I thought it was beautiful, and might go that way myself if I go w/traditional double oven instead of advantium. My cabinets will be off-white - I would suggest finding one w/a door sample. Not sure you want to mix it w/stainless oven, etc. I did read a review (somewhere...) that said it scratched easily. It has a vertical texture to it, and I was afraid horizontal scratches would really show.

The price does jump up for the separate drawers. I rarely bend down except for the lower freezer drawer so i just pack my freezer in order of most used. It is much more efficient all around having the 'interior' drawers so you do not have massive cooling loss every time you open. I have often more greens than fits and the overflow at this moment is on the shelf above. Nothing has ever frozen, salad stays fresh until we eat through the 'load', and all fits back into the veg drawer as we thin. (ilive near an international market in NYC so we get greens year round.) Must be bagged or they dry out fast. Like i mentioned in my other post, if water forms in your ice bin but still makes ice and they stick together, Frozen in a ice rink, your ice tray is cracked, most likely. It gets stressed in the dumping action. I just got back from Lowes with a potable water epoxy that is food safe, water safe...will be testing this after noon or tomorrow. Hoping for an easy fix. The freezer bins remove easily for organizing on your counter and rarely need cleaning. Page 8 on this link shown the drain, not my model but same location. http://assi.lhg.liebherr.com/Serviceline/b2b/bab2b/Media/Documents/BA/708122700_gb.pdf Here is a link that might be useful: defrost drain

wamead first of all, I am attaching a link for a fuel comparison calculator. the results with your electric rate and cost for oil/gal will be an eyeopener. "One last question - I've hear the higher end models are more sophisticated, but also havemore parts, and are likely to have worse reliability -- what are our thoughts?" I have not seen any independent study that would point to reliability problems of upper end systems as opposed to average lower end systems. Most upper end systems offer a 10 yr warranty on parts/compressor and ext warranty that includes both parts/labor is available for purchase. Yes, high eff HP systems will cost more. "full BTUs in both heating and cooling for rated size (what does this mean?)" This means that you want full BTUs in both cooling and heating. For example, if you require a 2 1/2 ton system, then you want 30 KBTUs in cooling and 30 KBTUs in heating at 47 deg outside temp. Anything less and you are shortchanging yourself. Here are a few suggestions.There are others. 1382161 Active Systems HERITAGE 15 AMERICAN STANDARD, INC. 4A6H5030A1 4TEE3F39A1 30000 13.00 15.75 30000 9.00 18000 3032405 Active Systems COMFORT 15 PURON HP CARRIER AIR CONDITIONING 25HCB530A30 FV4BN(B,F)005 30000 13.00 16.50 29400 8.80 17300 904419 Active Systems PERFORMANCE 15 PURON HP CARRIER AIR CONDITIONING 25HPA530A30 FE4ANF005 30000 13.50 16.00 29200 9.00 16900 numbers provided from the AHRI HP Directory IMO Here is a link that might be useful: Fuel Comparison Calculator

First of all, electric, propane, and coil costs vary across the country. You need to research the rates for each fuel in your area and make a decision accordingly. I will warn you to watch out for propane though; that stuff is pricey and may end up costing you more to run than oil. The equipment sizing in your quotes is indeed all over the map and you need to look into that. The way Manual J load calculations work is: garbage in, garbage out. Assuming all the contractors actually did Manual J and not some other load calc, the only explanation for the different sizing is that they used different values. I would ask to see the calculations so you might be able to see why they vary so much. 40K Trane (TUH1B040), 60K Trane (TUH1B060), 80K Bryant, 85K Thermo Pride, 100K Thermo Pride, what a mess. Actually the 100K Thermo Pride and 80K Bryant will be similar in output because of the differences in efficiency, but the other quotes are all over the place. As for one Trane contractor saying the furnace needed to be moved to the attic and the other didn't, that could be because of physical size differences between the 040 and 060 models quoted? Not really sure what's going on there though. For the heat pump quotes, you are seeing air handlers quoted larger than the outdoor units because the efficiency of the system is higher when you do that. You do sacrifice some dehumidification in the summer, though. Variable speed air handlers are more efficient than multi speed models, and are better at dehumidification. I would strongly recommend going with one if you can swing it. Comfort R is included on all Trane variable speed air handlers and is just a marketing term for the ramping profile on the blower for better dehumidification. It is an OK way to dehumidify, but a better way in my opinion is dehumidify on demand. This lets you set a humidity setpoint, and the system will slow down the variable speed blower when you go above it. You do not need to use a Trane thermostat for any of the system's functions to work. The Trane 803 is a rebranded Honeywell VisionPro 8000 which can only overcool to dehumidify, which is not optimal at all. I would want at least the VisionPro IAQ on any of the systems you were quoted with a variable speed blower. That way you will be fully taking advantage of the equipment you paid for. Heat strip sizing is covered in the Manual J load calculation. They say to size it to 80% of the whole heat load for the home. Some contractors prefer to size to cover 100% in cases where the heat pump fails and you need it to meet the whole load. I'm sure the companies would be happy to give you prices without the maintenance plan. That would be the first place I would go to cut costs. I am not really a Trane guy so can't comment on issues (or lack thereof) with the TAM7 Hyperion air handlers. Hopefully someone else here who works with Trane more can answer that. This post was edited by hvtech42 on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 15:25