I agree with Gary, don't bother indoor grilling if you have such mild weather. Ventilation becomes a much bigger issue, and even with a powerful hood, all that smoke... no thanks. Re: Wolf ovens, know that if you want the "new design" avoid the L series. They will be replaced with the M series late this year that will have the removable bottoms, but that will be quite the wait. I believe that the new generation of the E series which has already been released has the removable bottom though. Research all you want, but these ovens have not been on the market very long and nobody has owned them long enough to prove anything. Of course the salesman will say they've fixed the problem, but who trusts salesmen? Or he may just pull the classic Wolf salesman move of denying the problem ever existed, or saying it was fixed years ago. I think it might be more helpful to call Wolf and ask them about it. It seems that Wolf is more honest about their products than salesmen are. "You don't really need a flame thrower rangetop to cook steaks well. A good and well seasoned cast iron skillet on an average gas top will produce fine results" Well of course nobody NEEDS a flamethrower rangetop. But pretending that a 15K BTU sealed burner will do as good of a job as a 22K open is just ignoring the truth. Maybe the result won't be that different, but cooking on high performance burners is just a better experience. It's hard to explain to someone else in words, but most people will understand what I'm talking about once they've tried it. Of course, BTU's aren't the only thing that matter. Burner design matters more. I like open burners better and would take a 15K Bluestar burner over a sealed 18K burner any day. Different people have different needs but I'm convinced that for the majority of people at least, high BTU open burners are the best choice if they are in the budget. And you don't need to be a professional chef to benefit from them, I think any home cook can. Now, I personally prefer induction, but if you are looking in that price range and are getting gas, I don't see why you should spend as much as or more than the cost of an open burner range and get an inferior product.

DH and I have been appliance shopping for our new kitchen for the last couple of weeks and after seeing what your builder is charging for upgrades, I'd be tempted to tell him where to go. Here is what we found from a local appliance dealership that carries several brands (KA, JennAir, Bosch, Electrolux, Wolf, etc.) First of all, JennAir is running a special that ends 12/31 for a $200 install credit per item as well as the buy rangetop and oven (or a range) and get a free dishwasher. Here's the link for the JennAir deal: http://jennair.com/promotions/your-purchase-your-reward Secondly, be aware that any griddle offered on a KA or JennAir is an electric griddle and not a gas one like Wolf or Viking makes. Thirdly, due to Viking's past reputation, we decided to steer away from them even though DH REALLY loved their D3 double oven with KNOBS. Prices we were quoted (in TN) were: JennAir 5 burner cooktop $1099 JennAir 36" rangetop $2699 JennAir 36" rangetop with griddle $3099 JennAir 30" double oven (convection on top only) $3399 Electrolux ICON 30" double oven $3099 KA 36" rangetop $2099 KA 30" double oven $2399 (convection on top only) Lastly, Viking is about to discontinue their 48" rangetop with double griddle in center. We found an awesome deal for it on Elite Appliances website with free shipping and no tax for $3599. Again, if we weren't worried about our griddle usage or past rep, we would've jumped on it. DH still is waffling somewhat because he really wants KNOBS on an oven...lol. In the end, our decision is to go with the KitchenAid 36" rangetop and 30" Electrolux ICON double oven. We already have our fridge and dishwasher but if we hadn't, JennAir would've been in the running. P.S. I think Viking also has a $200 per appliance rebate right now, too. I'd definitely check around with some local appliance showrooms and see what kind of deals you can get and really consider selling the builder appliances on craigslist, with the exception of the KA fridge, which seems to be an okay choice.

As someone forced to live with a 6" duct, I wish every time I use my hood that I had 8". Since you have the luxury and opportunity to have an 8" duct, please go for it. You won't look back a couple of years from now and say, "gee, wish we'd gone with that 6" duct". OTOH, you WILL regret the 6" duct. It's not just that you will be constrained with the choice of hoods available, as most of them need 8". It is also likely that 6" duct will be noisier than an 8" duct, as more air is having to travel through a smaller passageway, creating noise. And of course, it's also that you won't get the higher exhaust cfm's. I don't understand people seeking to have a minimum amount of cfm's. Is erring on the high side of cfm's such a crime? Unless you are constrained by preexisting ductwork, like Davidro1 and myself, why the desire to keep cfm's to an absolute minimum? People re-doing their kitchens are spending multi-thousands on counters, backsplash, appliances, cabinetry, but they are concerned about the relatively small upcharge to go to higher cfm's. I don't get it. Davidro1, mark my words, you will regret your 150-250 cfms. At least get 300 with your 6" duct! While induction does not have the gas fumes that may come with a gas cooktop, those gas fumes are a small percentage of what a hood's functions are. Really what you want a hood for is to exhaust smoke, grease, and steam from your cooking. The amount of smoke, grease and steam depends upon your cooking style and tastes, not upon whether you are cooking with induction or not. You should base your hood choice on whether you will be, e.g., cooking hamburgers in a fry pan, sauteeing fish, making stir frys, and the like, not on whether you have induction. Regarding your built-in MW - there have been a number of threads regarding the shortened lives of MW's these days. When you have a builit-in MW, you may be heading for aggravation in 3 years or so, as it seems that 3 years is the life span these days of MW's. We know the older ones seemed to last forever, but not so today. Also, think about whether you want to be pulling hot sloshing dishes from an overhead MW. The Panasonics are really great, so that's a good choice, but think whether you want it built-in or not. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Microwave Expected Lives

zeitgast, Thanks for all the feedback. I have not looked much into induction but I really don't see giving up gas. I would be sad for instance to not be able to roast a red pepper right over the flame. I think the Thermador does not have a preconfigured LP -- it requires a converter and the loss of BTU is a whopping 25% according to their specs. I could be misunderstanding that -- it is hard to keep all this stuff straight. The Wolf cooktop in contrast can be purchased either as NG or LP -- I assume (but am not really sure) this means that the 15K rating is still accurate even for LP. If so, then Wolf's 15K is better than the Thermador's 18K for LP, since the latter loses 25% to 13.5K. The Capital Maestro says 20K, and does not give any different number for their LP version. The GE Monogram specifies that the LP version of their 18K burner is only 15K (so comparable to Wolf at least.) We did look at many different configurations as to where things could go in the kitchen, and the winning layout by far was to put the cooktop on the island, so I know we will stick with that. But I get your point, and I do think this makes it harder for us to agree to go with a range top, even though we would like the power and versatility. For the Advantium -- still waiting on prices from the sales folks. On the web, I cannot find a price anywhere for the GE Monogram, but I see the MSRP is $3400. That is budget-busting if that is really where it is at. But for whatever reason, the over-the-range version is just a bit over $1000 (online), presumably for the same exact technology and mostly the same unit (PLUS an exhaust fan). Microwave drawers: we briefly considered this and it sounded good (and units are ~$1000), but it seemed like microwaving any liquid (e.g. soup) would lead to a lot of sloshing around and making messes. We'll look into your suggestions on refrigerators. Thanks again!