Well, here's my very minor contribution to the cleaning issue: I've cooked on an O'Keefe & Merritt 1950's open burner, in my last apartment (and loved it, BTW, would happily own it again). Since then I've had two sealed burner stoves - Kenmore/Frigidaire and Kenmore/Whirlpool, both glass tops with two PowerPlus burners of around 14.5K. The WP has really outstanding simmer, so low food will cool off if the pan is too large! In fact I never use the 'LO' any longer, keep it on the #1 or #2. But -- a large 'but' - the cleanability of the WP sucks. When mfgs were forced to remove/reduce the lead in glass, this meant that our pre-1989 gas range cleaned up like a dream. But our replacement 2002 gas range is a nightmare. EVERYTHING burns onto this range; all four burners (even the smallest 9K burner) have baked-on brownish-black crud all around them that will simply not come off, even with oven cleaner. My DH got so frustrated one day he attacked it with a knife(!) so I banished him from cleaning the stove at all, LOL. Now, I cook no differently now than I did in 1990. Like to cook and do it a lot, just about every day. I can turn out everything from 10-course Chinese banquets to sushi for 200, no problem. But I personally will never buy another sealed burner stove for my home. I've cooked on a friend's old Garland and as with the O'Keefe & Merritt, vastly prefer using and cleaning an open burner range. Those star burners are just a better design - an improved mousetrap, if you will - than a circular one, even a stacked circular burner. I'll take more expert opinion that they deliver more heat efficiently. The Garland is just a lot more fun to cook on, and faster than my beloved OKM.

I love it actually. Really learnt a lot of the fundamentals in cooking. You learn the theory and then you execute it in the kitchen. The best thing I'd say is that you get a lot of diversity and exposure. And the worst thing is probably that culinary school doesn't really fully prepare you for the actual kitchen. There's nothing like working in the industry and learning about it. Actually, I'm more of the proponent of the classical learning method which is practiced mainly overseas in Europe and such; which is through an apprenticeship. BTW, I'm also have a degree in mechanical engineering. Working on a career change. OK, well I have a few more tips that hopefully might help you. Putting out grease fires. Basically never use water. You can place a lid like the other person mentioned to basically suffocate the fire by removing the oxygen. Another method is to sprinkle flour, baking powder, baking soda. Basically that also works by suffocating the fire. ALWAYS remember to turn off the fire as well. Generally, when you sear, saute, or pan-fry. You don't ever want to heat your oil till the point where it smokes. At this point your fat has basically broken down and begin to disintegrate. You'll impart unwanted flavors onto your food. Also, if you continue to heat it long enough, you'll reach the flash point of the oil and it will combust. Bear in mind that it varies for different types of oils. Some oils have flash points very close to the smoking point and some don't. As far as technicality goes, searing basically has very little oil. Just about as much as sauteing goes. Searing however is not a cooking method in itself. It's just a step. Example, you sear a pot roast to seal the juices of the meat inside before braising it in the oven. Pan-fry generally is 1/3 to 1/2 way of the item you're cooking in. Then finally there's deep fry. Temperature is critical whenever you're frying anything. If the oil is too hot, your item will brown before the inside will have a chance to cook. If the oil is too cold, your item will basically soak up all the oil, and you end up with oily and soggy food. You also don't create a good seal on the surface and your juices will leak out. Now as far as types of oils go, peanut oil is the best for deep frying, pan-frying, searing, saute-ing. It's basically an all-around, high smoke-point, neutral flavored oil. Olive oil is not really the best type of oil to use for deep frying. Light pan-frying is OK. Sauteing is OK too. Olive oil is flavored and also have a lower smoking point. Clarified butter is also OK for quick saute-ing (thin food items). Example veal scallopini (where you pound out the veal to thin pieces). If you're unaware of this, clarified is basically butter with the milk solids and whey removed. Heat up the butter gently over the flame. Do not stir it. The milk solids will be at the top, the clarified butter in the middle, and the bottom is whey and water. The milk solids will float to the top when the butter melts. Skim off the milk solids. You will have clarified butter in the middle. The stuff at the bottom is the whey and water. You get about 75% of clarified butter from butter. OK, here's the heads up on BTU/hr ratings etc. There are a few things to keep in mind. Basically the burner element is a heat transfer device. Your pan contacts the burner and is also emitting heat into the environment. You're basically losing heat to the environment. Burner --> Pan --> Environment. The higher BTU/hr rating will allow you to heat the pan up faster and also accommodate for more heat loss. So lets say you have a really thin pan which barely has any thermal mass. You'll have a hard time retaining a high temperature on the pan if your BTU/hr rating is low. Basically thicker pans have more thermal mass. With all other factors being equal, more thermal mass means more heat retained. Now, at the same time, more thermal mass also means it'll take longer to heat up. Also the type of metal comes into play. Copper vs Aluminum vs Stainless Steel. Different metals transfer heat at different rates. So now that you have your pan heated up and it's a good nice and high temperature that you desire. You place a cold piece of meat on it. There's something else that you would have to deal with which is heat recovery. Higher BTU/hr burners will allow you to recover the heat much faster. Also a good heavy gauge pan (like a copper lined pan) will also help because it would have a high thermal mass retaining a lot of the heat. Another factor with good quality pans (generally thicker pans), is that you get even and uniform heating throughout so that you won't have any hot spots. Basically, it's not just one factor (i.e. BTU/hr rating), it's a combination of your pan, technique, etc. BTW, stir fry is done at a really high temperature. It's kind of a spin on sauteing except it's really quick and the temperature is really high. If you've seen it in a restaurant (mainly Chinese cooking I believe), you'll see the burner ring is huge and the wok is basically shaped to contact the flame all over. With the shape of the wok being concaved, I believe there's also a radiant heat effect at play as well concentrating the heat toward the center. I don't know of any residential setup which will allow you to "really cook" on a wok. If you have noticed, stir frys when done right has somewhat of a slight smoky flavor to them. It's hard to explain. It's not so much that it's burnt or like it's a BBQ. It's a distinct smokiness inherent in the high heat cooking. Hopefully this helps =)

