Maybe it's worth it though. Thank you!

It's not so much that you have to use a screwdriver to operate a Bluestar, as it is that a Bluestar is so easy to service that even a homeowner can do that -- often with nothing more than a screwdriver.

All those things that you would typically initiate an expensive service call for, with Bluestar, you have the choice. Do what you do with all the other brands and call a service technician -- or fix it yourself, as that's often cheaper and faster.

And it's not as if your Bluestar range should require unusual servicing. Things that will fail are igniters. But in particular the glowbar igniters are disposal items on all these ranges regardless of brand. They are designed to wear out after a couple of years. Other than that, all that is needed is occasional deep cleaning, and maybe a drop of lubricant on the oven door hinges once a year.

What you should do though is insist on proper installation by a reputable installer. There are a couple of adjustments that might or might not have to be made at installation time. Some of them might only be needed, if you live at higher altitudes. But it doesn't hurt to have somebody check all the set points for minimum and maximum power, and for oven temperatures. These should be one-time adjustments. When we bought our range, Bluestar actually had a white-glove installation service that did these things and then gave you an extra year of warranty. But I don't think this offer exists any more though. So, take this up with your local appliance store.

We love our six burner Thermador all gas range. In our previous life we had a Thermador five burner cooktop and after 19 years we still loved it. My new oven heats quickly and is much quieter than my previous KitchenAid double ovens. After I was told by KitchenAid that I would void my warranty by using the self-clean function (!!!???), I didn’t consider that brand for last fall’s remodel. My previous ovens cool down fans were very noisy and took more than half an hour. The Thermador cool down is much, much quieter and doesn’t run nearly so long. Definitely use the professional installation. Even though DH and I can do many things, it was well worth the money to have the installer use all the tricks in his book.

Oh, DH loves making soup so the extra low simmer is wonderful on my Thermador.

I am quiet happy with my 48 inch Miele Range.