Well that's good to know. I now have found the recall notice and according to the federal consumer products safety division there were two reported incidents of scorched floors. No reports of houses being burnt down... Seems the models manufactured in the first 6 months of 2006 are at fault. I will get a serial number and double check whether the unit I have is included in this... Thanks for the heads up...too bad it is such a mediocre model.

Kaiserjorge You don't have a problem with the burner itself, if you would like to give me a call at the store i would be more than happy to try to diagnose the problem correctly, i am available from up until 11pm eastern time. Unfortunately i am not allowed under GW rules to post my telephone number or company name, hopefully some other poster will post that info.

I had a wood burning unit that looked just like the one you have. I had it replaced with a propane gas fireplace and the total price with installation ran $4,258.

@opaone -- thanks for your reply. I had previously seen your cookware (and other) posts on your site and found them very helpful. That's an interesting idea to use the griddle in that way, Somewhat ironically, just last night I was thinking of abandoning my plan to get the 48" with griddle because I am not sure I am going to use the griddle as much as I originally thought because of its warm up time. I thought I could use it to spontaneously make bacon and eggs, tortillas, etc. but as I've read more, it seems it needs to warm up for 15-30 minutes (depending where you read). I also have lingering concerns about cleaning it, but the warm up time is really the big sticking point for me now. Most everything I would make on the griddle can be done in a pan pretty easily, so I'm no longer sure it makes sense for me. But definitely a good idea for lower heat cooking.