Oh boy, I have just been through this and it is like a maze, there is so much to choose from. Definitely a wall oven is much easier to use without bending and lifting heavy dishes. Installation height is very important though to ensure you get the best out of it, but if you want to put a microwave above it, then ensure this is not too high for safely removing hot dishes of food. Depending on your height, this could mean you may not get as much benefit with elevating the oven.

I can only suggest you look at the cooking you do, how much you want to cook at once to ensure you get a suitable sized oven. Then consider the shelves, do you want just a standard shelf or telescopic ones. Look at the distance between shelves and check your normal baking dishes - you may think you are getting 5 shelves but can only fit one or two in at a time if you need deeper dishes.

Then you have a choice of Pyrolytic cleaning or Catalytic oven liners to make cleaning easier. Really look into this - they significantly add to cost but are not as simple as they appear and do have problems. I do not know anyone with a pyrolytic oven who has ever used it. If you regularly wipe your oven after use, then you probably don't need these features.

Also check the lighting in the oven, this can vary enormously.

I also found that price does not always reflect quality.

Go to the large retailers, they have ovens displayed side by side to help you compare. Talk to salespeople, they can often come up with valid points to consider.

Go online for technical details of the different brands and read reviews to identify problems others have had with particular models.

When your oven is installed, check your manual, new ovens now need to be seasoned before using and it is important you follow this.

I ended up choosing a Fisher & Paykel Oven and Hotplates - they were all so similar, my decision came down to external looks, I did not want a lot of stainless steel.

For interest, my oven was actually faulty, the temperature light did not work and there appeared to be a design problem causing this. I have to say though that F & P were very on the ball fixing this despite it taking 3 service visits and waiting for parts over nearly a month, they kept me fully informed of the progress from beginning to end, and the servicemen were well within the appointed time nominated. The staff were very polite, friendly and helpful at all times, it was a pleasure to deal with them.

I love my electrolux pyrolytic wall oven and matching convection microwave. Great functions, large interior, easy to learn, cleans itself (Yay!) and looks good. Have had no problems with either. We also have a electrolux induction cooktop which is amazing. They may have been Australian made which also influenced my decision. I have found that it is impossible to change the light in the oven yourself though - even the warranty repairer who had to do this for me said that it was a known fact about that model. They may have changed this.

I really, really wanted meile but their prices are fixed and retailers are not authorised to negotiate. This made me so cross that I went with electrolux and I'd have to say for less than half the price I cannot see how meile could possibly be twice as good! I have had freestanding and for my money I prefer the wall oven. Heaps easier to watch the cooking process and adjust temps etc and easier to clean. No spills go down the side and my research on the web seemed to reveal less problems with control knobs etc. Induction is such a fast, clean and safe method of cooking. I cannot recommend it enough. My electrician did have to put in an separate isolation switch for though. Something to do with safety/power volume? Dunno. Anyhoo, now I can turn it off at the wall and then use it as additional bench space without it beeping and carrying on which it will do even when switched off to warn you about items being placed over it's controls.

Think carefully about placing your oven next to the fridge as your fridge will have to work harder to maintain its temperature which will affect your electrical bill. When you are looking at ovens I have found that telescopic racks are very good feature to have if you love cooking. Electrolux had these and came with three racks, one shallow and one deep baking tray. Because of it's larger interior space I can easily cook three layers of food at once. Another feature that I would recommend.

Samsung double fridge (3 years, Happy) and meile dishwasher (6 Years and going strong). Thats my 2 cents.

Merryrenovator - I think that isolating switch applies to all stoves, I understand it is a safety requirement now. My oven is connected to my hotplate one as well, so switch off one they both go off, which can be a pain as the oven clock has to be constantly reset then for the oven to work. However, my electrician told me not to keep switching the appliances off and on, it is an emergency switch only. You hear so many different versions of things, it is hard to know what is best, but do look into it.

Good for you too standing up to Meile on principle, I feel that way about things too.

On the subject of the hotplates too, Martine, I omitted to mention, do check the spacing of the burners. My joey's was in her home when she bought it but with a large family she finds that she can rarely use all 4 burners at once because the family sized pots and pans don't fit. I did find the layout and distances between burners did vary.

