It would be interesting to see if we could come up with a difference as to why some people end up with scratches and others don't. I've had my Elux Icon induction installed for over a year, and use it heavy during processing season, and it has no scratches on the glass. Over the last 20 years, I have had four glass topped stoves, and only got one scratch (from my 16 qt pressure canner) in all that time. But I know others that got lots of scratches, so who knows what the real "secret" is. I'm a slob, and that is the best thing about induction - the clean up. I hated cleaning that electric glass top and would let it go for over a month and it would look horrid and one would think it would never get clean, but they always did - hmm, maybe that is the secret to no scratches - rarely clean the darn thing. Another thought, in all the years I have only used one type of cleaner, maybe that had something to do with it. Anyway, back to the subject. My husband told me yesterday that we can sell everything if we move, but he's taking the induction cooktop with us. He makes a lot of things he never tried before simply because he did not want to deal with the nasty cleanup. While I love the control for jams and other particular things, what he loves the most is the ease of cleaning.

KellyEng, this is the usage history since moving into this house January 2005. More details are provided when they were recorded in my records. Period 1/21/2005 to 2/xx/2005, 1,004 KWH Period 2/xx/2005 to 3/xx/2005, 696 KWH Period 3/xx/2005 to 4/15/2005, 727 KWH Period 4/16/2005 to 5/17/2005, 34 days, 655 KWH Period 5/18/2005 to 6/18/2005, 32 days, 1,296 KWH Period 6/19/2005 to 7/18/2005, 30 days, 1,471 KWH Period 7/19/2005 to 8/18/2005, 31 days, 1,521 KWH Period 8/19/2005 to 9/18/2005, 31 days, 1,651 KWH Period 9/19/2005 to 10/18/2005, 30 days, 1,384 KWH Period 10/19/2005 to 11/16/2005, 29 days, 833 KWH Period 11/17/2005 to 12/18/2005, 32 days, 1,263 KWH Period 12/19/2005 to 1/17/2006, 30 days, 1,103 KWH Period 1/18/2006 to 2/19/2006, 33 days, 1,083 KWH Period 2/20/2006 to 3/19/2006, 28 days, 760 KWH Period 3/20/2006 to 4/19/2006, 31 days, 831 KWH Period 4/20/2006 to 5/19/2006, 30 days, 1,075 KWH Period 5/20/2006 to 6/20/2006, 32 days, 1,523 KWH Period 6/21/2006 to 7/19/2006, 29 days, 1,756 KWH Period 7/20/2006 to 8/20/2006, 32 days, 1,877 KWH Period 8/21/2006 to 9/xx/2006, xx days, 1,476 KWH (haven't yet received this bill, but I know what is the usage) Note the significant increase in usage since the 5/20 period. My air conditioning had a problem in early June, a circuit board went bad and the blower wouldn't run. The repair tech wired the blower to run continuously while waiting a replacement part, which took about six weeks (fixed on 7/21). I expected the bills during that time (for periods ending 6/20 and starting 6/21) to be a little higher than usual due to the blower running, but not that much higher! AFTER the repair, usage increased even more. I even INCREASED my A/C setback period by a couple hrs per day. After some investigation I discovered on 8/29 that the system either had another problem that got missed the first time or had gone wonky again, and one of the HEAT STRIPS was running whenever the blower was OFF. The repair tech said it was stuck on continuously, but I don't think that's the case or usage would have been even higher. It'd run for a few seconds until it overheated (due to there being no airflow) and shut off from the limit switch, then when it cooled to reset the limit switch, it'd come on again for a few seconds. The longer setback period I used for cooling, there was more time during which the system didn't otherwise run which made for MORE time during which the heating element kept cycling on and off.

Sspye, My sister mentioned that a few weeks ago and I almost died laughing. I know the neighborhoods that are most likely to get chickens and they are all near the high schools. The kids are going to get into some trouble! There used to be a lot of farmers that would bring food to the old Farmer Johns stand in AA and loved walking to it as a kid. Things sure have changed!

Well...we only run the heat at a warmer level 65-68 during the morning while we get ready for work and the evening before we settle down for the night. The rest of the time, the thermostat is either at 60 or off. To be honest, we also avoided buying a house that faces east/west to avoid the heat in summer or with high cathedral ceilings so we could better control our utility costs. It’s just the two of us, so the dishwasher is only used once maybe twice a week, our washer is also a European front loader and laundry is done during off peak times. We have well water so no bill there. Our windows are old and leaky as well, so new windows are on our to do list as well adding thicker insulation in the attic. Our gas bill during peak winter months has been fairly consistent from year to year and low when compared with others in the neighborhood. I’ve heard of the cellophane window coverings but haven’t ever considered using them; maybe we should! ETA: I forgot to say that I agree with 3Katz in that during the summer months, I’m less willing to sacrafice comfort over cost. BUT as crazy as it sounds, we like to sleep in colder conditions so during summer months, we turn the a/c way down at night (during the off peak hours). And because we face north/south we get limited sun from the windows which keeps the house cool for a larger part of the day. On the weekends, we usually don’t turn the a/c back on until mid afternoon and the house will stay incredibly cool until then. The only exception is when it’s very humid. Then the ac will go on whenever we need it to.