Can't you just turn on the gas while holding a lit kitchen match or lighter next to the burner? Or have the Safety Police outlawed that, too? I know that some gas ovens are made to where they are difficult to light with a lighter, but I would imagine if the gas gets to the burner, you can light it. I had a stove that I just got rid of where the igniter was inconsistent; even if the igniter didn't work, I could always light it with a match.

Regarding the Thermador clicking...at one point we were seriously considering a Thermador range. At first I thought the clicking would really bother me, but then I realized something important - the clicking only happens when you want a *really* low simmer, lower than the simmer our current stove (a 1980's vintage Kenmore) can achieve. Simmering at a "regular" simmer is possible without engaging the Xtralow, you only need the Xtralow if you want an extremely low simmer like for melting chocolate or something else equally sensitive. This was something I honestly didn't see happening too often in our kitchen, though yours may be different. Also, in connection with how low the simmer is - the length of time between "clicks' when using the Xtralow is really very long. Its not a constant click, click, click. click...its more that ever couple of minutes the burners click on for a little bit, then turn off again. Before you decide against it, I really recommend you see it in action.

What compromises are you willing to make? Is your budget for each item 2K per item, or is it 2K for both combined? What size vent pipe are you planning to install? The problem is that your budget is low for what you are asking about as a combo, even if your budget is 4K. Compromises will have to be made. A lower BTU cooktop coupled with a lower CFM fan that uses a only 6" vent can probably be found on your budget if you're willing to go Chinese on the hood and aren't that concerned about noise. (Looks not cooks compromise) Or, you could do the high BTU cooktop and compromise on a wimpy (but still expensive) vent above. (Cooks, but adds CLEANING a lot more as a compromise. Not recommended in my book.) But, to get both a high BTU cooktop and an effective island hood above it with the larger coverage, CFM and vent pipe, well, that will require a larger budget. (Cooks and looks) And we haven't even discussed the labor costs for installation. Or, you could explore moving the cooktop to a perimeter location. It's a lot cheaper for ventilation, and you get better quality ventilation because the wall helps to contain some of the cooking products and funnel them into the hood. Therefore, you can choose less CFM for a wall hood setup than an island hood setup.

Safe? Yes, as long as you are not using a regular plain slide-in kind of range. Note the 4" riser/vent at the back of Pirula's range. Any range that has at least a 4" high backsplash on it can go directly against the wall and will be fine from a code and safety standpoint. With your cooktop, it will be a little different. Some makers (such as Blue Star) require 6" of horizontal clearance for their units, but Miele is designed to require less. So, as long as you maintain the requisite 2.75" clearance for the Miele, there will not be a safety issue. Beyond that, I'm very much with akchicago on cleaning the thing. I speak from experience. A couple of decades ago, I had an old-house kitchen with beadboard backsplash. I'm a messy cook. I found it hard to maintain the beadboard without frequent touch-up on the paint. I never found a paint that was tough enough to hold up for any length of time. If you really like the look of the beadboard, I suppose you could consider overlaying it with a clear tempered glass panel. That would allow the beadboard pattern to show through and would be much easier to clean. (I've done something like this behind my stove in my current house, although my wall is just plain painted drywall, The tempered glass panel was inexpensive. The most expensive part was having holes drilled in the glass for the mounting screws.). This post was edited by JWVideo on Thu, Jan 22, 15 at 18:02