Appliances are what really make your kitchen cook. From sleek, high-styled glass cooktops to glimmering commercial-look ranges to wood-paneled refrigerators, appliances are available to suit any design style.

The two basics, the range (or cooktop) and the refrigerator, combine with your sink to create your primary work zone, often called the work triangle. Others, once thought of as convenience items, are also now staples in the kitchen, including the dishwasher and microwave.

And today, you have a wide choice of other items as well, from warming drawers to wine coolers. Whether you go with just the basic grouping or add all of today's modern conveniences, make sure your appliances are carefully positioned in your new kitchen. Nearly all of them will require adjacent landing space for the things that go in and out of them. And most will require a certain amount of clear floor space in front to ensure complete accessibility.

When it's time to choose appliances, carefully consider how you will use them, including how you like to cook, how often you bake, how frequently you shop for food, and how much you buy. Contemplating your day-to-day use will help you select appliances that include the features and capacity you need most.

If you're working with a designer or remodeler but have a tight budget, consider the possibility of buying appliances yourself. Often these professionals won't mind; some even prefer it. But they may ask to help with the selection or at least know what you've chosen so they can be properly fitted into your kitchen layout. Every appliance has different rough-in dimensions, and some require additional clearance behind or adjacent to the appliance. It's essential that those dimensions and clearances be known and confirmed before construction begins. So keep your designer in the loop.

If you shop for appliances, you'll likely find the mid-priced products offer the best value, with lower noise and longer service lives. Also pay attention to energy cost tags—these costs will vary most with refrigerators and freezers.

Heat Sources

Your choice for heat sources should be based on how you cook and the kind of results you expect. You may want gas on the cooktop but electric in the oven. The good news is that's an easy wish to fulfill. If you're switching from electric to gas, you'll need new gas lines, so a plumber will be required. If you're installing a new electrical appliance or relocating one, a dedicated circuit is needed, which is a job for your electrician.

Gas, where available, is the more economical fuel. It serves as an easy-to-adjust heat source with instant on and off settings—a big plus on the cooktop. Gas is usually not the serious cook's choice for ovens because it can dry foods. But today you can find gas ranges with convection fans in the oven to rival the best electric ovens.

Electric ovens, again, are preferred by many serious bakers. If you want gas on the surface but electric in the oven, you should be able to find a hybrid model that offers both (gas and 240 V electricity will be needed). When it comes to electric cooking surfaces, there is a wide variety of styles to choose from, including those with conventional coil elements, halogen, solid disk elements, and others that use magnetic induction to heat pots.

Ranges

Ranges are the most cost-effective way to buy and install a cooktop and an oven. You can find traditional freestanding ranges as well as drop-in models for a built-in look or commercial-style ranges for power. Your purchase price ramps up when you opt for exotic burners and pricey surface finishes such as stainless steel.

True commercial ranges belong only in restaurant kitchens. These units have uninsulated handles, doors, and sides and can be a fire hazard when installed in a home. They are also very costly. To meet the ever-growing demand for restaurant style, however, manufacturers have introduced commercial style ranges that are safe for residential use. These offer a wide range of cooking possibilities, with add-ons and features like woks, grills, and continuous cooking surfaces. They can be bulky and may require bigger gas lines and more extensive ventilation than other ranges.

Freestanding or slide-in ranges have finished side panels. In older kitchens, you may see them standing on their own or at the end of a run of cabinets. But they are generally meant to be installed between two base cabinets. One disadvantage is that the gap between counter and range can collect dirt.

Pricing for commercial style and other freestanding ranges will vary depending on heating methods, capacity, and features. At the lower end of the spectrum are electric self-cleaning units and gas non-self-cleaning units with 9,000 British thermal unit (Btu) gas burners in a black or white finish. In the mid-range are self-cleaning gas ranges with white, black, or brushed chrome finishes and 12,000 Btu burners. At the top of the line you can get commercial styling, stainless steel, and 15,000 Btu gas burners.

Drop-in ranges typically have flanges on either side that cover the adjacent counters for a more finished look. The controls are typically on the front panel, and there is no raised back panel. If you're minding your budget, you can get a self-cleaning electric unit or a non-self-cleaning gas unit with 9,000 Btu burners in black or white finish. At a medium price point, expect access to self-cleaning gas in black, white, or chrome finish with 15,000 Btu burners. Go all out and you'll be able to afford dual fuel—gas burners with an electric oven. You'll also find Euro styling and stainless steel options.

Downdraft ranges are a good second choice if you don't have a vent hood—or don't want one. These ranges still require a duct to the exterior, but not the overhead mass that a hood presents. Thus they're a popular choice for open plan kitchens that place the cooking surface on an island or peninsula. The intake vent may be in the cooking surface, between the burner pairs, behind the burners, or alongside a grill. Retractable vents, in some models, rise about 10 inches above the range to capture fumes and steam as they rise from taller pots (without robbing heat from the burners the way surface mounted vents do).

Because heat rises, the best downdraft is rarely as effective as a well-designed hood. For that reason, variable speed fans are a must with a downdraft—you'll often need full power to pull rising fumes down.