Bad luck about your switch. Nothing needs resetting on the cooktop so it works quite well. I'll ask next time an electrician makes an appearance. I bought the electrolux 900mm cooktop to avoid what you are talking about above. though I do suspect you get 5cm either side of controls space and no actual extended cooking area. Still the pots and pans fit better. My apologies meant to post separate comment. Don't comment much but do remember how difficult it was to choose appliances. Sympathies Martine - just focus on the fabulous finished result.

A friend recently kitted out her new kitchen and Hardly normal (you know who I mean!) swore blind her AEG appliances were made in Germany and when they arrived they were made in Asia. Whole kitchen was finished and spaces all made to measure so it was too late to change. HN did agree to discount after a fight but be careful if this is important to you.

Thanks merryrenovator, I wasn't too worried about the switch when the sparky told me not to use it regularly. You do have to watch that mob, their sales people are on commission, that is why I talk to as many people as possible, then use websites to separate the truth from the fiction. It takes a lot of time but is worth it in the end. Another big problem too is that the manuals are nicely tucked away inside the product inside massive amounts of packaging so you can't find out anything until the everything is out of the packaging and accessible - too late even then to return things.

Another thing I am slowly learning too is that there are only a few companies making many appliances these days, then they either use that company's branding to finish them off or the product goes back to the company for them to add any additional features and their branding. Just this alone allows them to claim the product is made in Australia. Even a product totally made here, can comprise parts and components sourced and made anywhere in the world, but the product is still "made in Australia".

It really comes down to knowing the Company, their ethics and reputation and the level of service they offer and how much responsibility they are prepared to take to support their products.

Home renovations should be such a fun and enjoyable time, instead it is just a stressful minefield.

Looking forward to seeing Martine's end result.

I would say go with wall ovens, I currently have a range (which I dislike for far too many reasons to enumerate here) and miss the wall ovens in my old place. Make sure you pay careful attention to the inside measurements of the oven, they can vary quite a lot. Don't be dazzled by the brand name, as merryrenovator pointed out the features/cost don't always tally.

The large free standing ones are all the rage but take a long time to heat up and are inefficient if you are not feeding a big crowd. We went for 2 wall ovens as I like to bake and like the flexability of cooking two things at once that require different temperatures.

I went with an AEG pyrolytic wall oven because it had 5 years warranty, like Meile the prices are fixed however the do have different deals we got the pyrolytic oven for the price of the non. It also has telescopic racks which are great, and their customer service is easy to deal with, when one of our nonstick roasting trays coating had a scratch, they replaced it without any hassle - didn't even need to see photos of it and it was delivered to our house.

I also got the AEG induction cooktop because it had a metal trim surrounding it and I didn't want the ceramic to have any potential to chip if one of my boys hit something against the edge of the cooktop and stone bench top. It also has a power button which boils a pot of water faster than the kettle. I have the fridge beside the oven, and microwave above, we didn't replace the fridge when we renovated however we made the fridge space bigger so that a larger fridge can be added if need be and have a narrow shelf unit that can be easily removed to fill the space.

I've come in on this dilemma late but am so happy I stumbled on it.
I always wanted a double oven for the same reasons as asquithoatley mentioned, cooking perhaps in my case for example, a roast and a pav at the same time.
Both my brother and mother had a Simpson wall oven with mums being installed in 1990 and my brother's possibly at a similar time, they are still going strong, just a basic model but a very good review for longevity.
I've looked at a few brands recently but it's a maze of choices.
All I really want is good quality, shouldn't be hard should it???
I am after a 5 plate hot plate too, as I find that four is never enough, but there seems to be only one or two on the market, so not much choice.
Been great reading the posts, it's kind of a mini review!!!
Cheers,
Barbara

Barbara, sadly you have hit the nail on the head. Three or four decades ago Simpson and Whirlpool washing machines lasted 20 years and more with no problems - when I bought my last washing machine I was told my many sales people I would be lucky to get 5 years out of a machine. My 47 year old Frigidaire wall oven never gave up on me - even the young guy who delivered my new appliances was marvelling over it, he had heard so much about them and how good they were, but things are not made to last like that these days. It also had a warming drawer in it, something no busy kitchen could be without pre-microwaves, but now rarely seen in ovens. Even with a microwave, that warming drawer was probably used more than the oven was.

