I've only had my doubles for a week now so I can't really comment on which I prefer using yet.

As to your #3 which is my setup, I needed two ovens. To get that meant 3 choices:

1. 36" range with another wall oven
2. 48" or 60" double oven range
3. 36" rangetop with double wall ovens

I didn't need 48" or 60" of burner space so that ruled out #2. I wanted drawer space under the range for pots and pans, plus in my research a nice dual fuel range and a single wall oven was slighlty more expensive than double ovens and a rangetop so that ruled out #1.

Ultimately, I liked being able to choose the type of burners I wanted (open burner gas) and the type of ovens I wanted (electric). Sometimes it's hard to find your right ovens and burners in the same unit.

It's a tough decision! Good luck.

I got double ovens and seperate cooktop. I mostly use the top oven bec it is convection and the bottom one isnt. i wanted my ovens seperate from my cooktop bec I dont use them very much and when I do, I am shoving something in and walking away for an hour. I also didnt want the heat from the ovens bothering me while i stood at the cooktop since most of my cooking is done there, thats why i didnt wnat them under my cooktop.

ada--american disabilty act or something like that, I doubt you could make stacked double ovens ada compliant, but I really wouldn't know.

the reason for me getting a double oven was bec when i entertain, i am entertaining 20 ormore people. i wanted the availability of a second oven to help me with that task

I prefer separate cooktop/ ovens for the same reasons as Pence. When I had stacked double ovens, I used the top one mostly, due to better ergonomics. I now have a smaller speed oven (microwave/convection) oven stacked on a regular electric oven. Use the speed oven many times a day, and the big oven about once a week.

The ADA reference was probably about kitchen design for people with disabilities and older people. If you expect to be aging with this kitchen, it's worth thinking about. One term for it is "universal design"-- you might search that term if you are interested in thinking about this in choosing your oven height.

On the double oven ranges, typically the smaller oven is on top and has a broiler, the bigger oven is on the bottom (with convection if that's a feature). There are also a few models with a very small oven drawer or warming drawer on the bottom where the storage drawer would be in a single oven range.

I thought I wanted a double oven range until I went to the store and realized that the big oven where the turkey would go was literally on the floor. That changed my mind immediately, especially given my narrow kitchen! My best friend loves hers though.

If you're considering a double oven range, definitely check them out in real life and consider bringing the biggest pan you would use in it to see if it's comfortable taking it in and out.

With wall units, you'd have a lot more flexibility as to height.

1) I use the top oven most, because of easier visibility and reach, and with ours, it has more features than the bottom oven. Although, I notice my girls often opt for the bottom oven. Don't know if that's to leave the top oven free for me or what.

2) I like the controls at eye level. This puts the middle of the oven at about just the right height for reaching in.

3) We often bake and cook at the same time, with different people doing each task. That means I wanted the baking storage, prep space, and traffic separate from the prep and traffic at the rangetop. We fought for the same workspaces and had to dance all around each other in our last kitchen, discouraging some of the projects we might have done otherwise, so I didn't want that again.

I also love being able to look across the kitchen into the oven to keep an eye on baking projects, appreciate NOT having a hot oven in front of my legs, and love the space underneath the rangetop as handy storage for pots and pans.

Lastly, wall ovens are taller inside than the ovens in pro-ranges, and the oven in a range is SO much lower than even the low oven in a double wall unit.

The ideal height to place a single oven is at approximately waist level. That way you can use your shoulders and arms to the best avail for reaching in and lifting heavy pots out. Lower ovens have been improved with full extension racks so that you can reach down to stir or baste and lift straight up using your hips. Therefore, most people put the upper oven in the best position, and the lower where it will fit.

Most new ovens have doors that cover the whole oven assembly instead of just the cavity. This makes the oven doors big, and hard to reach over, though this year's models are starting to reverse that trend--they still cover the sides, but some have separate pieces covering the top and bottom so that the doors aren't as tall, and are easier to reach over. It's easier to reach over an oven door if you can bend from the waist or hips, so having a high oven with a drop down door isn't a good thing.

I flirted, briefly, with the beauteousness of a French range, but I really hate using a range oven and got over it fast. It's much easier to tend a raised oven. In fact, a great many early ranges had waist level ovens. Those were designed for the homemaker. The current standard shape owes a lot to the modularity movement in design. :)

DH and I are empty nesters. We got 30 inch range with small oven/broiler above and lg. convection oven below and no pot drawer. Have only used the lg oven about 10 times in the year we've owned it. If my children still lived here, I think I'd still use the small oven most of the time. The baking center is to the right of the range and the chopping station to the left. A great layout and I've got the whole rangetop to accept hot items taken out of oven(s) and the vent fan overhead.

We use a gas grill outside for much of our broiling tasks. Keeps fish smell out of the house.

I have a double oven. The larger one is on top. Both have the same functions. I love that this Thanksgiving I might get everything to the table at once, all warm. I think if you have the space a double oven and cooktop are ideal.

Thank you all for the feedback.

Another question, what height would meet ADA?

H prefers separate range and oven. So, I'm considering putting a single oven at bar height (42") as an option. Not sure if this is a good height though. This should give us counter space above it, right? What do you think?

plllog... Do you mind clarifying what you meant by, "The ideal height to place a single oven is at approximately waist level." So, the middle of the oven would be at waist level? Or, did you mean top of the oven? or bottom?

Our cooktop and ovens are separate because I'd rather have active storage close to my cooktop. Ovens can be out of the center of action -- you put something in them, check it or flip it occasionally, but don't hover over it. Having pots and pans and utensils, etc., close to the cooking area makes more sense to me.

