Well, here's my very minor contribution to the cleaning issue: I've cooked on an O'Keefe & Merritt 1950's open burner, in my last apartment (and loved it, BTW, would happily own it again). Since then I've had two sealed burner stoves - Kenmore/Frigidaire and Kenmore/Whirlpool, both glass tops with two PowerPlus burners of around 14.5K. The WP has really outstanding simmer, so low food will cool off if the pan is too large! In fact I never use the 'LO' any longer, keep it on the #1 or #2. But -- a large 'but' - the cleanability of the WP sucks. When mfgs were forced to remove/reduce the lead in glass, this meant that our pre-1989 gas range cleaned up like a dream. But our replacement 2002 gas range is a nightmare. EVERYTHING burns onto this range; all four burners (even the smallest 9K burner) have baked-on brownish-black crud all around them that will simply not come off, even with oven cleaner. My DH got so frustrated one day he attacked it with a knife(!) so I banished him from cleaning the stove at all, LOL. Now, I cook no differently now than I did in 1990. Like to cook and do it a lot, just about every day. I can turn out everything from 10-course Chinese banquets to sushi for 200, no problem. But I personally will never buy another sealed burner stove for my home. I've cooked on a friend's old Garland and as with the O'Keefe & Merritt, vastly prefer using and cleaning an open burner range. Those star burners are just a better design - an improved mousetrap, if you will - than a circular one, even a stacked circular burner. I'll take more expert opinion that they deliver more heat efficiently. The Garland is just a lot more fun to cook on, and faster than my beloved OKM.

Yes for searing and boiling. Also, higher BTU are better for woks. Also for large pots full of dense food. It's just power. Power can be useful. Having a low BTU simmer is also extremely useful. Wolf is known for their simmer rings. I don't know model numbers, but if it's not really old the Wolf should have them on all burners. I don't know if the Thermador has the equivalent. If the units are less than 10 years old you can probably find the manuals on the makers' websites. It would be worth reading through to get a sense of how each works.

Thanks everyone for your input. I think the 3 contractors/dealers are tired of me asking questions. I've decided to go with the Trane system, 5-ton single stage air conditioner 15 SEER, 120k BTU 2-stage variable speed 96% efficient furnace. The HVAC contractors are pretty much the same in this area, the one I signed up with is a big outfit and has good reviews. My house was custom built 23.5 years ago, the Tempstar system was sized for the 2,900 sq' main level (I knew nothing about building a house, there wasn't any HGTV back then). The system has served me well, the current furnace uses a 24" x 24" filter, I think they told me the new one will use a 20" x 25" x 1" filter (will believe it when I see it). The current duct work should do fine, I hope. I had an emergency repair in January when we had an unusual cold spell of 10 degree days for 10 days straight and the exhaust blower died. Cost $891 for the emergency repair (luckily they were able to locate a replacement exhaust blower the next day). The Tempstar dealer was worthless, they told me my furnace is too old, that they don't make those parts anymore and other parts will start to fail too. It was the Trane dealer who did the emergency repair at night and returned the next day with the replacement part (they repair all brands of HVAC). They will be the one to replace my HVAC system. Figured that it's time to have a new HVAC system for peace of mind. 100k BTU furnace supposedly will keep the house at 72 F when temperature is 16 F outside, that the numbers they use for Asheville, NC for sizing the furnace. However, there are days in winter that temperature can dip below 10 F or less, and with climate change you just never know. The 120k BTU 2-stage variable speed with ECM furnace will keep the house above 72 F even if it is 0 F outside (that's what my Tempstar furnace has been doing all these years). Anyway, I put 50% down already, just waiting for the install. This Trane dealer will also cut 2 holes in the main return duct in the lower level to put in 2 returns. The main return and supply lines are both at the ceiling of the lower level, bisecting the length of the finished basement - both lines easily accessible. They will charge me time and material for the 2 "returns", shouldn't take that long to cut 2 holes in the main return duct to insert the return registers.

