Ranges and rangetops generally have more power (BTUs) than cooktops. Ranges and rangetops have a more "professional" look than cooktops. A cooktop has a more streamlined look.

A range is the most expensive (a range being the burners on top with the oven, sometimes, double, below), then rangetop, then cooktop (assuming same brand). If you do a range (ovens below) you might not need an additional oven. With a rangetop or cooktop you need at least one oven. I have a rangetop (6 burner) with separate double ovens.

Make sure you get an adequate vent hood!

You might want to post this in appliances, you'll get a lot more opinions.

I think the Range Top and double oven is a much better choice for resale standards. If you plan to sell your home later on it may be more attractive for buyers. They buyers may be older and would prefer not to bend over or just can't bend over putting things in and out of the oven. Having the oven placed higher may be the little thing that makes your house just a bit better than the others. The more buyers you keep in the mix the better for resale.

I myself will be getting a Range top and double oven. I am going with all Viking in the kitchen as it's a well known name for most buyers and for resale as well. I looked into all brands and seemed what one person loved the next hated.

I really wanted to get a 60" AGA but unless you know AGA it may not be as attractive and buyers will not see the value in it.

That's what I based my choices on!!!

That's my 2 cents!

It really depends on how expensive your house will be appr. when you're finished. In this area, houses under 300 grand typically have a range and above that have a cooktop and double ovens. A range is MUCH less exp. than a cooktop and double ovens. The mfs. charge an arm and leg for built-in ovens!!!! IMO...I think they charge sooooo much simply because it will probably go into a much higher price house. A single built-in oven usually costs 2x as much as a range....with everything you need(oven and built-in cooktop) unless you realllly cook alot and NEED double ovens.

Funny how you got 2 different opinions on price - which really shouldn't be an opinion.

The confusion (I think) lies in the fact that there are 3 tiers. The cheapest - range, next is cooktop and double ovens, and most expensive is professional range.

My story - redid a kitchen 3 years ago with a nice DO and gas cooktop. The cooktop has 20k btu burner and a simmer without a plate. My culinary trained wife wants a range if/when we build. She really wants it because it looks cool but it might remind her of her professional kitchen days. Mind you - she doesn't want stainless countertops...

My DO and cooktops ran about $3500. The DO cabinet was $1000. You would need to replace the DO cabinet but you have the lowers from under the cooktop - you still need to get uppers which I'll say is $300. So roughly $4200 (back in 2005) I think a Viking (or comparable) range is $7000 - now my appliances are Jenn Aire and Windcrest - and Viking clearly has more cache for resale.

But your basic non commercial range is My wife wants the range but she acknowledges that it is less pracital as far as bending over to get in the oven. My advice is to do want you like - the cooktop/DO is a bit more practical but does take a bit more counterspace.

The appliance forum is definitely a good place to check out (by the way, pretty much everyone there is pooh pooh on Viking).

If you are a bargain shopper and not looking for high end appliances, you can get a cooktop & DO for not much more (or maybe less!) than a range. I just bought a brand new DO on ebay for $1000. The cooktop I'm looking at can be bought there for around $700. The ranges at Lowe's I was looking at are about $1800.

For my own use, I like the cook-top and double ovens because I have a bad back and bending over to put things in and out of a "stove" oven is hard on me.

I really miss my 1970's *direct vented* Thermador oven/broiler! I'm not much of a cook -- more thaw 'n nuke these days with only two of us -- but I hate my built in KitchenAid MW/Oven and Oven/Broiler. Also dislike my underpowered KA elec. cooktop. You know, I don't like my exhaust fan either! Geez, how could I have been so dumb? (Oh, probably because I don't really 'cook'.)

I do like the drawers *under* the cooktop for pots and pans, and I do like the no-bending of built in ovens. I think I would have been money and satisfaction ahead if I'd bought a nice stove and quieter exhaust fan. The fan would then be in the right place to help exhaust broiling odors. I could have built in a microwave shelf. I will probably go back to gas for burners 'next time'.

IMO, ranges wider than 36" are Way Overkill for most homes - yet one has to go wider to get double ovens. And double ovens are very useful - especially when entertaining. So when we remodeled we reused our existing 36" range, and then added a 30" single wall oven and built-in microwave stack.

A nice thing about the range oven is that it is under the hood. So it is easy to get rid of any smoke or heat from the oven. And being 36" wide, it is big enough to hold just about anything. Many, but not all, can hold a full commercial-sized baking sheet. On the down side, one often has to bend over or kneel to check on things in the oven. The wall oven is much better in that respect.

Well, it seems like my Theory of people not wanting to bend to use the oven is holding true!

I had priced Thermador about a year ago, and unless things have drastically changed the cost for just a 36" rangetop (I don't like cooktops, so I didn't price those.) + double ovens was almost $2K more than a 48" Thermador range (large oven/small oven). Also, we were pricing dual fuel units (LP/electric), so that may have influenced the cost breakdown. We ultimately went with a dual fuel Wolf range with a separate Monogram Advantium/warming drawer combination...mostly just because I liked the looks better than the double ovens. BTW, I prefer the bending over to reach into the oven than the having to raise items so high to use the top oven in a double oven configuration (and yes, I've lived in homes with both configurations, so I have first hand experience).

I would recommend posting this on the appliance and kitchen forums.

When I said 'range', I was referring to the 'GE'....Whirlpool verity .... :)......Not the Wolfs and in that 'very' high end....

