Range Cooker Buying Guides
Range Cooker Double Oven vs Single: Count Cavities Not Doors
By the Hill & May team
Updated 2026
Ask a showroom about range cooker double oven vs single and you will get a straight answer that is not much use, because on a 90cm or wider range cooker almost everything is a double at minimum, and the interesting differences are hidden one level down. What actually decides whether a cooker suits your household is how many separately controllable cavities it has, which of those cavities is the clever one, and whether the tall oven can be split in two.
A cooker with two doors and one usable oven is worse than a cooker with two doors, a genuine second fan oven and a splitter panel, even though the specification sheet calls both of them double. Here is how to read past the marketing.
What the numbers on a spec sheet really mean
Three figures matter, and only one of them is usually on the price tag.
Cavity count. How many separate spaces have their own thermostat and can run at their own temperature at the same time. This is the number that determines whether you can do a Sunday roast and a pudding without negotiating.
Actual versus usable capacity. Manufacturers quote both, and they differ by more than people expect. On the Stoves Richmond Deluxe 90DF, the tall oven is listed at 89 litres actual and 81 litres usable, and the main oven at 70 actual, 60 usable. The usable figure is the one that decides whether your roasting tin fits.
Which cavity is multifunction. Usually one is, and the rest are plain fanned or conventional. That single cavity does most of the work in a real kitchen.
The three configurations you will actually meet
Two cavities plus a grill compartment (the classic 90cm to 110cm layout)
The most common arrangement across Rangemaster, Belling, Leisure and much of the market. One larger oven, one smaller oven, and a separate glide-out or drop-down grill compartment. The Rangemaster Professional Deluxe 110 is the template: a 73-litre multifunction oven on the left, a 73-litre fanned oven on the right, a 25-litre dual-circuit grill cavity, and a 22-litre proving drawer underneath.
Two ovens of the same size is genuinely useful and less common than it sounds. On plenty of cookers the second oven is noticeably smaller and shallower, and you discover that only when a tray will not go in.
Three cavities with a splitter (the flexible layout)
The Stoves Richmond Deluxe 90DF packs three cavities into 90cm: a 42-litre grill cavity, a 70-litre multifunction main oven with 13 settings, and an 89-litre tall fanned oven. Then the interesting part: a Proflex splitter panel divides that tall oven into two independently controlled spaces, so three cavities become four.
That is the configuration to want if you cook for a crowd occasionally and for two people most weeks. Full height for the Christmas turkey, split in half for a weeknight when heating 89 litres to roast two potatoes is absurd. Rangemaster does the same thing on some 90cm models with an energy-saving panel.
One large oven only (the single, and when it is right)
Genuine single-oven range cookers exist, mostly at 90cm and below, and mostly on compact models. One big cavity and a grill. If you cook one dish at a time, or you already have a built-in oven elsewhere in the kitchen, this is not a compromise, it is less to clean and less to heat. It only fails when you need two temperatures at once, which is a Christmas Day and dinner party problem rather than a Tuesday problem. Be honest about how often that happens in your house.
Multifunction, fanned and conventional, in plain terms
This is the part that determines how a cooker feels to use, and it is buried in the spec sheet.
Conventional puts elements at the top and bottom of the cavity, and heat rises. There is a real temperature gradient between the top shelf and the bottom one. That is a nuisance for batch baking and an advantage for a fruit cake or a slow roast, where you want the base gentler than the top.
Fanned puts an element in a ring around a rear fan and blows the heat around. Every shelf sits at roughly the same temperature, which is why you can fill a fan oven with four trays of biscuits and have them all come out. Fan ovens run hotter than the dial for a given result, which is where the habit of dropping the recipe temperature by around 20°C comes from.
Multifunction has the top, bottom and rear elements plus the fan, all individually switchable, so one cavity can behave as any of the above plus several combinations. The Professional Deluxe’s multifunction cavity lists eight modes; the Richmond Deluxe’s main oven lists thirteen, including pizza, slow cook, bread proving and AirFry.
