waist height built in oven, or free standing range oven?

[nankypeevy]

More oven questions - the wee man at the shop convinces me of what he's selling every time I'm there - I need real advice!

So, Everyone Else is fitting ovens at waist height in their shiny new kitchens.

I can see that this is good becuase it's easier on your back and you can see in the thing so you know when it's utterly filthy needing a good clean.

But, I'm quite clumsy, and I like my ordinary wee gas oven becuase if I drop stuff it's not got far to fall so can be put back on the plate and no-one's any the wiser so it doesn't break my dishes. Or foot.

Also, having waist height ovens (I'm having a double oven) will cost me surface area - and, I like being able to spread out when I cook.

The wee man says to get built in. I don't think that's what I want.

Gimme yer pros, and yer cons.

Raaaange, because there is more of it

Range cooker are far more fashionable at the moment

Built in oven that are higher are easier to use.

If you have room, a part "tall wall" incorporating tall appliances and tall cabinets, including ovens with a pan drawer under and a crocks cupboard above, let you get a lot of big stuff in. Yes, this "tall wall" will not have any work surface, but you can put all the tall things together

Beware of the 'tall wall' ! IMO it looks great in showrooms and pictures of huge kitchens, but you must have workspace right next to an oven. Personally I'd go for range and keep the workspace if you needed it. There's not much you really have to bend to check in an oven - usually it's something you just put in and let it be. If I was going for a tall unit I'd rather have a full height larder or tall cupboard for plates, glasses etc - you use those so much more often and everyone can reach easily.

Interesting, thanks folks.

This sort of stuff bores the pants off me. I know what I want, and then I go into the shop or read the brochure...and then I question whether I actually do know what I want!

I think range would be good - just because of the work surface thing. We are lucky in that there's space under the stairs where the ironing board/hoover go. When they get put away, obviously, they spend most of their time cluttering up the room and not acutally being used...

Right, am away to read a brochure about ovens. Whch seems to be mainly focused on what colour I want...sheesh - I'll buy it because it's easy to clean and economical to run, thanks.

your kitchen must be neater than mine, betterwhen.

I find the more work surface I have, the more junk materialises to fill it. Perhaps I have a Stargate.

Surely the range takes up the same amount of work surface as normal hob and tall oven unit. Tall unit every time here

A range is about 1 1/2 times as wide as a normal freestanding oven.

To have a wait height oven you have one width that is too tall to have work surface above it, and then another width taken up with hob.

So that's two normal-widths, to 1.5 with a range, plus you only get a "normal" amount of ovan and hob, whereas with a range you get a grill, a large oven (under the grill) and a small oven (to the right) and LOTS of hob