I'd reuse it but not if it's an odd size and you've got an odd size. So nope. See if Habitat for Humanity wants it and kiss it goodbye.

(Unless you like vintage ranges. Some of the fabulous ranges from the 40s-60s come in that size....)

I'm with fori. I was going to say yes use it 'till it breaks, until I got to the 40" dimension. Put it in the barn and get a 36" or 48".

I am with fori and ctycdm. Send it to Habitat. If your husband wants to save the cost of buying new, tell him to check Craigslist, but only let him buy a free standing range that is a common size, since you are downsizing, 30 or 36.

Get rid of it. The Pro is a marketing misnomer. I.e. lie. It is in no way in the same category as a Wolf or Thermador.

Your Kenmore as well as the current ones are made by Frigidaire. Normally I'm all for reusing appliances, but in this case I agree that you shouldn't. It will pretty much lock you into this particular range forever, and while they work fine, you could do better in terms of style and performance. It's really only made anymore for retrofit purposes. Plus if they ever discontinue it... you're screwed.

However, to clear up some misinformation, you don't need to speak to a tech to get a refurbished board. There are services like FixYourBoard.com and CoreCentric that will repair boards you send them as well as sell you refurbished ones. Also, I would double check whatever your source is that a critical replacement part is not available for a currently produced range... that can't be right.

When I was stove shopping back at the turn of the century, I remember looking at that range and reading some posts here from folks who had purchased them. It did have a bit of a following here. Mostly from folks with older kitchens with 40" cut-outs for ranges.

But consider that recently -- six or seven years ago, I think --- years ago, the National Association of Homebuilders joined with Consumer Reports in a survey on appliance longevity. The survey finding was, IIRC, that electric ranges lasted 13 years on average and gas ranges 14.5 years. Seems like your new property's old range may be nearing the end of its normal life expectancy, eh?

As you've noted, there is a similar Frigidaire model. (I think it is the "Frigidaire Professional FPDF4085KF.") It is similar because, as hvtech just said, Frigidaire made the Kenmore-badged versions for Sears. That suggests the possibility of using Frigidaire replacement parts. (Sears never made any replacement parts -- they just stocked some they bought from Frigidaire). Are there parts for the older Frigidaire versions? There's a rub, potentially.

Also, has anybody priced the replacement boards and parts? I had a slightly older GE DF range which suffered a cascading board failure three years ago. GE parts have been readily available for decades, so no problem finding replacement boards. Trouble was, the replacement boards would have cost me $800 and no guaranty of any longevity. "Reman/rebuilt" boards weren't much cheaper and are a dicier proposition, to boot.

Even though Frigidaire and Kenmore called this line of stoves "Professional," that just meant it had heavy grates and brushed metal fascia. Except for the non-standard width, the 40" Kenmore is just a stretched regular residential range with a standard thick backsplash and rather wimpy burners that are a bit crowded. IIRC, the paired burners are on 8.5-inch centers front to back. On what is usually understood to be "pro-style" ranges, they would be on 11 inch centers, allowing for multiple big pots to be used together. The burner control knobs are on top in the front center of the stovetop, which is not to many people's liking. The main oven is "Euro-sized" small -- a mere 3.7 cu. ft. --- and the top burners are pretty wimpy (two 5K btu burners, two 9k burners and one 13K burner). So, as Greendesigns, says, the "Pro" deisgnation is a marketing misnomer.

If you already had a restored, vintage kitchen and needed to fill a 40" stove cut-out, it might be worth trying to keep up this range. But this range is not a vintage Chambers, Wedgewood, etc. It lacks the cachet, charm and ongoing market value.

I do "get" the idea of keeping old equipment going, if that is where you husband is coming from. I mean, one of my vehicles is '79 Dodge W150 Warlock Powerwagon. However, just because I have the old Powerwagon does not mean it makes sense to use it as my daily driver. It can be done, but why would you do so if you did not have to? Same thing with your aging Kenmore.

Plus, you are building new. Why tie yourself to this kind of odd-sized white elephant? (You've already noted that in your original post but maybe reinforcement may help?)

Since you are building a whole new house with a whole new kitchen for retirement living, why not look at a cooktop or rangetop with separate wall ovens placed where you don't have to bend over to get to them?

Seems to me like false economy to resuscitate the weird sized older range at this point and then try to build a new kitchen around it.

So, I am agreeing with everybody else above. Can you tell your husband he has been outvoted? :>)

This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 21:55

Just echoing everyone. I was okay with reusing it until you said the size. No way would I lock myself into an odd size for some thing that is near the end of its lifespan, potentially difficult to repair, and not all that special to start with.

Get yourself a nice new induction cooktop and double wall ovens!

Send it down the river.

It is my understanding that the Frigidaire
FPDF-4085KF has also been discontinued and that parts for the Frigidaire
FPDF-4085KF are no longer available. I wish that was not so. I love the way the Frigidaire
FPDF-4085KF looks. I cant find a comparable one in that price range.