A lot of induction cooktops have "child locks" which make it nigh on impossible for kitties to turn them on. Robin, the nightmare is trying to get it "right" because it's a decision that affects so much of your life, and has so many financial ramifications, and it's a pretty permanent decision. In the end, though, most of these things look okay and operate fine, and there will be a new model with a new feature next year to tantalize you with what you don't have, but you'll learn to ignore it because your new kitchen and appliances will be so nice, whatever you choose. More reasons to love induction? Deciding at the last minute that a little cheese will enhance a dish, and, of course, dribbling on the cooktop? No melted and burnt on goo!!! Oh, and feeling fussy because of the heat? Yes, you can make pasta at midday and not suffer for the decision. But it does make me lazy. It's so easy to clean up that I tend to make a bigger mess -- though, actually, I think it's that it's so easy to use and clean up that I'm more likely to cook something than just pull out the yoghurt. Eleena, I mentioned my models up topic. It's 15" Wolf gas and 24" self-imported Gaggenau induction. I was in love with the controller. :) The Induction Site has a Kuppersbusch 24" with stainless rim and four elements. My kind of one big and two smaller 24" unit was available from quite a few makers last year. There seems to be low demand in the United States, however. I think Ikea may have one here. For Miele, Gaggenau, and other brands, you might have to bring in your own. I was warned that insurance might not like a non-UL certified appliance (the makers have to pay for a certificate for every model so limit the ones they bother bringing in). Since the European standards are every bit as good, my insurance company didn't care as long as it was installed by a professional, and gave me a letter for my file that says so. I also talked to the local Gaggenau repair guy, who thought it would work fine, though the timers wouldn't be accurate because of the difference in the electric cycles. He said to make a conversion table. Turns out the unit was made for 50 or 60. I haven't done rigorous tests yet, but it seems okay. Close enough anyway. The Gaggenau repair guy had gone over the wiring with my electrician, but it turns out that he was talking German wiring, and I had to buy the unit from England, which has different wiring. The members of the Electrical Forum were wonderfully helpful with that and were able to provide sufficient information to get it installed correctly.

I did not take her comment to mean she was trying to cover anything up. To me, it sounded like an attempt to keep a potential problem from getting worse. On the comparative price of heating oil and natural gas, according to a few U.S. and New York websites I checked, natural gas is averaging about $1.50 a therm in New York State (total retail price including distribution and gas), while a gallon of heating oil in NY is $3.40. A therm of natural gas is 100,000 BTU and a gallon of heating oil is about 140,000 BTU, so natural gas is at this moment a lot cheaper than oil per unit of heat: The price of oil would have to go down to $2.42 a gallon for the two fuels just to be at the same price per thermal unit. But I agree with the idea that changing fuels just for an energy price is normally not wise. However, with the wide current price difference in fuels, the age of her tank, her stated inability to get tank insurance, the potential of a current leak that would, if it exists, be making a bigger mess by the day, I reasoned that if the fuel change was, in fact, free, it would be worth looking into.

Your "side channel" would be called a "flue" I guess that you have more than one flue in your chimney. Another is other for a fireplace or wood stove? In contrast to your furnace, more modern fossil fuel-burning appliances recover most of the heat from the combustion gasses. This allows the use of plastic pipes to carry the flue gas, sideways, to the outside of the home. The water combustion product is condensed to recover heat (adding to the efficiency) and needs a drain or, sometimes, a pump to a drain to dispose of it. Gas domestic water heaters come in older, lower efficiency and more modern high efficiency varieties as well. You choose low efficiency and a flue pipe to the roof, or high efficiency can go out the side. Your gas dryer can go out the existing dryer vent assuming that you have one and are not venting the dryer to the inside of the house. In some cases the home's heat and hot water can be produced by the same boiler. Hydronic heat (radiators) and domestic hot water are often done in combination this way. I am sure that can be done with forced air heat provided with a heat exchanger. What I don't know is if that makes economic sense compared to a separate water heater. Some pros will chime in what that, I am sure. Don't forget the lower maintenance that mike_home mentioned. With gas you won't need frequent visits like you did from the oil service tech.

You just need a thermometer that you can get on the return pipe and that will go up to 180 degrees or so. This could be a cooking thermometer or whatever. Just so long as it is reasonably accurate. You should be able to get one at a hardware store or in the housewares section of Target. Be sure to place the thermometer probe tightly against the pipe and wrap it so that you are getting an accurate reading (you can place the probe against the pipe, cover that with a terrycloth rag and then wrap it with duct tape a couple of times). There may be insulation on the pipe already, in which case be sure to get the probe in contact with the pipe by sliding in alongside the pipe under the insulation. Then power up the heat and let it run for a while. You will get a good idea of your water return temps. Here is a link that might be useful: Oven Thermometer