All the old trusted and reliable Australian brands of the past have gone with the dinosaurs and the new kids on the block are still to prove themselves. How much of this did we bring on ourselves though? European appliances were touted as "must have" superior products to our local ones, sales people looked down their noses at you if you wanted local products over European models, our local manufacturers did not keep up with overseas advances which helped make those appliances more attractive. Then enter the Asian market bringing cheap and affordable appliances with all the bells and whistles that Australian manufacturers could not compete with and we put price before quality - is it any wonder we now have the mess that we do.

Exit soapbox.

Funny enough I've spent the best part of a week doing this very thing. I am a kitchen designer and have many years trade experience in breaking down functionality and aesthetics and working within budget constraints. However when it's your own, and you've seen the rest, well, Its hard to be a fish in a fishbowl when you've swam in the ocean!
@Barbara, your exact wish list was mine, I want double ovens, because I want to cook multiple and different dishes sometimes at different cooking times, or cater for large family lunches which I Want to be the host of, and more importantly to me a large hotplate. Domestic Cooktops are arguably the most utilized appliance in a modern kitchen, aside from convection cooking. It stands to reason they should have as much flexibility in function as ovens offer, but they rarely do! I have found some of the high end brands offer a custom option, where you build a hob, and commercial ones cater for mixed coming and ease of cleaning. But the price tag can be upwards of 5k.
I turned to eBay and researched, found a st George double oven with double warming drawers, a 7 burner hob with an indoor BBQ hotplate, with several cooking modes for both standard and convection cooking. It retailed for 9000.00, I found one which sold for 3000. I missed on, then day later bought one from one lucky ex chef interstate. Now I have everything in one.
The trick is know what you want and look high and low until it finds you.
St George is Australian brand, and these commercial looking ovens are favored by chefs mostly, but I've found no other brand stacks up to them in usability.
I love love miele aesthetics, and functionality, but cleaning is a nightmare.

For my monies worth, forget flashy capabilities you seldom use r even know how to, self cleaning ovens that are ruined if you dare try yourself, instead look for flexible cooking functions, and size to suit. For some people function is first, form is second, but there is also fit out! For accessibility and space saving measures, the type of appliance you choose may be more for comfort than cosmetics.

@midesign0401,
Hi Megan,
I in fact knew a lady that had a free standing St George oven many, many years ago, when I use to house clean and I remember then that this brand was tops but I never knew that it was in fact Australian!!!
I was amiss that no one seemed to be going for this brand in recent times, given it's reputation of being the Rolls Royce of ovens but it probably has more to do with the fact that all the other cheaper models just over ran the market and no one is usually going to spend several thousand for just an oven, when they can get an oven, hot plates and rangehood, for just a few thousand but often that supposed saving is short lived.
I would have considered a Simpson in a flash just given the history of the two I personally know about but olldroo made a very valid point, that appliances are simply not made to last as they once did.
I don't exactly know how companies achieve this, probably my guess, using plastic where possible instead of metal for one thing.
I have much time to go yet to be up to the oven stage, as you know but I will keep an eye out on ebay as I love, love this site, bought almost all my furniture for the house from ebay!!!
Thank you for your insight, as always, most helpful.
Cheers,
Barbara

The only thing I miss about my old house is my Bosch pyrolytic wall oven with telescopic shelves. Mostly those telescopic shelves but it is the best oven I have ever had. New house is a smeg free standing, cooks beautifully but the shelves don't glide and the bending ..... Sad days

Well it looks like we have made a decision on Ariston wall oven with telescopic racks. And pyrolytic cleaning
Simple reason was looking at all the review sites they have the best reviews and good repairs
We are going 2 single ovens side by side with microwave above
Thank you all for your advice and help

@Martine Miller,
Didn't think of putting the ovens side by side, as I also want a double or two ovens.
Must look at the plan again, as we still have plenty of time to make minor changes.
Would love to put the microwave above the oven but I think I'm too short at 5'1" and I would be struggling to reach.
Still a bit stumped about exactly where I'm going to put it, as I don't want it underbench either.
Glad you found a suitable oven, would love a report in the future.
Cheers,
Barbara

I struggled with a place for my microwave, I didn't want to have to reach to get things out of it, but I also didn't want to bend to put it under the bench top and I really didn't have room for it there either. When I bought the new microwave, unpacked it and got to read all the instructions the issue was solved for me - beware of LG - the microwave needs 20cm of space ALL around it. Makes it almost impossible to put it anywhere. I ended up putting it diagonally across a corner on the bench top and it is actually working out quite well. It is certainly easy to use on the bench top. Had I put it above the bench top though, at a suitable height, then bench top underneath would have been pretty useless so I don't feel I have lost out on anything.

