It's taken me a while to get around to reading this thread as we bought a new fridge last year and are very happy with it. It's an Amana bottom freezer, which replaced....an Amana bottom freezer. The new one does seem to run more often, and is VERY slightly noisier - I can hear a very soft low-pitched hum if I'm within one foot of it, when it turns on. If I am any further away I don't notice it. The previous one was so quiet I sometimes wondered if it was running! I love the Amana. Here's my take on the pros/cons: PROS: - VERY quiet. It's a sealed compressor unit, apparently. This has a definite "con" to it, mentioned below. - Holds a ton of food. I have never quite figured out how Amana does this. The shelves are adjustable, but they don't look any different than any other fridge model. Yet all I need do is rearrange a few bowls and jars, and I can slide in another 4-qt Tupperware, a dozen more eggs, and a dinner plate of leftovers. My original fridge was a Kenmore 22 cu. ft. Due to Energy Star/more insulation, I've had to drop down to the 18 cu. ft. Amanas. I was very surprised to find the Amanas seem to hold just as much as the old Kenmore did. CONS: - That sealed compressor is very sensitive to electricity fluctuations. We seldom actually lose power, but it turns out our power is very "dirty"; e.g., we do have a lot of power fluctuations. This is what killed the first Amana bottom freezer after only 10 yrs. I SHOULD have bought an appliance surge suppressor, especially since they're not that expensive! You need to keep an eye on it, however. Once it's been tripped, it's off and useless. Most of us don't have the fridge plugged into an outlet that's easily viewed, so this is something to keep in mind. You want to be able to see if that green light has changed to red, on the suppressor. - I have the 18 cu.ft. SS model, no icemaker. The SS shows every watermark and fingerprint. Definitely needs that new "no fingerprint SS" finish, instead. ==== Overall: only two negatives, one very small. HTH some folks.

A land line can be a life line in an emergency. If satallites go out during a storm or are blocked, and that happens a lot here, a land line can be an asset. Ditto for when the cell phone company screws up and you need to make an important call. Just get the cheapest, basic service with no extras. I hate paying for crappy landline service too but feel more secure with another option for communicating in an emergency. If you are thinking of getting an alarm system for your home they may need a phone line to hook up to too.

An old thread, so my apologies. If you are connecting a portable grill to a permanent gas line the grill needs to be secured so it can't be moved around. The idea being that if something happened that caused the grill to move in a significant enough fashion to compromise the gas line, you'd have an uncontrolled flow of gas. Securing the grill can be as easy as a post in the ground and the grill chained to it.

Thank you all — more food for thought. sherri1058, Building for the CATS, cpartist — Honestly, I’ve not bothered to look at induction, it has never interested me. I may give it a test-cook and see how I like it. I love all of your enthusiasm for your cooktops. Building for the CATS — Your screen name makes me giggle. :-) It’s heartening to see you didn’t give up on the idea of a warming drawer, but concluded that the location was the problem - not the drawer itself. On the Miele, I know it’s just a refrigerator, but . . . SO elegant. cpartist — I think I’ve been in the fun years all my life — every decade gets better. :-) I will definitely post my kitchen plan for input. linus2003 — Thank you. I will compare those models. My mother just ordered one of the proline models (I don’t yet know which) to replace her 20 year old Miele. I think the price of one of those is about equal to the price of two of the 6165s, so it it may come down to space for me. plllog — I laughed out loud, literally, at your cartoon character comment. I am going to walk into the showroom and pretend I’m baking some of my everyday items and see which I prefer. I’ll take my dishes as well. :-) Great advice. Thank you! Chanop — Thank you so much of taking the time to post all those pictures and the detailed steps. I can certainly see why some people may see that as complicated for combi cooking. Oddly, however, it actually looks like fun to me. I know, I’m an odd duck. I can see myself setting up user programs for baguettes, boules, roasted [insert veggie here], etc. I gather custom programs are also available on the Gaggenau, however. This weekend I am going to an appliance store that has both the Gaggenau and the Miele. I will put both through their paces and decide from there. friedajune — All good points. Clearly, I need to do more research on hoods. Costco — good idea! GardenWeb forums, here I come! To misquote Blanche DuBois, I am deeply thankful for the kindness of strangers. Julie aka Lefty Lou