I bought a new (LP) Wolf rangetop and the conversion to NG parts were included. There do seem to be a LOT of little brass pieces, certainly more than were involved with the relatively simple task of converting my old Kenmore range to NG... Anyway, yes, it can be done and. although we're normally DIY'ers, I'd judge that this is one of those jobs best left to the professionals. (The dealer will send a service person out to convert mine after I get it in place--hopefully sometime before the end of the decade!)

When I started my research for my kitchen remodel (about three months ago), my initial thoughts were strongly towards Thermador (for the range and refrigerator), and Wolf (I eliminated Viking due to quality concerns, and I hadn't yet heard of many others like BS, American, DCS, Aga, etc.). Then, I noted that Thermador doesn't offer all gas or open burners, and I better understood that my use of the oven didn't require the electronic functions (nor did I want the risk of having them burn out), and I thus eliminated Thermador even though I love the look (but function is much more important to me than style and looks) and it's star-burner shape does make it probably the best of the sealed burner options (ignoring output) IMO. If one wants to be a better cook, and understand the need of function over looks, then I can't see how one can pick Thermador, given the choice. I would pick BS or Wolf all gas instead. I think you might benefit from watching some of the Bluestar cooking videos Trevor has made (http://www.bluestar-ranges.com/Home_Page.html) - even though they mostly compare BS and Wolf, they serve as a nice educational source for learning more about what to look for in a range.

In February we were making a decision about the AG ranges and were looking at American, Bluestar and Wolf. We did tons of research and looked and looked. At that time I was also thinking I wanted a color range rather than stainless, so that narrowed it down to Bluestar and American. We decided the American was a better value than the Bluestar and were ready to order until we did a final measurement and discovered that the extra depth of the Performer would not work in our particular configuration because a drawer on an adjacent wall wouldn't open. So, much as we would have liked it, that eliminated that possibility. Then, we found an AG Wolf floor model on clearance (one of the old models with the open burner) and bought that. I like it, but personally I wouldn't want the burners on the new model Wolf. And, there have been a couple times (maybe only 3 or 4) when I thought to myself I would have liked to have one of the more powerful burners from the Performer. In your shoes, I'd save the money and get the Performer. This doesn't mean I don't like the Wolf; it just means that I don't think it is worth the extra money now, especially considering the fact it has sealed burners.

I LOVE the look of the GE Cafe series! I always gravitate towards the "industrial" look and the Cafe's certainly have that look covered. But I digress... In terms of significant loss of BTUs when switching to LP, that might be a bit of a stretch. It's hard to put an exact number of BTUs that are lost, but it's around 500 BTUs or so. One company that advertises NO loss of BTUs is Bertazzoni, but their models would come at a higher price point than $2,500. Obviously I haven't put the Berts into a lab to test if there actually is a loss so I'm just going off of what they advertise. Is your home in Vermont a log cabin? If the answer is yes, I'm extremely jealous! Best of luck with your decision. Here is a link that might be useful: Want to laugh and learn about appliances? Read our blog!