mike_home, Thanks for the info. I will consider a heat pump. This year the state of new jersey now requires all ac installers to receive training and state licenses in ac installation. In my research it has been stated quite a few times, the ac will work only as well as it was installed. Lennox has premier installers and only a very few of the other brand installers are NATE trained. But the majority are still not ac trained licensed installers. The majority are plumbers and electricians. My concern is the duct work and the refrigerate not being done to specifications. Many hvac contractors offer only one year labor. Unfortunately a number of homeowners found themselves shelving out more money 2,3,4, years later, just for labor. The installer is as important as the ac with 10 year limited warranties. I can accept an annual maintenance contract, but want the ac to work as smoothly as the Luxaire had for 35 years.

Thanks everyone for your input. I think the 3 contractors/dealers are tired of me asking questions. I've decided to go with the Trane system, 5-ton single stage air conditioner 15 SEER, 120k BTU 2-stage variable speed 96% efficient furnace. The HVAC contractors are pretty much the same in this area, the one I signed up with is a big outfit and has good reviews. My house was custom built 23.5 years ago, the Tempstar system was sized for the 2,900 sq' main level (I knew nothing about building a house, there wasn't any HGTV back then). The system has served me well, the current furnace uses a 24" x 24" filter, I think they told me the new one will use a 20" x 25" x 1" filter (will believe it when I see it). The current duct work should do fine, I hope. I had an emergency repair in January when we had an unusual cold spell of 10 degree days for 10 days straight and the exhaust blower died. Cost $891 for the emergency repair (luckily they were able to locate a replacement exhaust blower the next day). The Tempstar dealer was worthless, they told me my furnace is too old, that they don't make those parts anymore and other parts will start to fail too. It was the Trane dealer who did the emergency repair at night and returned the next day with the replacement part (they repair all brands of HVAC). They will be the one to replace my HVAC system. Figured that it's time to have a new HVAC system for peace of mind. 100k BTU furnace supposedly will keep the house at 72 F when temperature is 16 F outside, that the numbers they use for Asheville, NC for sizing the furnace. However, there are days in winter that temperature can dip below 10 F or less, and with climate change you just never know. The 120k BTU 2-stage variable speed with ECM furnace will keep the house above 72 F even if it is 0 F outside (that's what my Tempstar furnace has been doing all these years). Anyway, I put 50% down already, just waiting for the install. This Trane dealer will also cut 2 holes in the main return duct in the lower level to put in 2 returns. The main return and supply lines are both at the ceiling of the lower level, bisecting the length of the finished basement - both lines easily accessible. They will charge me time and material for the 2 "returns", shouldn't take that long to cut 2 holes in the main return duct to insert the return registers.