@olldroo,
My microwave at present in on a stand and sits about 125cm off the floor, so about 50cm above the sink. It could go just a bit higher even 130cm so I think I will be able to have mine on a narow shelf above my benchtops and get the best of both worlds but the shelf would need to be narrow so as not to be hitting my head.
Our microwave is quite small, as we only use it for heating or defrosting and usually no cooking.
I expect we will have a new one by the time we get into the house but I will remember your point about the airspace some microwaves need.
Cheers,
Barbara

The problem, Barbara, is that you don't find out these things till you have taken everything out of its packaging to retrieve the manual hidden deep inside. Give the sales person the 3rd degree and check online before deciding on a model.

I have the third Bosch oven in my family - all have been excellent. Waited until the new year sales - the price was the same as a Whirlpool, so if you don't have a strict deadline, do your research now, and wait for mid-year sales. (Bosch also do offer a separate warming drawer - I don't have one with my floor oven - but my parents did with the wall ovens in both their houses - so whatever brand you go with, investigate that as an option with your wall oven).

Check which side the oven is hinged - you want it hinged on the fridge side, I imagine (and I have to say, I'm not a fan of ovens beside fridges either - if another layout is possible, think about that). Do you have a bench immediately next to the oven? I can't understand why some designs will have wall ovens where you then have to walk several steps to put a hot dish on a bench. For safety reasons too, is it possible to have your microwave actually on a bench, instead of the dangerous high-up little cabinet?

What a great discussion - I too had a Bosch pyrolytic wall oven with telescopic racks in our previous home. I found the pyrolytic cleaning function a great feature and would want to have it in my next oven. My only gripe was the internal size of the oven meant I couldn't get a double sponge to cook evenly because the oven wasn't quite wide enough to have them side by side on the rack. We have recently moved into a 1990s house that we will be renovating so am back into researching appliances again. This house has the original St George oven and grill combo and has definitely seen better days. Both door hinges are corroded (coastal) and difficult to open so am looking forward to upgrading and will definitely get a wall oven again. This time am looking at 70cm pyrolytic oven with telescopic racks. Getting the height of the oven is important, waist height is good for me. I am pleased you found a solution you are happy with. Happy baking.

I use my oven extensively, at least several times a week and sometimes every day. I wanted an oven which I didn't have to get the instruction book out to use and didn't have to pay a fortune for. I opted for AEG - has a 5 year warranty and is a great oven without being an over the top price. I also purchased an AEG dishwasher which is also the best dishwasher I've ever owned. I purchased an AEG cooktop on line from Import Appliances Australia - a great fuss free experience - definitely recommend, although warranty isn't for as long as the products are shipped from Europe.

I just went thru all of this recently.....Look at the Fisher and Paykal Pyrolytic 76cm. It's actually bigger in size than the 90cm beleive it or not!! :)

Fantastic oven!! Did my homework on all oven brands - this one wins hands down!

@bernyzz001,

Love Fishyer & Paykal but only have the washing machine for now but in the middle of a build and great to know you endorse the oven.

What did you get for a cooktop, rangehood and dish washer???

Cheers,

Barbara

I'm also in the middle of a build...but I had to choose all of my appliances first for my kitchen guy to design my kitchen....I want an ultra modern white kitchen so Im going for a white glass gas cooktop (Westinghouse) The rangehood - Schweigen (Expensive German brand - best on the market) Dishwaher - Bosch intergrated :)

PS - Fishel and Paykel also make that 76cm oven in a double too

@bernyzz001,

Thans for the update.

I am in fact having a double oven, so that's even better.

Haven't heard of the of the rangehood brand, will do some google'ing.

As for the cooktop, hubby doesn't like gas and we would be on bottle too, so will be getting electric.

I've never had a dishwasher but plan to have one in the new build, so excuse my ignorance but what is integrated in a dishwasher??

