Another thing to be aware of is that these basic units don't have air flows and things like that to make for even cooling. Store your veg furthest from where the cold comes from so they don't freeze, the nuts in the driest position and the containers of flax/grains in the most problematic spots (assuming they're well sealed). It may take a little while to get an idea of what works best where, but you'll get there. Veg don't last as long in a basic little fridge as they do in a more modern full sized one, but I used my 20 year old bar fridge to hold big bags of stuff that were meant for company or for cooking a big kettle of stock or stew, and they held just fine for a few days. Presumably, even the basic models nowadays are superior. :)

I liked a lot about the e-lux but have seen many comments on boards regarding how easily the ceramic top scratches. The GE have good reviews from consumers, but many have smaller ovens than some of the other brands. The bosch look nice, but hasn't been getting great reviews either. The kenmore is a rebadged frigidaire range and having used one I wasn't crazy about how the convection part worked, It just was very inconsistent. Righ now I have a 10 year old ge freestanding( kenmore) that works well and I do use the convection. The part of the convection in this range I do not like is that the fan baffle sticks out too far into the oven cavity, almost 3 inches. What to do? I believe I am going to go with what looks best and whichever top seems to be the most scratch resistant when I take my cast iron fry pan to the appliance store. It seems to be the luck of the draw. Just be aware that if you are getting a convection range, some of the fan baffles do stick out into the oven cavity and really cut down on usable space in the oven. Also be aware that with slide ins, the venting of the oven on many is through the top of the oven door and therefore venting all of that hot air right onto the electronic controls of the range. I have been told by a repair man that this seems to shorten the live of the control panels and these are the most expensive parts of the range to replace. I didn't realize about the venting until I attempted to look for vents( my GE vents out of the control panel in the back). Ovens must vent somewhere and it is important where this happens. G

The discussions about energy used and speed is interesting. Here are my findings heating 5-cups of water. We are water savers and use one gallon of saved water (that's water that normally runs down the drain waiting for the shower to get hot) for after meal clean-up and washing dishes that don't get put in the dishwasher. We use 5-cups of hot water heated in an electric kettle, plus approx. 5 more cups of cold, and the remainder of the gallon is used for rinsing. We use a small plastic tub for washing dishes. Normal use for doing dishes is somewhere between 5-7 gallons of water (charts and "experts" on the subject vary dramatically). I tested several methods for heating 5-cups of water calculating the amount of energy used and the cost using a Kill-A-Watt meter, as well as the amount of time it took to heat it to a boil. A stove top kettle is the least energy efficient because the heat source first heats the kettle, which in turn heats the water, and some of the heat source can be wasted heating air around the kettle if your kettle is smaller than the source. The heating element in an electric kettle comes in direct contact with the water. All tests were done with 5-cups of water. Sharp Microwave/Convection Oven: 13-minutes - .29 kWh Induction Cook Top: 8-minutes - .15 kWh And the winner is..... Electric Kettle: 5-minutes - .11 kWh or about 1-cent From what I've read on the subject, the only thing faster than an electric kettle is an instant hot water tap, but I don't know how much energy it would use. -Grainlady

Are you sure it takes 9 taps to go to high? My Electrolux, after turning the burner on, immediately jumps to high if the + button is pressed and low if the - button is pressed. The only time multiple taps are needed is if you want a moderate power level, and even then you can get around it by holding the button down. The interface is super responsive and easy to use. It doesn't bother me at all.