Thirteen settings sounds like a gimmick and mostly is. Two or three of them get used. The ones worth having are base heat only, which fixes soggy pastry bases, fanned grilling for browning without drying, and a rapid preheat, which on some models is a genuine 30% saving on the wait. The rest is menu padding. What matters is that you have one cavity flexible enough to cover everything, not that it lists a mode for defrosting.
How to choose, by how you actually cook
Two people, normal weeknight cooking. A single large multifunction oven plus a grill is genuinely enough. Anything more is capacity you heat and clean and rarely fill.
Family, four or more, roasts at weekends. Two cavities, and check that the second is a proper fan oven rather than a token compartment. Compare usable capacities, not actual.
You bake seriously. Prioritise a fanned cavity with four shelf positions, and a multifunction oven with base heat only and conventional modes. A proving drawer is a real convenience if you make bread; it is dead space if you do not.
Big occasional numbers, small everyday numbers. The splitter configuration, every time. It is the only one that solves both without running a 90-litre cavity to warm a pie.
You entertain and time things tightly. Three separately controlled cavities. Starter warm, main roasting, pudding baking, all at different temperatures at once.
Four things to check before you commit
- Open the second oven and put your hand in. Depth is where budget models cut corners, and no spec sheet tells you a standard roasting tin will not fit.
- Count shelf runners, not shelves. Four positions in the tall oven give you real flexibility; two do not.
- Check the grill. A separate grill cavity means you can grill while both ovens are busy. A grill built into the main oven means you cannot.
- Check the electrical load. More cavities means more current. Dual fuel and electric range cookers often need more than a standard 13A supply, and the wiring is a cost people discover late. Our cooker cable size calculator gives you the figure to take to an electrician.
Where the size decision fits
Cavity configuration and overall width are tied together: at 90cm you are usually choosing between two generous cavities or three tighter ones, while 110cm gives you room for two full-size ovens and a separate grill without compromise. If you have not settled on a width yet, start with what size range cooker you need, then come back to configuration. Fuel type is a separate decision again, covered in dual fuel range cookers and gas vs electric vs induction.
For the current models and what each one actually gives you for the money, see our best range cookers shortlist.
Frequently asked questions
Is a double oven range cooker worth it over a single? For most households above two people, yes, but only if the second cavity is a full-size fan oven rather than a shallow compartment. A double with a token second oven gives you very little over a good single. Compare the usable capacity of the second cavity against the first before you decide; if it is less than about half, treat it as a warming oven rather than a second oven.
How many ovens does a 90cm range cooker have? Usually two or three, depending on model. The common layout is one main oven, one smaller oven or tall oven, and a grill cavity. Some 90cm models, including the Stoves Richmond Deluxe 90DF, fit three cavities and add a splitter panel that divides the tall oven into two independently controlled spaces.
What is a multifunction oven on a range cooker? A cavity with top, bottom and rear heating elements plus a fan, all switchable individually or in combination. That lets one oven work as a conventional oven, a fan oven, a grill or a combination, so you get several oven types in one space. Most range cookers have exactly one multifunction cavity and one or more plain fanned ones.
Can I run two ovens at different temperatures at the same time? Yes, provided they are separate cavities with their own thermostats, which is the normal arrangement. What you cannot do is run two different temperatures inside one cavity, unless it has a splitter panel fitted, in which case the two halves are genuinely independent.
Does more oven capacity cost more to run? Yes, because heating a larger cavity to temperature takes more energy and holding it there takes more again. That is exactly the problem a splitter solves: you heat half the tall oven for everyday cooking and the whole thing only when you need it. Running the smaller cavity for small meals is the single easiest saving on a range cooker.
Do I need a separate grill compartment? It is more useful than it looks. A separate grill cavity lets you brown or grill while both ovens are occupied at other temperatures, which is precisely the moment you want a grill. Where the grill is inside the main oven, using it means giving up that oven and dropping it to grill temperature.
