I don't have a 36" rage, but I do have a 36" gas cooktop with 5 burners and I can tell you that I DO think it's worth it. I can cover 2 burners with a griddle, the large center burner with a frying pan and still have 2 burners for preparing other food. I love it!

I went from a 27" oven to a 36" range. Pro: Large cooking extravaganzas such as Thxgiving dinner are much, much easier. Con: the large oven seems to take longer to preheat, and occasionally I feel that I'm being wasteful by cooking one small dish in the oven. The four burners + grill OR griddle seems to be a much more useful setup than the six burner setup, fwiw.

I am in exactly the same position...deciding between a 30" and 36" gas cooktop in my island.
Right now, I have a 30 smoothtop electric range, and I do feel that it gets cluttered very easily because of the lack of space. I saw the two sizes on Saturday, and was kind of sold on the 36".
However, the indecision comes with the fact that the 36" will eat up more of my island space (I like LOTS of room to spread out stuff when I am cooking!), plus, the extra cost of course. Our island is 7.5'x4'.

Also, I read somewhere that if you go with a 36" range, then a 42" venthood is recommended. With a 30", they say 36 " venthood is preferable. Not sure if this is true....
If it is, then, the 42" vent is quite a bit over our budget :(
If I can sacrfice something else in our build to afford the 36", I would DEFINTELY go with the 36". The OPs made some very valid points regarding the pros of the 36".

36'' worth of burners, yes. 36'' worth of oven, no, least ways for my needs. 95% of the time, a 30'' oven is more than I need. If I had the space & $$, I would seriously consider a 48'' range (with grill or griddle or both) & equipped with 2 ovens. Went with a 36'' rangetop w/ center griddle, & wall ovens.

We had to make this same decision recently and decided the 36" was worth it (going for a 42" hood). I have a 30" now and every time I have more than 2 pots on the range, I'm struggling wih space issues. I think it also depends on your style of cooking though - I tend to make most things from scratch (ie, using lots of pots at once), cook for a growing family and entertain regularly.

I have 36' range. Worth every penny over & over again. Let me say I am cooking for 9 children, DH, plus always a few extras.

New house I will have 36" with 6 burners & 24" companion griddle range. Right now my 36" is 4 burners w/ griddle in middle.

As far as hoods go in our state you do not need a vent hood any bigger than your range top. It all depends on the cfm's, make sure you get enough cfm's for your size range. Also if you are installing restaurant range it will have different code requirements and will require you to have a hood that is a couple inches wider. Due to code's though most people do not want a restaurant grade range in their kitchen.

My cooktop is 36" and so is my hood. I have only "lived" in this kitchen since Christmas eve, but there are no issues at all with the hood being the same as the cooktop. I got a larger blower motor than my hood called for and all the smoke gets pulled out beautifully. I would not want a 36" oven though. I have 30" wall ovens and also got a convection toaster oven for small dishes I might want to prepare.

I cook for 6 people (4 kids and my husband). I've always owned a 30" range. It is sufficient, but there are times I really wish I had more room. My every day pan is 14".. we also eat a lot of pasta.. so, I think it depends if you think you would use it or if you find yourself thinking "I really wish I had an extra burner/more room" fairly often. FWIW, we are going with 36" inches in our new kitchen. I was also interested in a wide range so I can get closer to a proper baguette length when I bake bread.

Something to keep in mind - I've heard that 36" range adds value to your house, so you may end up getting some of the additional cost back if you ever sell. (And if the market ever comes back!)

I LOVE MY 36 inch Dacor Range! Worth every penny. I have six burners, with a griddle that sits on top of the two middle ones. I rarely take the griddle off, but can if I need more burners. I love that my really large All Clad pans fit easily. One of the best parts is having a 36 inch wide oven. It fits two sheet pans side by side. I can easily cook six sheet pans of cookies/rolls at a time. I had two 30" wall ovens, and I think one 36" is even better. I only have a 36 inch hood, but with an oversized, more powerful blower. My appliance guy, who is also a GC assured me that it is fine.

Go for it! You won't regret it!

I'll echo what most have said here - similiar to what dulcinea said the extra space even when you are not using the burners - I have a removable cast iron griddle over 2 burners which acts as an excellent warming tray - I serve from the stovetop most nights so it works quite well.

