| Re: need advice on gas range |
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Group: alt.cooking-chat · Group Profile
Author: Jerry AvinsJerry Avins Date: Nov 27, 2006 08:15
ap wrote:
> Hello,
> We have had a whirlpool gas range with electronic ignition. The range
> is about 7 years old and gives us trouble sparking the pilot light. It
> takes
> a while to light up and there is some gas smell.
>
> We are fairly heavy users of the stove and home cook all meals.
>
> We are considering purchasing a new range. A few questions:
>
> Some stores carry the older pilot light models (w/o the electronic
> ignition).
> Are these models better in terms of lighting up immediately?
>
> Which models/brands do you recommend and have worked well for you?
I have a Hardwick that is about 25 years old. I don't plan to replace it
anytime soon.
> Also, with gas ranges, do you occasionally smell gas and does your
> pilot light ever go out?
Are you getting a new range just for the new pilot, or would you get one
anyway?
Your igniters might simply be in need of cleaning. A build-up of
dried-on splashes makes an igniter less effective. A small brass brush
should do the job well. If you buy a new range with electric igniters,
ask the dealer about the best way to keep them working well.
My range has gas pilots. Sometimes, but rarely, one goes out. I keep a
box of matches in the kitchen for lighting candles and lanterns when the
electricity goes off, and occasionally to relight a pilot. On the other
hand, I don't need matches for the burners when the electricity is off,
and I don't know if it is even possible to light an electric-ignition
oven with a match. (My house heater needs electricity to run the
forced-air fan. When electricity fails for an extended time, I can get
an adequate amount of heat by running the oven with the door open and if
more is needed, with the empty gas clothes dryer (no electric ignition
there either) with the exhaust flue disconnected. (My carbon-monoxide
monitor runs on a battery. It has never sounded the alarm.)
An odor of gas is not a health concern. The amount of gas that unlit
pilots emit is inconsequential, and the gas issuing from an unlit burner
won't build up to dangerous levels for the better part of an hour. The
danger comes not from breathing it, but from the risk of explosion. The
natural gas now used is not the same as the coal gas that was once
common. It contains no carbon monoxide at all. Ending it all by putting
your head in the oven doesn't work any more.
Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
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