Single or double oven?

[emptycoffers]

We have an old freestanding gas cooker with hob and separate grill/oven compartment and full size oven.

Eventually we'll get a fitted gas hob in a worktop with electric oven business underneath.

For just a couple or maybe a couple with one child, is a double oven preferable to a single oven?

Is the extra expense worth it - does it look better - add to resale in future???

Any reasons really why you would opt for one over the other?

our family is the same shape, but occasionally double the numbers for dinner, Christmas etc. I managed for years with a single oven, but now we have a double oven it is so much easier than juggling things around on shelves/oven bottom, especially at busy times. Having had a double I wouldn't go back.

Don't know about looks or it affecting re-sale (I wouldn't even have thought to check/take it into account, unless it was a super top-end oven), but it's a small thing that makes everyday life a tiny bit easier, so worth it if you can run to it.

Thanks - that's my thinking - it's something you do once and swapping from a single to a double in a few years - better to spend it now....

Personally I prefer having the grill separate to the oven. It makes much less mess in my house - maybe that's just me though!

If you have an oven under the work surface, just watch the sizes of the double oven. Depending on where the controls are you can end up with two rather small ovens when one larger one would have been more useful. The last one I had (which was an AEG) had the controls on the side of the grill which meant that the top oven/grill was about 15cm narrower than the lower oven. It wasn't often a problem but sometimes at Christmas I'd get caught out trying to move something from the bottom oven to the top and then realising that the tray was too wide.

From the adding value/aesthetic point of view it really won't make a huge difference. If you are inclined to cooking large roast joints/turkeys etc and can only have a built under (worksurface) oven then I would recommend a single oven as it is a much larger oven chamber along with being more economical. A built under double will have two relatively small ovens and if you want the both the top and bottom oven to be multi-function and pyrolytic lined you will be looking at a substantial amount of money.
If you are putting the oven in to a tower unit then it is definitely worth putting a built-in double oven in.

For what it is worth I have had both and actually prefer my all singing all dancing single oven, it cleans itself, is perfect for the amount of baking I do and it can successfully cook a roast dinner for 6-8 people without making me wish for the double again. In fact the only thing I miss about the double oven was putting the plates in the top half to warm and well the microwave does the job now.

All that being said I would have a range cooker with two ovens in a heartbeat if it could somehow be squeezed into my pocket sized kitchen

Double oven every time - keeps the grill separate and offers far more flexibility. You can use both ovens simultaneously, set to different temperatures, and have the main oven on whilst grilling.

I certainly prefer a double oven. You can keep hot or warm plates in the small one, or cook stuff, or use the grill when the main oven is busy.

Only thing you may find is that the lower oven is nearer the floor (single ovens often have a pan-drawer or plinth under) so you stoop more. I am tending towards d/oven in a tower unit now, at a convenient height, with storage above and below, rather than an actual cooker.

Double oven always. I miss being able to grill sausages the same time I cook chips for example.

Yep, double oven (had one in a rented house and insisted we get one when we did our own kitchen).

One of the things to bare in mind, is that the smaller, top oven/grill will be more efficient when cooking a meal for a small family than a single large oven which will take much more power to get to the same temperature. So double ovens are greener ;)

Unfortunately we won't have room for ovens in a tower unit so it will all have to squeezed in below the hob.

I hadn't thought about the possibility of the ovens being smaller than in a freestanding cooker - that would be disappointing!

Plate-warming - that's definitely one of the best things about our cooker at the moment.

Double

I have a free standing double oven with gas hob on top (am not in Uk so no point giving models!)

My first double oven, i chose it and it's fab

I use the smaller top oven loads as a PP said it uses less energy - good all round.....and having the option of two diff temps is fantastic.

Yes the bottom oven is close to the floor - but if you've no health issues it shouldn't be a problem. I'm a weakling and can get big pots in and out.

If you like a gas hob with electric ovens, top one smaller, we have Cannon Harrogate here, was a Which best buy when we got it. There is a Hotpoint HUD which is apparently nearly identical apart from the name badge. I believe Zanussi owns both brand names.

my mistake, Indesit.

Double would be much preferable, as the oven in a grill over oven is so much smaller it is barely used. Very useful to have 2 ovens if you are baking a cake and want to cook dinner at the same time, or you are cooking a Christmas dinner! IMO you might as well not have a top oven in a grill/oven combo as it is so small it is pretty much useless as an oven, and only ever used as a grill. Whereas double oven can be used as both and is bigger.