In our last house we had a GE Profile ceramic-top range that never gave us a problem. We were quite happy with it, in fact, for 8 or 9 years. It didn't have convection. With our large family, it was important for our new kitchen to have convection for multi-rack cooking (which I did out of necessity in the non-convection with mixed results.) Way back when I first started our plans, I knew I wanted more burners than 1 range could offer, and 2 ovens, so considered getting 2 of the Profile ranges with convection as an economical choice. However, the convection fan in the Profiles (at that time, anyway...about 3 yrs ago) intruded on the oven space so that it was only about 13 1/2" deep...No way to fit my 16" pizza pan, for instance, or a double row of bread pans, so it wasn't an option that made sense for us. My point is, that I think convection is worth it if you can get it in your budget (looking at Profile ranges on us-appliance.com, it certainly looks possible), but take some of your pans to make sure they fit. I see they now offer a concealed element, so maybe they've also redesigned more of the interior so the fan isn't such a space hog. Best wishes.

Having cooked with gas and electric cooktops, I can't think of any reason to choose electric other than price. Gas gives you much finer control over temperature, and it is great to be able to transfer pots and pans from burner to burner without waiting for them to heat up. Fringe benefit: you can cook during a power outage. The 2003 blackout was a lot more pleasant than it could have been :) However, I can't think of any benefit a gas oven has over electric other than the cost of the fuel. I have used several gas and electric ovens over the last few years, and I always found it frustrating cooking in the gas ones. With an electric oven, you have a dry environment with the option of adding humidity if what you're baking requires it. The gas ovens I've used are always humid inside because of the natural gas, and there is no way to control this. I am genuinely curious to know if there are any other benefits to a gas oven.

No regrets here! I've had my 36" Bluestar range with griddle for about 7 months now. It replaced our 27 year old Thermador 36" gas cooktop with grill/griddle, and a 27" wall oven micro/convection warming drawer combo also Thermador. While the old appliances were still working fine, it was just time for a change. The range fits our small kitchen and house style better I think, and I absolutely love cooking on it! I also gained some much needed, and useful storage where the oven was in the way of three deep drawers. Yes, the oven does take a little longer to heat up than the old wall oven, but I usually just turn it on while prepping something to go in it, so it really is a non issue for me. I do wish the BS broiler was bigger though, 7-1/2"x10-1/2" in a 20"x30" oven is kind of silly...

caroleannboyle-- Were you hoping that there would be a simple answer? No such luck. I think that there is more to consider than just an abstract choice between gas or electric --- or induction or dual fuel. For example, saying you are planning on a freestanding range implies you are not considering slide-in ranges. Slide-ins do tend to be more expensive that the freestanding versions. (The basic differences are that slide-ins will have all oven and burner controls in front with no backsplash/riser at the rear and many of them will have some overhang on the sides above the counters. Almost all major brand freestanding gas ranges and dual-fuel ranges have the burner controls down front and the oven controls on the backsplash/oven vent. Almost all electric ranges have all the controls on the backsplash. The exceptions being GE's "Artisan" line seems to put everything down front on the electric ranges as well as the gas ones.) Budget is also a consideration. Dan mentioned the Miele induction slide-in (Miele 1622i, I think) . it is a wonderful stove. If you had space limitations but no budget limitations, you might find it very interesting as an option for an electric range. But priced at $7k, it is well beyond the budgets of many of us. WIth a budget in the range of, say, $3k to $4k range, you could get a lot of discussion here (as has started) comparing and contrasting the pros and cons of say, the very sleek and spiffy looking Bosch HIIP054 slide-in induction range ($3100+) with a Blue-Star RCS pro-style gas stove ($3500 +/-) and maybe throwing something else into the mix like the GE Cafe electric, dual fuel and/or all-gas ranges ($2500 to $3000, depending.) Some of those who post here regard what they do with these kinds of stoves as "ordinary family cooking." Others might not. If you are planning on a stove budget of, say, $2k, the mix of tradeoffs and choices will change some. You may get different sets of pros and cons for choosing between the gas versus electric versus induction versus dual fuel ranges that are available in that price range. If you are planning on a $1k budget -- and I do not mean to suggest that there is anything wrong with that ---- some different considerations will apply. For one thing, we won't be talking induction ranges any more. The least expensive induction range that I know of is a Frigidare whose price fluctuates between $1300 and $1500 depending on when and from whom you buy it. In the $1k that price range, there still will be some tradeoffs between the gas stoves and electric stoves and those might or might no matter to you. Some other considerations. Do you live in a warm or hot climate. Will you have an externally venting range hood or OTR?