I would buy a 36" range if I could - I do not have gas where I live so my choice is limited to about 3 brands, neither of which have a couple of the other features I'm looking for, and given the price, are not worth what I would be getting. I am always wishing for another burner and more space on my dinky 30" electric rangetop. But if I pay $5000-$6000 for an Aga or Smeg range, I want induction. Diva's induction range is $9000-$10,000, and Viking's $7000 induction is only 30" and has ridiculously small 6" burners.

We put in a 36" Wolf AG and a separate 27" Miele wall oven. The Miele oven gets a lot more use than the Wolf. Part of that is that the Miele is electric and has some nice functions, part of it is the size is big enough.
If I had to do it again I'd go with a 30" Range and the separate wall oven.
Regarding the preheat time I don't think it's anywhere near 45 minutes nor uneven heating.

We wanted the "real estate" of six burners with contiguous grates for multiple cooks and/or really large pots/pans. Also important was a Gaggenau Combi-steam oven, 27", which we stacked with a 27" Gagg convection wall oven (electric). At the end, we opted for a DCS 36" all gas range rather than a rangetop, because we wanted the flexibility of a really large oven for crowds & the infrared broiler. The DCS oven preheats in about 20 minutes & is very even. We've had our new kitchen for two years & we're very pleased with it & all our appliances.

A 30" range will have plenty of "presence" unless your kitchen is really large. Some are available in eye-catching colors, too. :) I debated the same thing and went with a 30" 5-burner Capital range because I've never needed a big oven, rarely use more than 3 burners, and it was the prettiest. (Real scientific and logical, eh?)

Love my Viking 36" AG range (3yrs olf) - I purchased a separate griddle & keep that over 2 burners - which works well - tonight I defrosted the steak on it, while potatoes cooked in the oven, I cook quesidillas on it, pancakes, chicken breast - when I'm not cooking on it I use it as extra counter space

Oven has convection mode & I was never much of a baker, but am now converted -

Good luck

I love my 30' wolf induction cooktop. Induction cooking is supposed to be cheaper then gas or electric. Induction also has the advantage of being able to cook super fast like gas and cook so low as to barely melt chocolate. I don't ever remember using more than 3 burners at once and you do pay more for that extra 6". I like having a wall oven because I'm tall for a woman. I'm going to be looking for a new one. I've been told that miele has the most reliable ones.

I have the same 36" DCS AG as gizmonike. I love it! I wanted large oven capacity for baking and big holiday dinners, and it heats very evenly, and surprisingly quickly. The 6-burner top allows large pots/pans on adjacent burners, and all have a great simmer setting.

My kitchen is neither very large nor very small, but I certainly don't have anywhere to put wall ovens. This range offers maximum utility, and maximum capacity, without overwhelming the room.

Thanks - these replies are encouraging. I was a little afraid that with a 36" I'd be putting form ahead of function and paying a hefty premium to do it. Glad to hear that at least some of you are very happy with your 36".

Is dual fuel all it's cracked up to be, or is an oven an oven?

Thanks!

I have the Wolf 36" dual fuel and I love it! I only have the one oven, so I really appreciate the extra space that you get in the 36". For me, the gas stove and the electric oven is the perfect combination.

We currently have a 30" all gas and cannot wait to get the kitchen finished so we can install the 36" all gas we ordered. There are only two of us but we kept running out of space when friends or family are over.

here is a picture of plumorchards 30" american range. i have a 48" it has 2 ovens 18" & 30" they are great around thanksgiving or the 18" when the load is smaller. great for baking cupcakes or cookies for school or an event.
john

Here is a link that might be useful:

Love having a 36inch drop in gas cooktop (REALLY wanted the extra 5th burner)and the SEPARATE under counter electric oven. In a galley kitchen this was perfect because all ranges stick out too much from counter depth...and it meant someone could attend to oven stuff while another was at the stove.
If u dont need xtra burners, than 30 is fine but i would still separate the appliances

Have the 36" BS with six burners and cannot imagine life without it. I use all six burners at once often, and it's made cooking and thus life that much easier and more fun. Even when I do not use them all, but use, say, four, there is the room I need for oversize pans.

It looks great, too, and definitely has presence. Everyone that walks into the kitchen has a "wow" reaction. It's bright blue colour helps, I'm sure.

In an ideal world, I'd also have a 27" electric wall oven and a couple of induction burners ... but that's just greedy :-)

Like bicoastal above, I have a 36" drop-in 6 burner Bertazzoni gas cooktop, with a 27" Bosch 500 electric oven mounted underneath it. Check the required clearances for other models, but this combination worked fine.

We love having the big cooktop, which allows lots of flexibility and definitely makes a statement, but couldn't see the point of an oven bigger than 27"

(I'm British - I grew up cooking for a family in a 21" oven, including Christmas turkey, without difficulty so a 36" oven simply looked wasteful in energy to me.)

Not to throw in a monkey wrench here, but I wrestled with the 36" vs. 30" question for a while. For me, the main pull toward a 36" was the extra room to maneuver, not so much the two extra burners (so stop reading here if those are what you're craving...).

After much deliberation, I decided to go with a 30". (AG American Range, just ordered yesterday). Here was my thinking:

1) My kitchen is not large, and given its (likely) configuration I could really use 3" extra inches of counter on either side of my range. Plus it opens up lower cabinet options, such as in my case having a super susan in one corner that would otherwise have to be void.

2) Alot of the maneuverability problems I have with my current 30" range stem from the non-slidability between burners. That issue has been resolved by the continuous grates on most newer 30" ranges, eg AR.

3) I plan to go with soapstone or something similarly heat-resistant for the counters. That way I can plunk a pan down on them when space is unusually tight on the range. Obviously this wouldn't help when actual cooking space is tight, but I find that I almost never use more than three burners at a time. Mostly I use one or two, especially now that...

4) I am the proud owner of a slow-cooker, which I use a lot more often than I would have thought. (Love the energy efficiency, the freedom to leave the house, the way it magically transforms really cheap cuts of meat into truly succulent dishes... but I digress...)

5) The 30" American Range oven is as large as many 36" ovens -- among the largest 30" ovens out there. I plan to get something like a countertop convection/toaster oven combo or a micro/convection combo for smaller oven jobs.

6) A 30" range would allow me to go with a smaller hood, -- another BIG savings, both space-wise and money-wise. And even power-wise, as any 30" range will top out at a lower overall BTU capacity than its 36" counterpart, which makes me feel comfortable about going with a lower cfm blower (600 cfm in my case), something I would not do with any of the 36" ranges I was considering. (see vent hood threads for btu/cfm recommendations.)

7) I am more and more convinced that bigger is very often NOT better, in fact it is often quite the opposite, despite current conventional wisdom. Okay, enough pontificating...

None of the above may be relevant to your situation. Just thought I'd share, considering how much time and energy I spent thinking about this. (Can you tell?)

Good luck!