Thanks for your ideas. Keep 'em coming if you have anymore. Some of the ideas we're looking into were ones you mentioned.
-Put the controls at the front of the stove, to prevent having to reach over potentially hot burners
-Adding burners and spaces between burners
-Possibly configuring the stove top so that if you decide you don't need to use 2 or 4 burners for some time, you can remove those specific burners and replace them with a flat plate, possibly adding counter space
-Our main idea revolves around having an LCD screen that does a few things. First, this screen would replace traditional knobs, and would work as a sort of control panel for the range. You could turn on which burners you wanted, control the heat, etc.
-Another feature we're considering with the LCD screen is to eliminate the need to open the oven door to check on food. Every time someone does that, they lose anywhere from 25-50 degrees of heat that the oven needs to work to recover. By placing a camera inside the top of the oven, and connecting that to the LCD screen, users would be able to view the food they're cooking by looking at the screen. The idea is to reduce energy inefficiencies that ultimately make the range more expensive to operate. Another (more elaborate) version of this would be to have thermal detecting cameras, so you could possibly see how the heat is being distributed through the food you're cooking. If the front of the food isn't being cooked as well, the range can be calibrated to compensate for this. It's elaborate, and possibly expensive, but the payoff for energy saved would be worth it, considering the range is the #1 most expensive appliance in the household.
-Another option with the LCD screen would be to connect it to a network that's set up through the manufacturers. The idea consists of a few features that would be made available to people. First, let's say that your range is acting strange, like there's a problem with it of some sort. The range, which is sort of acting like a computer, would "log" the information of what's happening, send the data to the manufacturer, who would analyze the data and send back a solution to your unit. If it's software, it can be fixed automatically. If it's something with the machine itself, then the manufacturer can arrange for a technician to come and look at the unit for you. This way, the manufacturer knows exactly what's going on beforehand, and if there's a mistake in the way the unit's been produced, they can alert other owners of the same model.
Another idea with this network is that you could communicate with other users, share recipes, tips, etc. (kind of like this forum, except it's controlled in your kitchen). You could share and save other people's recipes, program the range to remember the recipe and do the work for you (or not, if you want to do everything by yourself), etc. One of the reasons ranges can be inefficient is the fact that some people don't know how to use the range properly. Use the self-cleaning option immediately after cooking; it's already hot and will use less energy to get up to full temperature. Instead of having the oven run for the full time you're cooking, turn it off 5-15 minutes beforehand (depending on what you're cooking), and let the oven cool down as it finishes cooking the food. The main idea we're shooting for is to make the range more energy efficient.
I know that's a lot to read, but if that gave anyone any ideas, I'd appreciate hearing them. Thanks again.
-Leon