Barbara - integrated is when the panels on the front match the kitchen cupboards.

Sorry, stupid me ha-ha...I wondered if it didn't mean built in so I was on the right track.

Thanks J

K - we make allowances for our country cousins.

ha-ha, thank goodness, it will be years before I get all the city lingo!!

Wow, Nathan, stunning kitchen.

I've recently done all that. Spent hours at Winning appliances looking at everything. Many of the brands are much of a muchness I decided, with similar details and provisions and prices. I went with Smeg because I could get a double oven, where the second oven was smaller but could cook, heat/keep warm and grill. Also went for their 70 cm induction cooktop as I wanted just a bit more room than 60 cms gives, for pan size and handles mainly and it works beautifully, without me having to got to 90 cms. Got the Smeg rangehood as well, but mainly because I could do a deal with several appliances. For the past 25 years I'd lived with Westinghouse which did very well, and I could follow the instructions for timed cooking in advance - I've still to understand the provisions of my new appliances as instruction manuals are pretty brief. I think if you look at what you prefer in ovens and cooktops, then simply choose the brand that provides it closest. I skipped Miele as I could not find a double oven like I preferred, but otherwise they're great. We also got a 45 cm Bosch dishwasher although about three of the brands - including Miele - make them, but that was convenience and silver front to match the fridge, rather than any other reason.

I'm adding an update only because there was a recent reply on this thread but I did in fact put my microwave up on the wall in a narrow cupboard and love it.

Haven't got a dishwasher yet but hopefully later in the year and as for the ovens, I ended up going for two full sized wall ovens one on top of the other.

I went to E & S Trading in Geelong, great service by the way, was set on a Bosh after reading reviews but after I compared looks, oven size, features etc...I finally went with Electrolux of all things with pyro function, never even knew they even made ovens, love them, they were the best value with telescopic shelves as part of the package rather than an extra and they have easy to understand controls and I can't fault them!!

I bought a 5 zone F & P 90cm electric cooktop and it is awsome, as I can now have five things on the go at times and there seems to be ample room for large pots and pans on at one time.

My rangehood is a 90cm Ariston and I got it for a great price at HNPhoto's above are still showing an unfinished kitchen but it's complete now and we've since moved in albeit there is still tiling etc.. to do in the future once we get our stone bench tops.

On dishwashers, can I recommend Bosch? We bought a small one when we moved a few months ago, but prior to that, we had had a trouble free Bosch in our old house for over 25 years (it was fairly new when we moved in), and it rarely required any work (apart from mice eating cables ...) and repairers always said they had least trouble with Bosch of any brand (although I gather in that regard on washing machines Miele is better).

Gosh what a funny turn around - this discussion started right after I had finished my last kitchen and now it is revived just as I'm going through all this madness again trying to replace a kitchen in my new home .............. when I can find someone interested in doing some work.

Jennifer, I'm leaning to Bosch appliances if they meet my requirements. One of my joeys lives in Germany where Bosch and Siemens (made by the same company apparently) are made and are very highly esteemed. Because I have so much renovation work to do on this house, I'm watching my pennies a bit so I will probably stick with a Dishlex Dishwasher that has always served me well and these days they are extremely quiet too, but I am looking at Bosch for the oven and cooktops.

In earlier posts I praised the Fisher and Paykel oven and cooktops, but then discovered a BIG flaw in the design of the oven - it had a double glass door with a gap between the two sheets of glass and guess where every crumb and spill went, so they will not be on my radar again.

I'm also hearing good reports about Electrolux but very bad ones about Miele and their service which is really letting the brand down.

For those getting on in years too - beware of push button settings and slide controls, arthritic fingers just cannot manage these. As well, I'm told the slide controls on cook tops are not as accurate as knobs.

@Jennifer Bradley,

Appreciate the input, was totally in the dark about DW's as I've never had one and hope to soon in the new home.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was planning on a Bosch oven due to fantastic reviews putting the brand at the top of the list, so hubby and I went to look at them but we both liked the Electrolux only as better value though, as we were on the tightest budget!!

As for the DW, I have very large dinner plates (30cm) so need to make sure they will fit but I understand most of them have adjustable shelves??

I have always had a F&P washing machine, a 7.5kg top loader and positively love it and would find it pretty hard to beat!!