"plllog (and everyone else,) what would be the mid-range, but not top tier, gas ranges or gas cooktops? Your advice is beyond helpful!!" I think that we're back to the very good prior suggestion that you identify features -- down to the most basic functional attributes -- that are most important to you. 4 burners or 6? 30" 36" 48"? Are you really keen to have a grill or some particular type or output burner? In a range, something like a GE Cafe might be a nice jumping off point for somebody who likes a stainless range that has something of the pro-sumer-ish look to it, medium-high output sealed burners, etc. Getting something fundamentally different costs a bunch more money, not just a couple hundred bucks -- unless, of course, you find some screaming deal on a BlueStar, etc. That's a good sweet spot IF you want a 30" range and don't care about open burners, etc. The GE offers lots of features, but if it's not the type of thing you want, then it's not. One thing to notice is that price differences tend to shrink as you move from range choices to range top choices to cook top choices. If you are happy with a 36" cook top (and there are reasons to prefer the range top, etc.), then you might find a lot of value-for-money in looking at the higher-end offerings. For example, a 36" BlueStar cook top can be had for a couple grand -- that's a substantial up-charge over something good from the middle of the range, but it's a much smaller absolute difference in price than you'd seen in looking at ranges. If you don't want the higher output open burners, then you don't and the extra expense may be wasted -- but if you want them, it's a way to get something that's actually different without adding 3 or 5 or 10k to your bill.

I agree with neo about getting a heat pump instead of straight AC unit. I live in midwest and have 1931 home with hot water boiler. AC had been installed in the '80s. Last year finally konked out, and we replaced with a heat pump. HOW DELIGHTFUL to have heat quickly when it's 67 daytime/45 nighttime. With only the boiler, it took a few hours before the house really would warm up to be comfortable on spring/fall days like this. We now have very inexpensive heat on days like this, and wow do we like it. We have ours on 1 Thermostat with the boiler. The heat pump cuts out at 40 degrees and switches over to the boiler at that point. That was where we ended up being the most comfortable. Others will run them at even lower outside temps. Getting back to your system. Have you considered 80% boilers instead of the 90% condensing boilers? They are much simpler systems, with fewer complex parts and as they are cast iron, are less expensive. If you can get one into the space, I would look at the cost/benefit to that as well. I agree with mnk about considering a straight hot water heater for bathing and cooking water. Just an option to also consider. Do the math and see what works out the best.

yeshwant91, A bit off topic but related... I'm not familar with all the combi units your considering, but consider carefully if those units will meet your needs. Some of the combi boilers I'm aware of have significant limitations. For example, in their instant hot water production mode if you exceed their max flow spec they will allow the additional flow and just start lowering the temperature of the heated water. In reality this may mean certain units are only good for a single point of use at any given time. So you might not be able to take a shower and wash your clothes at the same time. A couple years ago I was considering a Rinnai whole house instant DHW heater. They are very powerful units and have flow limiters so requested hot water temperature is always achieved. If you ask for more hot water than it can produce they will just ignore the demand for additional flow. Not sure which (if any) combi units also incorporate this feature. I agree with dross - if you can swing a 220V line do it for the sake of a much wider choice of washing machines with proven track records. I believe Miele/Asko/Bosch all use 220V-15A circuits for their washers. I understand you won't need it for the dryer.

Hi Alphamale I went with the Navien NCB 240 which was installed at the end of last July. As it turns out it looks like this boiler is insufficient for my needs probably because of the heat demand required for an indoor pool. I'm still not convinced that even without the pool it may still be insufficient in that I run the heat to the pool for only 12 hours per day and when the only heat demand is for the 1,400 sq. feet of house and domestic hot water for 2 people it still has to work hard to get the heat past 70F. Between 7 PM and 7 AM and when it's cold when the pool and house are calling for heat in the morning the house has gone down to 66 F. This is weird because a contractor told me he installed two of the NCB 240s to heat three floors of 10,000 sq. feet each. I spoke to another highly recommended contractor who did an analysis and concluded that the NCB is in sufficient. I have calls into the local Viessmann distributor and another highly recommended contractor for input and recommendations. I am considering using a separate pool heater but it turns out the only one I can install indoors costs $8,000 plus 13% HST plus installation so that could turn into another 10 grand. I can get an outdoor pool heater but I suspect it would cost 5 grand for the heater plus a custom built shelter for it. Another possibility is to get a propane heater insert for the fireplace which would allow more boiler BTUs for the pool. At any rate Dan, depending on your requirements I would recommend converting to propane if only because that's the direction things are going. OIl for heating is quickly going the way of the dinosaur not to mention a big savings in fuel. From my own research if I had it to do over again I would take a close look at the Veissmann and Trinity boilers and there may be others. So far my experience is turning out to be a horror show so be careful.