Two ovens make it much easier to entertain and cook larger meals, so something can be baking while something else is broiling or simply staying warm. If you never, or almost never, need the second oven, it might not be the right choice. It really depends on how you cook.

convection oven with speed oven/convection/MW above it. I use the speed oven mostly for meals when it's just the two of us. We use the MW function as well. When I'm baking just one kind of bread or treat, I'll also use the top/speed convection oven. The only times I use the lower oven is when I'm baking multiple things, cooking for family/friends, or need the ovens for different items requiring different temps. It'll be my first Thanksgiving with double ovens and it's going to be awesome!!

Tncraft, the single oven at 42" with the range sounds fine. That basically gives you the same function as you'd have with a cooktop and double oven mounted at the normal height, minus the pot drawers underneath the cooktop (but the same amount of storage space available under the wall oven).

Waist high is one of those sort of kind of measures that depends on who's using the oven and what else needs to be accommodated. Your 42" is in the same realm. Waist high can be bottom at Mom's waist and middle at Dad's. Or middle at Mom's height. Whatever. You want to be able to reach in easily, which means having your waist above the height of the opened door, and for ease of pot handling, your forearms parallel with the floor as you reach in and lift. This gives you the best leverage with your arm muscles and limits back strain. Always tuck your pelvis under while lifting, of course, but having your arms well positioned makes it easier.

I don't know what the ADA standard is, but optimal height will be different for someone in a standard wheelchair than it is for someone tall and ambulatory. This isn't one that lends itself well to truly universal design. For the wheelchair bound, I don't know about the safety issues, but for just practicality of access, the door needs to be able to lay open above the legs, but low enough that the user can lean forward and pull out the rack (perhaps with a puller) and lift the pot.

DH and I are empty nesters. We got 30 inch range with small oven/broiler above and lg. convection oven below and no pot drawer. Have only used the lg oven about 10 times in the year we've owned it. If my children still lived here, I think I'd still use the small oven most of the time. The baking center is to the right of the range and the chopping station to the left. A great layout and I've got the whole rangetop to accept hot items taken out of oven(s) and the vent fan overhead.

We use a gas grill outside for much of our broiling tasks. Keeps fish smell out of the house.

plllog... Oopppss! I meant rangetop (not range) and single oven. H does not want a range.

I have a double oven + cooktop. The "assembly" is installed a little higher than an oven in a range. This makes both ovens easier to use than one in a range. I use the top oven the most b/c it has a "speed cook" option in addition to the convection & "regular" options (these last two are in the lower oven as well.) My kids use the bottom oven the most...primarily b/c (I think), I've told them to keep the racks "gluten free" in the upper oven! They put (frozen) pizzas directly on the racks in the lower oven (I use a pizza stone for my gluten-free pizzas (frozen & homemade), but I like to keep the top oven gluten-free for potatoes, etc. that sit directly on the racks.)

One comment though...I actually think the upper oven is a little high. When the oven door is open, it hits me at mid-chest...right at very sensitive "spots"! If I had it to do over, I would have installed the ovens so the lower oven was the same height as an oven in a range. This is one of the few things that I did not think about! I think the reason they're higher is so the drawer under the ovens is the same height as the bottom drawer in the drawer base on the left (my KD specified the cabinet). In retrospect, I wouldn't have cared if the drawers did not "match".

Note that when most ovens are installed under the counter, they're lower than the oven in a range, so they are even less ergonomic than a range. However, since you plan to raise it 6", I think an under counter oven will work fine for you.

ADA compliant: I think that means raising it 6" to 12" - which you are doing if you install it under a raised counter....assuming the oven will be the "top" item with a drawer underneath.

Tncraft,

Same holds for a single oven and rangetop, but I realize I misread your question. You were talking about the oven below a 42" bar height, yes? With counter above it? That is low, but not ground scraping. There shouldn't be any problem with it, but you're not gaining a big advantage over a range. If your husband doesn't want the range because he doesn't want to stand in front of the oven, it makes sense. And it is some higher than a range oven if the top is below a 42" counter. In other words, not optimal, but functional and not bad.

I'll repeat the oft-given GW advice: Make a mock-up out of boxes and chairs and whatever you have, and try it out. "Play" at cooking. Put cans or other heavy things in pots to simulate food. Pretend it's hot. Lean over the oven door and stir (make sure your model has as big a door as the real oven). Lift a pot out without leaning against the hot door. Etc. If it feels good, you know it'll work for you. If it doesn't, try other configurations until you're happy.

I have a single oven under a "bar-ish" height counter (43 1/2 inches to counter surface). Pillog's advice is great.

My oven sits slightly higher than the one in my old range and fairly close to where I have seen many lower ovens placed in a double oven set up. So, there's still some bending (which will vary based on your height), but I have no complaints. In my particular layout the raised cabinet is in the short end of an L shaped peninsula so I have landing space to the left at standard counter height and above at bar height. While the bar height is fine for cookie sheets and lighter weight items that come out of the oven, I wouldn't want to lift a heavy roast up there and happy that I have an alternative.

I have a double oven w/ larger convection oven on top. We do use the lower oven for casseroles. I have found that the lower, smaller oven, is hard to get items out of and that it takes much longer to pre-heat. I use both ovens at once about twice a year. Love the top convection oven. Don't think I would like the smaller oven on top. If you get a double, get small oven on bottom.

I would have liked the stove top and ovens separate, but my space wouldn't permit this.