I'll second what cooksnews said, but add a couple of additional comments. First, it seems to me that you've pretty much answered your own question. Second, the supposed difficulty of cleaning a sealed-burner stove is, it seems to me, a function of the cooktop surface and the depth of the burner wells. My old GE dual fuel, with its shallow burner wells and burner plates required a lot of attention and frequent applications of Barkeeper's Friend. My new pro-style NXR with its stainless cooktop surface and deep burner wells is much easier. Pull the burner grates, spritz with windex and wipe with a microfiber cloth. As for whether you would be "happier" with a 15k to 17k burner configuration than with the 22K-plus open burner Blue-Stars, ARs, or CCs, who knows? There are a really wide variety of reasons why some folks are passionate about high-powered open burners. Some want to use round bottomed woks and get closer to the "true taste of the wok" or something they feel is reminiscent of street-vendor pad-thai. Some feel that, without an open pro-style burner, they cannot get sufficient low temp burner evenness to make the exquisite sauces they make. Some of them need or want to be able to blast three or four shrimp in tiny pans heated to very high temps. Some of them feel their cooking style really benefits from the higher btu-hr power. Some are like car junkies for whom there can never be enough horsepower. Some of them need the high hp or btu to supprot elitist snobbery and feel superior to us peasants who tastes and skills are far less refined than their own. Some just like the look better. Some people will have a mix of some or all of the above reasons. Personally, for my cooking, I have absolutely no regrets or problems with having sealed 15K-btu-hr burners for what I cook. My NXR burners will heat my cast iron pans hot enough to burn off the seasoning if I choose to do that, although I could also do that with the 12K btu-hr burners on the old GE. Personally, I don't feel that a steak has to be seared at temps sufficient to melt lead. I have not owned a round-bottomed wok for a decade and do not feel bad because I do not have one. The NXR's low heat settings, like those on cooksnews' DCS, are plenty low enough for me to melt and hold chocolate in a small pan for hours. There is one difference I have observed between my stove and cooksnews' DCS. For high heat applications, the burners on my stove work better with pans larger than eight-inches in diameter. For example, boiling six quarts of pasta water will take me 22 minutes. Doing this with a 10-inch-diameter pot will bring the time down to less than 15 minutes. In a 13-inch diameter kettle, it takes less than 14 minutes. That said, I have no problem searing steaks or sauteing in 10 and 12 inch fry pans. For me, making blackened fish or chicken does not require more heat than I have available. Also, I certainly can and do use small pans. Boiling water for morning oatmeal takes 3 minutes in a 5-inch sauce pan. I can melt and hold chocolate for hours in that small pan, too. Frankly, I find cookware construction makes a bigger difference to evenness than the burner design for what and how I cook. Now, if I had one of the open burner stoves, maybe I could boil that pasta water in 12 minutes instead of 14 but that is not a big deal for me. But, again, whether you will be happy with a "lesser" stove is such a subjective judgment that, except for bragging rights, it will be hard to say how "happy" you will be.

Moni, a friend was just talking about her granddaughter being a nanny in FL to a dr.'s kids. She is a college student. If I remember right, she is paid $12-13/hour. She picks the kids up from school, takes them to activites, shopping (the little girl is allowed to pick whatever she wants to do/buy). She has a debit card to use (her own) that she pays for everything with, keeping the receipts, then is reimbursed. She gives them baths and puts them to bed, ect. Reads to/with them,I forget how old the kids are, but I think just early grade school. Overtime is expected. Over night is expected when they are out of town. She grocery shops, tho my friend has no idea why, as they NEVER eat at home or cook! She did say the the kids were very well behaved everywhere they are taken. To me, that is way too much responsibility for that amount of pay. Tami

Assume feeding and caring for in addition to driving? Whoa! Being male and therefore out of the mommy-logic loop, maybe I'm out of touch but I wouldn't do anything like this for anyone for 25 bucks a day. Nor would I allow my wife to do it for such a pittance while compromising the care of our own children. (Just made that up. I'm not married or raising children, just trying to make a point.) From the replies to OP, I'm seeing about 1/2 minimum wage plus much risk and zero benefits. On the other hand, I know what it's like to not have money and the joy of being able to depend upon something coming in where there wasn't before. I don't know your situation. Your call. How important is it? My situation is on the other end. Full-time care-giving for elderly mother. Doesn't amount to anything. Basically, companionship and meal-making. Somebody has to be here at all times. I pay $15.00 @hour for this service from known/trusted people. That includes sleeping time. My occasional 24-hr. single-overnight weekends cost me $360.00. Eight-hour daytime shifts are $160.00. Nobody will do anything for less than that where I live. Your responsibilities and risks will be greater than my hired substitute care-givers. And I doubt the pay-scale and/or expectation is any less in Oregon than it is here. Your friend is trying to buy trust and dependability at a discount price. If you're both OK with it, that's fine. Just saying at the amount suggested by other respondents, I think you're getting ripped.

byrdseay~ I got mine at Sears toO! I thought mine must have been a 1 of a kind because I've never heard of anyone else owning one too! I've never had any problems with it until now... and I think it's only been serviced once, and that was in the last few years. This will definitely stay in the arsenal, so to speak.