I would also avoid a range and go with a separate cooktop and oven for several reasons. First, the oven: I would get a good 24"/60cm electric oven - the Gaggenau is my favorite because of its side-opening door (no reaching over or around the usual drop-down door to insert or remove your food) and its efficient use of space - very little devoted to the control panel, most used for the oven cavity. And its height is short enough to fit a 6" drawer above it - great storage for cooking utensils, especially if your cooktop is directly above it (you'll need to choose a cooktop that's thin, and whose installation instructions don't say it requires lots of space below it). Several other brands are the same size if you need something less expensive, although I don't know of any with a side-opening door. But rather than a 24" cooktop, I would get a 2-burner 12" or 15" cooktop for a small apartment. Think about it - do you ever use more than two at once? (If one is used for a water kettle, install an instant-hot water dispenser and you can free up that burner). Many good ones are available in this size, both electric and gas. If you're worried you may occasionally need a third burner, keep an inexpensive portable electric burner (or double burner) in one of your cabinets - these are cheap and they work reasonably well. The rest of the time, enjoy the extra 12" of countertop space! Another space saver - use an undermount sink (which shaves off 4 to 5" of width already) about 21" x 17" and mount it "sideways" so it's nearly the full length of the countertop front to back, but only the smaller dimension in width. This will yield the same space as a traditional 25"w x 22"l kitchen sink, but turned 90 degrees from typical. That won't leave any room for a faucet behind it, so either use a wall-mount faucet (preferable) or mount a single-hole faucet near one of the rear corners. Drain in the rear corner is best - it won't get covered up by the first dinner plate you put in the sink, plus the disposer beneath it also moves to the back corner of your cabinet, where it doesn't get in the way. A drain centered front to back, but off to one side is second best; avoid drains in the center. In any case, this arrangement buys considerable extra countertop width without reducing the usable space in the sink.

I think quality induction cooktops will not generate significant odor, either upon initial use or extended use. My Kenmore (Electrolux clone) didn't. With a range, odor can be expected from the ovens during burn in. Induction hobs generally directly heat an annular area of the pan bottom, so pans with sufficient thickness to spread the heat well will be necessary for cooking foods that can't distribute heat evenly (as liquids usually will). Pancakes would naturally be difficult with annular heating, and I recall an electric griddle made long ago that had two coil heaters embedded in the base that had the same issue. So it is not purely an induction problem. There are two options that I see. A layered pan bottom, with magnetic stainless steel (e.g., 400 series) on the bottom or located just above some other bottom material such as aluminum to generate heat from the field, a conductive layer of aluminum or copper to spread the heat, and an inside layer of 300 series stainless steel for stain resistance. The field lines will heat an annular area of the 400 SS and this will be spread by the thick thermally conductive layer. Thick cast iron. In this case the rate of heat input has to be controlled to assure relatively even heating at the top surface of the pan. This will require some wait time for thermal stability before actually cooking pancakes. kas

Answers: 1) In the beginning I was paranoid about every little scratch. Small scrathces come out easily with Bar Keeper's friend and one of those "gentle" blue scrubbie sponges. Then one day my DH used a "rough" green scrubbie instead. He scratched the center SS area badly. I was so upset!!! However, after 5-6 weeks of use, and regular cleaning, the bad scratch has blended somewhat. I expect it will continue to do so. I have never had a SS range before, so I can't comment on the scratching in comparison to to other ranges. However, I was very aware when we were shopping for ranges, of the scratches. I noticed that the GE Cafes in most showrooms had the worst and deepest scratches. Perhaps that's only because more people were looking at them, moving the grates, etc? If you expect it to stay absolutely pristing, showroom condition, you're going to have to be extraordinarily careful )like, don't cook on it!) but personally, I like a little lived-in feeling. That's why I got marble countertops, which had etching and scratches after the first 2 days, despite babying them! 2)My range is rock solid. It is very very heavy. It has easily adjustible feet. 3) The seams could be easier to clean... but it's not awful. I have yet (after, what, 10 months use?) to get out a toothbrush because I can't clean the grooves.... that may happen at some point but so far, the corner of a sponge has worked just fine. To me, it's one of the trade-offs that I just didn't feel justified spending an extra $1000. 4) Not at all!!!!! What would be the result of something being too far away? The flames hit the bottom of my pans just right. I get a VERY hot flame, or a VERY low simmer... no problem. 5) The only pan I have a problem with is my tiny saucepan. The bottom is about 5" wide. On medium to high flame, the flame is too large for the pan. It is fabulous on the low (smaller) simmer though. I do still use this pan for rice, since that amount of time it needs to be on the outer flame ring is so short, and then it gets turned down to the smaller inner flame for most of the cooking time. And its great for melting butter or chocolate of course. 6) See above. Simmer is the smaller inner burner. In most cases this is wonderful. The only time it's not is when simmering in my hugest pan... I feel I stir a little more often since the flame is concentrated in the center of such a large pan. The burner works like this: As you turn the dial counter clockwise: you start at high, a high flame from the outer burner ring AND a high flame from the small inner ring. As you decrease the dial, the outer flame diminishes. At about 6:00, the outer flame turns off, and you're just on the inner flame, which continues to decrease until you get the barest whisper of a flame on low. The transition between the two is the only place where it's not perfectly, infinitley adjustable. This is about Medium, I'd say. Occasionally, with some pans and some contents, I need to switch between the two to maintain the proper cooking temp over time. I'd recommend you go try one out in a showroom if you can. I think you'll be very impressed with the burners. I caompared them side by side with a Capital Range and the NXR was far nicer, IMHO....

Dcarch, I expect that an induction cooktop should have a long useful life. I'm less confident about a $64 induction burner. The fan may not be very heavy duty and it can wear out, parts can overheat (due to the power they are handling - that's why they need the fan even though the top of the burner doesn't get without a pot on it. The induction burner produces power and that's work involving significant current. Jasdip, I don't find the Max Burton to be that load most of the time. On high the fan is noisy when its going hard but it doesn't all the time. The whine isn't very loud but may annoy some. Sometimes it kind of vibrates but that is usually brief. I haven't heard it beep loudly and I don't recall anything in the instructions about a beep. Fridge, freezer, HVAC and water heater are big energy users because they run all the time (except water heater if you have the on demand type). Also depending on your household, washer, dryer and dishwasher. I'm pretty sure that oven and stove top would come behind those - mainly because they usually aren't run for hours a day (or if you are slow cooking something they are puttering along at lower power).