The advantage to a range is that it puts the oven underneath the range hood for venting and it is cheaper than a rangetop plus a comprable wall oven.

You would be placing cabinets next to the range oven as well? Wall ovens are installed with heat shields.

The advantage to wall ovens is they are not near the floor at a better height. Single ovens can be placed at ideal heights. With double wall ovens one is placed a little high and the other a little low. The other advantage to wall ovens is that you can pick your preferred oven and rangetop/cooktop and not have to buy a package.

Chipping is usually the result of a few self-clean cycles. Too soon to say for sure about 2013. I think it is pretty safe to say the chipping complaints are at least significantly less for recent years than 5-7 years ago.

There are comparable refrigerators but none better than Subzero.

Miele is tops for dishwashers with Bosch coming second.

I have a 36" All Gas Capital Culinarian range with self-clean oven and motorized rotisserie. I would pick it 10/10 times over a Wolf DF range.

If you are looking at a 36" gas cooktop I would go with Bluestar instead.

If Wolf chipping issue finally makes you decide against Wolf ovens look at Gaggenau. Also pretty blue porcelain interior without any chipping reports. Like all appliances there have been a few customers with defects but nothing consistently wrong. Side opening door so you don't have to reach over hot drop-down door and air catalyzer that cleans air of grease and smells before exiting into your kitchen.

* You can Google " gardenweb culinarian" or "gardenweb bluestar" for many threads discussing the advantages of these ranges, rangetops, and cooktops.

I have seen many happy gardenweb users with positive feedback regarding Bluestar. My only worry with that is the availability of customer service in Houston since I have not seen anywhere that carries it, yet.

I have gone back and forth on brands to try and make things work with costs. I chose Bosch because I need 2 dishwashers and could not find a Miele under $1k. I really liked the Wolfe Range, but the price of the 48" was a bit of a shocker, so I was trying to make it work with a 36".

Thanks for the info on chipping! I don't self-clean ovens, so I guess I'd be ok there if I chose the Wolfe. I will check out your recommendations. My husband was looking at JennAir, Thermador, and KitchenAid. None that I felt satisfied my wish for a real gourmet kitchen after reading the reviews. The search continues!!

Have you run your layouts through the kitchen forum? Some layouts just about insist on one configuration or the other. Even if you go with different brands, it still comes down to wall oven/cooktop or range. Sooooooo...maybe they can help.

Two other thoughts for your kitchen design. Some hoods can be placed in ceiling. This may free up your ability to separate oven & cooktop somewhat. (E.g., if vent is over cooktop & between oven & rest of house/smoke detector) http://www.Gaggenau.com/us/category/ventilation. Check posts by Kaseki.

If you haven't considered induction for range/cooktop it may be worth a thought. Various makers, including Wolf, do modular cooktops, so you could have induction, gas &/or grill in one. If money is no object the combo might help you do cool things in kitchen.

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!