The choice comes down to price, performance, and preference
For convenience and flexibility in the kitchen, you can't beat the combination of a cooktop and wall oven.
Unlike with a range, you can separate stovetop cooking from oven tasks, alleviating congestion in a busy kitchen. Adding a cooktop to an island lets you chat with guests as you prep your meal, and placing a wall oven higher on a wall makes it easier to move pans in and out. But these options can come at a price, because cooktop/wall oven combos typically cost more than a range.
For starters, ditching a range in favor of a built-in cooktop and wall oven will mean buying new cabinetry to accommodate the appliances, not to mention the added cost of running new gas or electric lines, and installing a vent hood or downdraft system for the cooktop.
If you're going in the opposite direction and switching to a range, factor in the expense of replacing the countertop where your cooktop was once installed, and you'll likely need to retrofit the wall oven cabinets with shelves, since they're specifically designed to house an oven.
Here are three additional considerations to help you make your decision.
Cost :
Range. It's hard to compete with the cost of a range—a top-performing gas or electric range from Consumer Reports' range ratings can be had for under $1,000. The sweet spot for performance and helpful features, however, is usually $1,200 to $2,000. Look at
Cooktop/wall oven. Plan on spending $500 to $900 on a good gas or cooktop or $500 to $1,000 on electric models. The price of either can easily climb to $1,500, or up to $2,000 for an induction cooktop.
For a single wall oven, you'll want to budget up to $1,500 more than the cost of a range, and a double oven can be $2,000 to $3,000 more. But the real budget blow is the cost of additional cabinets to accommodate a cooktop and wall oven. In addition to a wall oven cabinet, you'll need 30 to 36 inches of additional base cabinets for the cooktop—a cost that can quickly climb into the thousands.
Design :
Range. A range can't be tailored to your cooking habits in quite the same way as a cooktop/wall oven combo. If you want more burners or a bigger oven, you'll always get both, since you need to step up from a 30-inch to a 36-inch range. That also means losing more base cabinets and counter space to accommodate the wider footprint.
Cooktop/wall oven. Opting for a separate cooktop and wall oven means you can install a cooktop in an island without losing storage below, allowing you to store cookware right where you'll need it. If you mostly cook meals on your stovetop, you can opt for a larger, six-burner cooktop and a more modest single oven on the other side of the kitchen.
Or if you love to bake, you can choose a cavernous double oven and stick with a smaller, four-burner cooktop. Another plus is that you can install ovens at waist or eye level, so you don't have to bend over when putting in roasting pans or cookie sheets.
Performance :
Range. If having matching appliances is important, you might be better off with a range—it's generally easier to find a single range that offers solid performance from burners and oven alike than it is to find matching cooktops and ovens that are both strong performers.
Cooktop/wall oven. If you don't mind buying a cooktop and oven from different manufacturers, you can mix appliance makes to find an outstanding duo. But there are other reasons to consider mixing and not matching. If you love the responsiveness of gas burners and the even heating of an electric oven, you can have both without buying a costly dual-fuel range, and you'll have more shopping choices, too.
Comments