5 Star Range Question

Hello all,

We are building a house with a HUGE kitchen and have room for a 60" range. We were going to go with a 6 burner Wolf, but the $8900 price list was killing us. (This is a floor model). It was only 2k difference but we are still wondering if it is worth it - as the 5 Star is $6700.

But we were looking at getting a 5 Star instead with sealed burners. First of all, has anyone heard anything bad about 5 Star? And, secondly, is the sealed burner vs open burner thing a big issue?

Any help would be great!

Wow, 60" range. That's serious for any home. I'm not sure about the 5-Star Product... but from what we learned when we remodeled our kitchen is that there is alot of name plates put on stuff that was manufactured for them by another name plate. The 5-Star was never seen or wasn't available in our area

In our case because of having to take money from one end of the budget (Appliances) and put it into two others (Silestone Counters and Cherry Cabinets and wifey happy so...) we chose the Monogram line. Ours was manufactured by DCS so I figured that we would have the performance built right in to it. We also wanted to stay brand specific with the looks of the kitchen. O'boy was I completely wrong. That Wolf sure looks good now that we are on our second Monogram. Too bad they didn't offer a fridge and dishwasher.

Anyhow the sealed burners are nice but I do miss the all stainless steel and cast Iron look of the more comercial ranges so it's a "six of one Half dozen of another" approach with this respect.

I guess if your going to actually use the piece of equipment instead of have it in the kitchen for show as so many folks do buy the better. It'll pay for itself in the long run and just figure you won't or shouldn't ever have to replace it if you keep it in top performing order. Here's the results of or remodel a couple years ago.

Residential Wolf got sold to Sub-Zero. My experience with anything Sub-zero is that you're paying for the "name", same as for the name "Wolf". The Sub-zero Series 500 Refridgerator/tuck-under Freezer drawer we have is badly engineered. The cooling coil (on top of the refridgerator section) is tucked back in the corner and is hardly accessible. You have to blow air through it to clean out the dust or the refridgerator overheats. The plastic fan blade also tends to break when the unit heats up. We have to use a gasoline-powered leaf blower to have any hope of clearing out the dust so the the cooling works. This is an example of bad Sub-zero engineering of today.

The same company is now engineering the Wolf brand of appliances, so don't expect more than that you're paying for the "name" again, not the engineering!

Same thing holds true for cars. If the "brand" is well-known, even if the cars are made by the same OEM manufacturer, the "brand" will cost you $$$$ more.

If you have such a Large kitchen, I'd see about buying a Commercial Wolf appliance. They're 1/3 the cost of the residential and have 2 times the BTU's or more. You can spend the difference on insulation and venting (for the heat) and make-up air systems. You'll be ever so much happier!!

Just my opinion. Also, NEVER EVER buy anything made by Dacor!

(sorry got to thinkin' about the troubles with our kitchen remodel and the brands we went with!) :)

doc

Yes yes and no. If you go with commercial ranges nothing much will go wrong, yes, they are cheaper AND better built, and yes, they put out heat, lotsa heat--25,000 btu's or more per open burner vs the 14,000 on "residential" ranges.

But...

As Doc correctly points out you will need a firewall or some kind of fireproof insulation as well as proper ducting and venting for this monster. Also, if your gas line is sufficient for a 60" range. If you want to go this route, it's well worth the hassle, but it will be a hassle. You'll need to check with City or Municipal Hall, adhere to the codes, have the unit and installation inspected, and may have to install a fire supression system. Failure to do this, and your home insurance company will have a bad case of amnesia. Weigh out the pros and cons carefully, talk to plumbing contractors and mechanical engineers before asking for quotes. Once the money is spent, it's spent.