Thank you everyone for your help. For the sake of clarity I have had my Bluestar RCS Range since the middle of May 2019. We are now in the middle of September 2019 so I have had the range for 4 months. I have always cleaned the surface with soap and water without issues. It was only when my friend charred peppers and eggplant on the open burners 6 days ago did cleaning become an issue. I tried using gentle methods first to remove burnt on food and grease before I used Easy-Off. I would not categorize myself as an over zealous cleaner. I only used Easy-Off as a last resort. My kitchen is small without much ventilation and I've gotten sick from the fumes given off by Easy-Off in the past. The fumes are hazardous so I only use this cleaner for extreme situations. One of the reasons why I purchased a Bluestar over any other manufacturer was the excellent customer service. I called Bluestar several times before my purchase to ask questions. They were always very helpful and assured me that if I had any issues with my stove to call them and they would immediately fix the issue within the first year warranty period. I trusted them. This was not case when this problem happened. When I first called Bluestar I did have someone explain to me that they had no idea what material the burner heads were made from and what coating was on them. I was told that the burner heads were outsourced and supplied by a third party. This was the first and only time I was able to talk to someone at Bluestar. From then on I repeatedly called, left messages, and no one would call me back. I sent emails with photos and I was blamed immediately for the issue without them hearing me out. This is why I thought it was important to talk to someone on the phone so I could explain myself. Still, no one from Bluestar would return my phone calls. So disappointing, especially considering I thought that I had built a positive rapport with one of the reps. Then I had to get everyone I knew involved, including all of you at houzz. I sent an email to a Bluestar service provider who had helped calibrate my stove after installation. I called the appliance dealer where I bought the stove and talked to the salesman and the front of the office. They were dismayed with this story and were very understanding. They gave me the phone number of the Bluestar rep in the NYC area who supplies the appliance dealership. This is where things turned around for the better. The Bluestar rep called me back and, for the first time, I was able to have a conversation with Bluestar about my issue. I was quite lucky to talk to him because he too has the exact same model of stove in his own apartment. He acknowledged that he had no idea what the burner heads were made from nor what coating was on them. He also said that he never thought about it before because he just never cleans his burner heads. We had a laugh. : ) He then read the Use and Care Manual and agreed with me that any normal consumer would assume that the "burner rings" (because it's a ring shaped burner) in the manual referred to the "burner head" on my range but he said the the burner rings mentioned in the manual referred to the open burner model range not my sealed burner range. He admitted that there is no care instructions for the sealed burner heads in the manual. He then went to bat for me. He talked to the head supervisor at the Bluestar service department and, indeed, they agreed to replace all of my burners and igniters free of charge, labor included. Whew! I am so relieved that I did not have to go the legal route and drag this issue forward. Furthermore, this Bluestar rep who helped me did some investigation about the burners. Well, it turns out that the burners are made from aluminum. Neither he nor the supervisor at the service department can determine what the coating is on the burner heads. It's odd because Easy-Off turned that silver coating to a sludgy, goopy, clogging mess. I have removed galvenized coatings from sheet pans before and it didn't goop up like the burner heads did. This is why I initially thought that that burner heads were painted. I would think that the burner heads on any range are among the most important parts but it seems to me that Bluestar's choice of burner heads for their RCS range was an after thought. Today when the Bluestar rep talked to me about the burner heads he agreed that the burner heads needed overhauled. He had a conversation with the supervisor about manufacturing better burner heads in the future and he had hope that Bluestar would do this. Unfortunately it's not going to help my case now. The Bluestar rep also said that Bluestar is going to immediately update their Use and Care Manual to address the care of the burner heads for their sealed burner ranges. This will be a big help. I also addressed the importance of upgrading their sealed burner head design as soon as possible. There are going to be many consumers of this stove who will blindly do what I did to clean the burner heads. For better and for worse Easy-Off is an intuitive cleaner to use for baked on food and grease on stoves and this could be a nightmare for Bluestar going forward. Again, the Bluestar rep acknowledged my concerns and agreed that the current burner heads need replacing. I suggested solid brass or 303 stainless steel. ( M- please feel free to weigh in here.) "A lot of traditional ranges use aluminum burners. Unlike brass, aluminum has a low melting point (around 1200F), so they tend to warp and deform over time. Aluminum absorbs heat faster because it's less dense than brass, but it doesn't retain the heat for a long time. This means that the temperature drops down much faster with aluminum burners than with brass burners. This fact may be appealing to those with children or those who want faster burner cooling times. Additionally, aluminum burners are less corrosion resistant and have a shorter lifespan as compared to brass burners." At least I have a solution. Would I have bought the Bluestar RCS Sealed Burner Range had I known that the burners were made from aluminum with a yet-to-be-determined coating on them? No. I remember several other manufactures with solid brass and solid stainless steel burner heads that were superior to Bluestar's burner heads but other flaws, like cooling fans, kept me away from those other manufacturers. Maybe going forward I could figure out a way to CNC the burner heads from Bluestar out of solid brass. (It would void my warranty, however.) That would raise the quality of my stove to what I expected it to be in the first place. Also, I planned on writing a review of my Bluestar Range and was going to give it 4 out of 5 stars. Based on my experience with this range and with Bluestar's customer service I just can't recommend the Bluestar RCS Sealed Burner Range to anyone at this point.