For $4000 he thinks you "might" have a solution? Wow. Did the guy do a heat/loss analysis? He wants to give you the same size furnace. What is the continuous flow option? Is that a variable speed blower? I think a VS blower run all the time will help to even out temps, but what i cannot get is that an 80k system is having a hard time heating 1200ft of space. My whole house is heated with a 100k system and its 1800ft. I never have more than a 3 degree temp diff btw floors if at all. I did however focus on insulation and draft blocking (real cheap to do) to get that. Heat wise is there something special about that bedroom that it wont heat? Ductwork issues: loose boot at register or going thru uninsulated walls? What does the room look like. Are there dropped ceilings is it under an attic space etc. Are the walls insulated or does it have a million windows. So many questions and probably cheaper to find solutions to your problem than dishing out 4k.

Sandy...thanks for your thoughts. You're the second poster to state that you don't think the beadboard, esp painted a white, would go with the cabinets. Regarding the white tile backsplash I had, that is gone, now, and new dryall installed, ready for a new backsplash. I didn't want to do tile again, since I don't care for tile with granite (too busy). That's why I thought of the beadboard. My plan was to paint the cabinets, so the beadboard would go with it. I was thinking, now, if I don't pain the cabinets, the beadboard would still go, since they would be painted the same color as the rest of the walls in the combo den-kitchen (some sort of soft white). I hate cream in a kitchen, so will not do that. Kitchens should have crisp, clean colors, IMO. But my former, all-white kitchen was a bit glaring and didn't blend with the den too well (mahogany & cherry furniture & colors, dark camel, black tv, red accents, soft white walls). As for keeping the cabinets dark, I do have wood floors that will be refinished, and so will compete with the wood cabinets. Cabinets painted a soft white would solve that problem. I thought beadboard would be plain enough not to be too busy with the granite, since it's only vertical lines, and would tie in with the shutters. I'm hesitant to remove the shutters because that is a window theme throughout the house and are in the den part of the combo den-kitchen. I'm now looking at maybe tin with a pattern, so that the backsplash is silver, but that's probably too busy. I could just leave the plain drywall, add some wood molding (painted), and leave it at that. I'm mulling it over. It's good to know that others don't think the white appliances and sink look awful. That really was the most shocking thing to me. I was horrified by how they looked with the granite. In pics in Houzz, White Spring granite is repeatedly shown in white kitchens (white walls and cabinets & doors). I do think maybe I'm in shock since it doesn't look how I imagined and is so different from what I had. The stove is that new ice white and not the softer white of old, so that's part of the problem, I think. I considered stainless too modern a look for my old house, which is why I didn't get that before, but now I see that stainless would go with the new countertop and avoid any "color" issue. Thanks.

Hi FoodJaunts, No, my cooktop is not the matching GE, it is a KitchenAid that I got from a scratch and dent dealer new, in a badly beat up box, but the cooktop did not have a scratch on it. It's MSRP was $2800 and we got it for $1200. Like you were planning, our blower motor is in the basement, so there is no need for a bigger base cabinet. So you are not flipping this house, you are buying it to live in, from a flipper, and because he has not yet done the work, he is willing to install the appliances of your choice if you pay the difference, right? If flickering gas was the only problem with downdrafts, I would say that getting an induction cooktop with a wok burner would be a good idea (they do make burners shaped like a bowl to accommodate a real round-bottomed wok). HOWEVER, my set-up does not pull grease and steam from the front burners. It gets most of the steam from something cooking on the back burner, however. I would not expect my set-up to work for stir frying. DH agrees, saying, "not unless it was a really short wok and really close to the downdraft!" Anyway, here is an inexpensive portable countertop induction wok burner: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UI882A/ref=asc_df_B004UI882A2252470?smid=A294BYNQDK07T&tag=nextagusmp0355811-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B004UI882A and a discussion about that burner and about cooking with woks using gas, electric, and induction that I found very interesting. http://www.cheftalk.com/t/68139/adcraft-wok-induction-burner I also found this expensive built-in separate wok burner: http://www.katom.com/084-MWDG1800.html?CID=Nextag&utm_source=Nextag&utm_medium=CSE&utm_campaign=CSE&zmam=29342707&zmas=1&zmac=3&zmap=084-MWDG1800 But look what Dacor is now making - a 15" high downdraft pop-up with up to 1000 CFM external remote blower. They show it on a serious gas range and talk about "capturing smoke and steam from all of the burners:" http://www.us-appliance.com/erv3615.html And Miele has one that rises 14": http://www.us-appliance.com/da64901000.html You can always look into getting the 48" downdraft with your gas cooktop, then put the induction wok burner beside the cooktop, right under the downdraft. The chef in the discussion likes the induction with the round wok bottom better than residential gas burners and a wok. So things are looking better in the downdraft department. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor to find the right system to work for your family. Here is a link that might be useful: Built-in induction wok cooker

You said "new house" so does that mean you're the first occupant of a new build? If so, there's probably nothing yet needing to be done after 1.5 years but it may be a good idea to contact a servicer or the installation company for a look-see. My (aerobic) system is 14+ years and has not yet needed a pump-out, although I'm a one-person household and take appropriate usage care. It has needed repairs but the system has an alarm buzzer that triggers on a malfunction. Does your county/city jurisdiction require recurring inspection of septic systems? Mine does. I have a yearly contract with the installer for 3-times-per-year inspection which includes adding chlorine tablets when needed. I'm curious how you weren't aware of it. Sewer is normally a charge/line-item on a city services utility bill. Do you have a private water well? If no city utility bill for water service, then it goes along that you'd also have a private septic system.