If you are looking at regular 30" ranges, then a range is by FAR the cheapest way to go. You can get a really nice range for less than $1000. A decent cooktop alone will cost that much or more (mine was $1400, 36" wide GE monogram) and my single 30" wall oven was $1600 (GE profile convection). The built-in GE profile microwave was another $300. And then you have the added expense of the wall oven cabinet. But this is my last house and I wanted to splurge a little, so I got my gas cooktop and wall oven. I love the sleek look of the cooktop set into the granite (no backsplash yet)

I think you have to consider whether you are building for yourself or for some unknown 'future buyer'. If it's for future resale, you'll get the most wow per dollar by going BigName, big space, pro-looking appliances. However, be aware that BigName appliances in a median-price house does not make up for poor design or skimpy storage.

OTOH, if it's for yourself, then consider just how much you cook, and of what type. BTW, gourmet refers to a person who appreciates a particular food style, not a range or cooking style. If you aren't a pro chef, think hard about whether or not you would value a pro's range four to ten times as much as a standard range (that's the price range difference). Most of those who want BigName burners either need them for specific meals, or need to say they have them. Only you can decide whether or not you need them enough to pay for them.

A happy nuker isn't going to appreciate a 6-burner BigName range, nor will someone who rarely cooks for a crowd. For the nuker, arrange the kitchen so the microwave is just above waist-height and has counterspace in front as well as to one side. (The nuker's stove/oven can be very basic.) The person who constantly cooks for a large crowd may or may not like a 6-burner pro-type range. Actually, I know several cooks of that type, and they all prefer a standard 4-burner plus a separately placed 2 burner/grill combo... they say no singed fingers from the middle burners. YMMV

It's pretty obvious that one won't get back-aches from a wall oven, but do consider that the WO's area equals lost counterspace. If you are a nuker and this is your "forever" house, skip the WO and get the combo stove/oven, just big enough for the T-day dinner. Practically everybody else will appreciate at least one WO.

Also consider how often you really NEED two ovens. A single wall oven is much cheaper than a double wall oven. when I was designing my kitchen I immediatly decided I needed a double WO. And then it occured to me that I have been cooking large christmas dinners for 15 people for many years with my old cheap-o range. I decided right then that I was not willing to pay a huge amount of money for an appliance that got used once a year! The high BTU gas cooktop with 5 burners though....that was as splurge that I know I will enjoy and make good use of. Carefully evaluate your own cooking style and decide what YOU need and want. Dont' get something just because someone tells you that you should.

Like others have said, I think you really have to evaluate your families cooking style and needs. My DH and I LOVE to cook, so we splurged on a 36" professional range which was pricey. However, we really do use the 6 burners, especially when cooking for company or preparing for a party. The range itself has a convection oven under it, which will accommodate a commercial cookie sheet, a big plus for us. Like ccoombs1 said, for those few times when we need a second oven, we put in an Advantium MW/Convection Oven combo. So far, I really like it. It has a warming drawer feature, which is very handy and I tend to fire it up, instead of the big oven, when I want to do a small job like roast garlic.

I know I'm in the minority, but I much prefer a range (or stove) over a rangetop (or cooktop) and wall ovens (single or double). This is mainly because I think they look much better; I really dislike the look of rangetops and wall ovens. We have a pretty decent range and DH, who does all the cooking, and is who is a fantastic, accomplished chef is happy with. There have only been a couple of times that he would've made use of a second oven if we'd had one.

thetews ~ minority is me, who is going for a customized rangetop so as to have a lower than usual surface. I am so dang tired of almost standing on tiptoe in order to not singe a wrist when stirring a tall pot. I'm also having a "well", which is an encased deepset burner (the pot's lid is about level with the counter surface). It's probably worth a doctorate in sociology to determine why wells went out of style, but I don't care about style near as much as I care about convenience.

I would go for the Range. Ranges are more modern and qua price they don't differ much. And why have separate cooking appliances when you can have it all in one?
I have written a lot of information about Gas ranges, cooking ranges, electric ranges, appliance ranges on my website http://www.ranges.net as well for the ones which might be interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.ranges.net

Maybe it's just my lifestyle, or personal taste, but I don't like standing at the stove cooking while the oven is baking, just too much heat there, heat rises. There could be a range that doesn't do that, I don't know.

And, I like going over to the oven, take food out and set it on the counter on a trivet there, instead of it ending up setting next to the top of the range, which is prime real estate there.

Also, when there are other's in the kitchen (some people don't have this come up very often) someone will usually need to get food in or out of the oven while someone else is cooking on the range top; Thanksgiving, for example.

And, the oven in a range is much lower to the ground for bending and lifting (I'm a bit tall). My lower oven is not as low to the ground as a range oven.

But I know an all in one range unit is cheaper than separate cook top and ovens. Anyway, that's what I find. And we are empty nesters-now, go figure, lol.

Simply put, you can get a range (a range is by definition, a cooktop and an oven combined into one unit, regardless of price) for as little as $450. A separate cooktop will run you around $800 and up to $3600+. Single ovens are $800+ (Fagor) and double ovens are $1700 and up (easily $3000-$4000), plus you will need an additional 4 prong 240 outlet and cabinet ($2000+) for double ovens. So minimum for cooktop/double wall ovens, electrical, & cabinet would be about $5000. I love the look of cooktop/wall ovens. If you are looking at ranges, the really cheap coil type are very reliable and cheap. But those with electronic touchpads, convection, and ceramic tops you are repair Russian roulette. Convection does not seem to pose a problem in itself, however, they tend to come with the electronic touchpads which are the nightmare!