I went back & forth with this in planning stages & 1st drafts spec'd a 30" range - My dear friend who is an architect said - even if you would like a 36" in the future, you simply can't put one in - Cabinet configuration. Further that the real estate market in my area calls for this size - As Roey pointed out -

GL

Adding a 36" range instead of a 30" range isn't just "some extra money". If you're looking at pro grade ranges to begin with, and already have a pro grade ventilation system in your budget, that particular aspect isn't so much extra, but the jump between 30" and 36" in the range is several thousand dollars. If your choices are in the consumer grade category, you will find the price jump pretty steep to upgrade to a 36", as there really is no consumer grade 36" range available except for the Frigidaire. Many people love their Frigidaires, but their build quality is no where near that of any pro grade, or even a nice GE. And you will need to radically upgrade your ventilation from a consumer grade range to a pro style one. That's not cheap.

All in all, a lot depends on what your definition of "extra money" is. 10K over a consumer grade 30"? Or only 5K over a 30" pro grade? What could that 5-10K do for you elsewhere in the kitchen? Or just kept in your pocket? Are you enough of a cook to really give a 36" a regular weekly workout? Or would having a $100 double hotplate at Christmas time once a year work for you for those very few occasions when 4 burners aren't enough?

I went through the same "I want(but not necessarily need) MORE" scenario, and I bought the GE Cafe and hot plate and toaster oven instead of a 36" (or even 30" pro) range and extra wall oven. I'm thousands of dollars ahead, and it works just fine to simmer the gravy over the hot plate a couple of times a year.

I'm in the same boat. The Wolf 36 gas is $3500 more than the 30. My budge is ok with either but I'm really confused.

1. there are only 2 of us, sometimes 3.
2. I also have two microwaves and use them both daily
3. I usually only have two things on the stove at a time.
4. I try to fix part of the meal earlier in the day ( am retired)
5. I'm the only cook
6. I'd like the extra space on my island
7. do I get a gas dual fuel?
8. do I want the 36 with griddle? have a grill on mine now and never have used it - don't want the mess inside - we grill outside year round in Wisconsin
9. do I get an induction 30 or 36 (five burners) I think I'd like it more than gas

10. I usually cook large meals so we have leftovers
11. not concerned about selling our house

So, I need to decide soon so the cabnets can get built.

I know the 20 would work but I like the "WOW" look with the 36.
good luck deciding.

Interesting...I was thinking about this yesterday... I went from a 30" range to a 36" cooktop b/c, as others have said, there seemed to be space issues on the 30" range. But, I seem to have more room than I need on my 36" cooktop...which got me to thinking if it's b/c w/a cooktop the cooking surface is flush w/the counter and I move things over to it when I need to put it somewhere, not necessarily elsewhere on the cooktop. I also have a granite countertop now instead of laminate (granite is generally more heat-resistant than laminate).

So, I was actually wondering if a 30" cooktop would have been fine b/c of the flush mounting and b/c I can easily put things on the stone surface...and then I could have used the extra 6" in cabinet space (like 9" pullouts instead of 6" flanking my cooktop). Oh well...who knows?

As to the range hood size...yes, it's recommended the hood be 6" wider than the range or cooktop. This allows for a 3" extension beyond the cooking surface and, thus, increases the capture area. Steam/heat/grease/smoke/etc not only flows up but also spreads out. The extra 3" on each side allow the range hood to capture more steam/heat/grease/smoke/etc. [Note, though, that this assumes a range hood mounted approximately 30" above the cooking surface...if the hood is mounted higher, a greater width and stronger cfms are needed to adequately capture the steam/heat/grease/smoke/etc.]

cfm = cubic foot per minute

i have never ever regretted getting a 36" range....
it's possibly the BEST thing about my new kitchen...

(or maybe it's the soapstone)

A couple of years ago, we went from a 30 inch range to a 36 inch cooktop + 27 inch wall oven. My DH and I were just commenting the other night on how much we liked having the extra space and remembering how things used to get so crowded on our old range.

We both cook together most nights (or I cook and he tastes or fiddles with the pot :-))

I often have 2 burners going at once, and one extra pot cooling/waiting on another burner. Add the pretty kettle, which pretty much stays on the cooktop all the time, and it's a full house.

Now, I generally don't cook on the back burners, so if they ever made a cooktop with only three working front burners and fake ones at the back, I wouldn't mind :-)

We have a 36 inch hood and it seems to work perfectly fine. It's very powerful, so we don't think we needed the additional 6 inches of capture area.

And we do have granite but I don't really like to put things directly on it.

In summary, is 36 inch essential? No. But it's a luxury I would have a hard time giving up. I'd rather spend less on something else (fridge, built-in gadgets). To me, the range is the work station of the entire kitchen.

I have a Lacanche which is 39", a Cluny with two smaller ovens, so a too large oven is not an issue (neither is a too small oven, I'm happy to say). Anyway, it's WONDERFUL! Did I mention how wonderful it is? Totally worth it. Especially, if, like us you both cook at the stove at the same time pretty often.

