It bares repeating(and rightly so, as it's a big deal), the RZH and LZH are kinda crap. I mean, don't get me wrong, this is old news that was based off of energy output compared to how much UUM it costs to use the bloody thing, but the numbers were never very good. It also doesn't help that it takes time to fix the thing and time without one in there is dangerous unless it's shut down prior to it being removed and only turned back on when it's back, not to mention the shitty recipe for "fixing" it, as Lapis isn't able to fix it 100% but in fact fixes it more then 100% if you only use Lapis(naturally it caps at 100% making this inefficient).
Unless they have changed massively from their old use(a powerful cooling unit that can soak up X amount of heat before needing to be recharged), I'd install GT, configure it to play as nice as I can, just so I can have it's Vacuum Cooling machine and super powerful cooling units. Run the thing so they soak up X amount of heat before shutting down, send them to be cooled, insert cooled ones, repeat, just so I never have to use the bloody things.
~Oh and uhh... off topic but, every time it rains and I'm outside, lightning will ALWAYS strike me and ME only. Is that because I have maxed affinity towards lightning in ars magica 2?
And basically, yeah, Affinity in AM2 is a doubled edged sword. There are boons, there are busts. I guess you're lucky you're not 100% Ender, which has a slew of "issues" that endermen have(rain, sunlight, and water, hurt you for up to 4 HP) and the boon is poison resistance that never hits 100% and automatic night vision when you enter a dark area. Oooh, super useful considering I can't go swimming, go outside if it's daytime, or if it's raining, without taking 4 hearts worth of damage.
Arcane is insane, though. The benefit, I mean, it's kinda godly. First off, after a certain higher then normal affinity level, you get a discount on all spells you cast. Seriously useful. Once you are basically at max affinity(or was it max?) you get a chance to get a buff that makes your next spell totally free. The cost, mind you, is that you take damage beyond what you normally would when hit with magic.
Then there is Life, which, ugh, I don't care how much that endless regen would help, the drawback is pacifism. Breaking it makes ME sick, as the Nausea effect seems to be intended to make players not want to suffer that ever again, but it's hard not to since it's both a vanilla effect and a commonly used one in the modding world.
Over all I think plant players might have it both the best(free food effects above ground during the day! Extra seeds and saplings from things! Climb like a spider on some things!) and the worst(no sunlight is bad for you as you get hungry faster and plus you're slower to walk on most things(if not all) due to "roots your feet are growing and trying to use to grow with" sorta deal. You're basically... Uh... Swampman? No, not really that awesome, but still, some super hero out there that's basically a druid/tree.
These are all documented in your Arcane Compendium, by the way, so if you're at 100% Lightning legit, nicely done! I never could get affinity to increase very quick at all, sadly. But I also rarely get past blue skills, so.. yeah.