When you shop for a downdraft in the lower price range, you'll find ranges with surface level vents, a built-in grill, and dual fuel (gas burners, electric oven). There really isn't much in the middle range. But higher priced units can include a pop-up vent in rear, Euro-styling, and a blower mounted outdoors.

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Cooktops

The alternative to a traditional range is a cooktop with separate wall oven (or ovens). Flexibility is the key to this arrangement and the reason many choose a cooktop over the standard range. If you want to cook on a peninsula or an island, a cooktop takes up less counter depth than does a range. And you can place the active simmering and frying away from the oven, which needs less attention.

A cooktop can also provide a secondary cooking source—especially in households where multiple cooks are active at the same time. Many cooktops offer features like drop-in grills, griddles, and rotisseries for specialty cooking. These features make sense if you use them often; they can, however, be difficult to clean.

From a pricing standpoint, lower-cost cooktops are generally 30 inches wide with electric coil or 9,000 Btu gas burners. They're generally available in black or white finishes. Medium-priced units, also 30 inches wide, may be glass-topped electric or 15,000 Btu gas burners. Stainless steel finishes are available in this range. And at the top of the line, you'll have access to 36-inch-wide, commercially styled cooktops with 15,000 Btu gas burners, built in grill or griddle,and controls in front.

Downdraft cooktops, as with downdraft ranges discussed above, are a good backup choice if you don't have, or don't want, a vent hood. When looking for a downdraft cooktop in the lower price range, you'll find units that are 30 inches wide with electric coil or 9,000 Btu gas burners. They'll generally come in black or white, and the vent will be at surface level with a 400 cubic feet per minute (cfm) blower. Mid-range downdrafts will also be 30 inches wide and will have glass-topped electric or 15,000 Btu gas burners. You'll find stainless steel finishes and surface level vents with 600 cfm blowers in this price range. The higher priced units with 15,000 Btu gas burners include separate rear-mounted, pop-up downdrafts with exterior mounted blowers.

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Ovens

A separate oven, either wall-mounted or under the counter, permits you greater freedom to organize your cooking. Serious bakers appreciate a wall oven close to eye level. And, since an oven needn't be watched as closely as a pot simmering on the stove, you can keep the oven away from areas that get the heaviest traffic. Separate ovens also allow you to utilize different fuel types, like a gas cooktop for frying and electric oven for baking. You'll pay a bit more for the separate appliances than you would for a range, and they will each need gas or electricity and some need their own venting. But the extra cost may pay off in convenience.

Consider the options for electric, gas, and convection cooking when you make your appliance choice. And when the oven is positioned in your kitchen, make sure its doors don't open into busy traffic areas and that you have landing space nearby to put down hot pans and roasters.

Single ovens: If you opt for a separate wall oven, be sure to check the usable interior space, not just the outside dimensions. Typically 27 inches wide, these units vary in capacity. (Self-cleaning ovens have less capacity due to their thicker walls.) When arranging this appliance, keep in mind that you can place a single oven on a wall at eye-level or under the counter in a convenient area.

Lower priced single ovens include self-cleaning electric units with a black or white finish and plastic handles and console. In the mid-range you'll find electric convection ovens with glass doors and plastic handles and console. Go for the higher priced models and you can expect electric convection with a stainless steel exterior, metal handles, and an enamel control console.

Double ovens: You'll find a number of choices in double ovens and may be surprised that both don't have to be a traditional electric or gas unit. A combination oven with a microwave over a conventional oven, for example, offers a great value in a double oven. You get the microwave at eye level with a slick built-in look to boot. Other options and combinations are available, like a microwave with convection, gas convection and electric, self-cleaning—any number of possibilities. So consider what will make the most sense for you before you make your purchase.

A standard double electric oven always costs far less than two separate ovens. If you're shopping in the lower price range, you can probably get a double oven in self-cleaning electric with a black or white finish and plastic handles and console. Move up to mid-range and score electric convection with glass doors and plastic handles and console. And in the high-end category you'll find microwave plus electric convection with stainless steel exterior, metal handles, and an enamel control console.

Microwave Ovens

Though used mostly for thawing and reheating, microwaves have become a kitchen staple. But a microwave oven needn't take up precious counter space. A kitchen remodel is your opportunity to plan for a built-in model, mounted close to eye-level. If there's nothing wrong with the microwave you already have, you can design an enclosed shelf for it or order an under-cabinet mounting bracket from the manufacturer.

As you compare microwaves, note how many buttons you have to push for simple everyday tasks like warming a cup of coffee. Also consider how much and how often you'll use the microwave when deciding what size to buy. If you're at all concerned about leaking radiation, place the microwave out of the way and keep the door gasket clean. (Never operate the oven with a damaged door.)

As with all appliances and other kitchen items, pricing will vary. If you're going low budget, you should be able to get a shallow black or white oven that mounts under a wall cabinet (about 100 watts with 0.6 to 0.8 cubic foot capacity). If your budget is mid-range, you'll find black or white ovens ranging from 800 to 1,000 watts at about 1.4 cubic feet. They may also have automated "cooks-till-done" settings. The biggest investment will yield a stainless steel oven between 800 and 1,000 watts and 1.4 cubic feet with automated "cooks-till-done" settings.

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