Ivette

My memory can be wrong, since our remodel was over two years ago, but I don't think the price difference between the 30" and 36" Wolf AG range we got was THAT huge...I believe we paid about $4200 for the 36", and the 30" was in the low-mid 3s...so maybe it was an extra thousand dollars?

Which, in answer to the OP, was totally worth it. We have six burners, and we definitely come close to using almost all of them a lot. The oven, however, is too big and then sometimes not big enough...if I have the opportunity next time, I might go for the 48" with the two ovens below....

I guess prices have really skyrocketed in two years.

Wolf

30 is $4999

36 is $8149

Datura

While everyone is kind enough to offer their experiences, ready what you want, how you cook etc... Find a nice 30" stove you love - as you said you prefer grilling outside (me to) - You will enjoy/use the extra counter space more

If you like Pro style you absolutely will have plenty to choose from
As to dual fuel - I suspect you will get a full range of answers - I went from all electric range to all gas 36" Viking open burner & love both the burners & ovens - I have since become a baker - because baked goods turn out incredibly well - I did look into dual fuel as well

http://www.vikingrange.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?id=prod90006

http://www.wolfappliance.com/DualFuelRanges/DF30DualFuelRange

Get what you like, and what works for you!
GL

LOL, my eyes may have been bigger than my stomach...but I'm so happy I got my 36" range.

I have a 36" hood with 1200 cfm and that is more than sufficient.

For me, the 36" range with the 6 burners is definitely easier to work on when you're cooking for a large group of people. Things aren't crowded and two of us can be working around the stove.

Did I "need" a 36" range? No. I wanted it. There were a few upgrades that I certainly didn't need for my house reno but we had the budget and we wanted them. And I'm very happy we have them:)

Thanks everyone for the posts. It seems there is a definite mixed opinion. I keep looking at range options and I feel like I'm all over the place. I have room for a 30 or 36" but not anything larger. I don't have room for wall ovens. I love the idea of the 36" cook top. I'm concerned that a 36" range oven would take forever to heat up from quick dishes. I really want to ditch my toaster oven but that definitely doesn't seem possibly with a 36 range.

I like the BlueStar range but I don't think I need the huge 36" oven.

So, enter the AGA Legacy which has the 36" top I like and multiple ovens. I was thinking the smaller of the 2 ovens would function great as a sub in for the toaster oven. The larger of the 2 ovens worries me a bit. Is it too small? I don't need to cook a turkey in my oven, but I do cook pizzas and roast potato wedges quite a bit. I am cooking for a family of 3.

If you aren't set on Wolf (or other big name brand), then you can get a really good deal on ranges over 30". We weren't willing to pay the price for the typical brands, but knew we wanted a large range with a double oven. My husband did a lot of research (you can find out a lot more on the appliance forum) and came up with a 48" gas range with grill/double oven that has convection capability. American Range has a commercial and residential line, and the residential is as close as you can get to commercial grade without the extra cost due to extreme heat, etc.

After doing some research and talking to several others who have one, we decided that it would be the best option for us. Here's a link to their website if you want more info. They have several different 36" styles.

Here is a link that might be useful: American Range

Thanks for your comments GL. I think you are correct about the counter space.

I went from a generic apartment-quality 24" range to a 36" GE Monogram with 4 enormous burners, a grill in the middle, and a very capacious oven. I jumped many steps of quality and utility. I wish my kitchen was large enough to accommodate a 48" range, I'd not have hesitated to put that in, even if it meant two smaller ovens instead of one huge one.
Casey

Do a search here on the Aga Legacy. Some love it. Some regret it because of the ovens being too small.

I recently went from a 30" electric cooktop to a 36" AG range. I love it! This was a "want" more than a "need". I've used the max oven capacity more than the 6 burners, but have had the whole works burning a couple of times so far for big dinners. If I had to, I could go back to a 30", but I'll never voluntarily give up gas.

I would think twice before putting a stove or cook top in my island...cooking makes a mess and I would prefer that mess to be more confinded....not all over the place. We have an antique stove with 4 burners but it also has what is called a "sidecar" which has an extra 3 burners. Love it!

@Joanne Gormley - the OP posted 13 years ago, so presumably the issue has been concluded by now.

We are looking at a 60 inch wolf dual fuel but now considering two 36 inch wolf ranges... All will be expensive but having to mega ovens with the 36 inchers is definite advantage vs the 25.5 inch width on the symmetric 60 inch range.....

Any thoughts on two 36 inch dual fuel ranges together - clearly a big hood is necessary either way... Building new so electrical/gas hok-ups a non-issue