DEAR DAME EVELYN , One thing I notice did not get mentioned [in your recent disquisition on stoves] is that many of the higher-end ranges require a larger gas hookup than is standard for a home or condo. That's how the burners can be so much more powerful. It's not an efficiency issue – they're getting a lot more gas. The downside, of course, is that most home gas lines can't handle it. And getting in a larger hookup (which PG&E has to do all the way from the street) is going to set you back significant $$, which you need to add in to your cost figures.

Moneybags

Querido, Well, let us consider the grand-restaurant-range parade duly rained upon. Dame Evelyn does not care to mess with PG&E, nor does she wish to advocate the heedless consumption of still more fossil fuel. Big, powerful – expensive – ranges aren't for everyone, and, as has been widely noted over the years, conventional electric ranges, which operate on a 220-volt circuit (not a rare item by any means) produce nearly as much heat as a professional-grade stove while costing far less. The difference is that the response isn't instantaneous, as is the case with gas. You have to wait for the element to heat up, and you have to be careful when you've finished cooking whatever it is you're cooking, because the element doesn't know you're done and will remain very hot even after you turn it off. Having said all that, I am not sure the hookup you're describing is so very unusual. God knows the streets are being dug up every day in this city, lines of every sort being laid, buildings being renovated. Dame Evelyn's own gas service was upgraded some years ago – bigger pipes were installed, if dim memory serves – and while the work wasn't free or altogether pleasant, it didn't break the bank, and it didn't require the offices of PG&E other than their turning the gas off and then back on. Improvements to a utility service, especially when flammable substances are involved, can help one sleep better at night.

Flamingly, E. G.-S.