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? about gas stoves
By cyplesma, Section Housing Posted on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 12:07:47 AM MST
why do they use so much electricity

OK,
I have a "gas" stove that seems to use at least 200 watts if not close to 300.
I have a radio shack 300 inverter which the wires feeding it got so hot I was surprised they didn't melt.
I was using a vector 750 watt inverter till I hooked it up backwards on a battery when switching batteries. (it was a very aggravating day). Fortunatly I won the battle cooking the thanksgiving day turkey with this 300 watt inverter three batteries being recharged by a van. but I was just amazed at how much electricity the "gas" stove used to keep it going. The batteries, one lawn & garden tractor battery, one regular car battery, 2 6VDC golf cart batteries (supposed to be 220AH) but I not sure about that now. I could only get 20 - 45 minutes use on a battery no matter which 12 v source I use, even just trying to use the inverter straight from the van while it was running didn't last more then 10 minutes use. whith any of my inverters (3rd is a coleman 1250) it didn't last more then 10 minutes on any source.
I couldn't find a wattage rating on the stove or in it's booklet, but it does use a 120 ac outlet that needs a standard 15 / 20 amp outlet.
I was able to use this same 300 watt inverter to run a light and tv and dish receiver for 2 hours straight and the inverter wires never got hot, the light is a cfl.
so my question is why does a pilotless gas stove need to use 200-300 watts?

? about gas stoves | 12 comments (12 topical)

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by Volvo farmer on Sun Nov 26, 2006 at 06:23:18 PM MST

Time for the appliance repairman to post again.

Yes, most modern gas ranges use a glow bar iginter in the oven. They draw in the neighborhood of 3A @ 120V. The igniter is on whenever the gas is on, it will cycle on and off to maintain an even temperature but duty cycle is probably 60 percent or more.

There were a very few Whirpool ranges made with spark ignition in the oven, they use less power but I don't think they are even available today.

If you are trying to use this range in an off-grid application, I suggest you sell or donate it and get one with a pilot light in the oven. Those use zero electricity to cook with gas.

Those glow bar igniters are great for my business, they often fail within 5-7 years. I'd like to find the engineer who designed that and kiss him on the lips, the going rate is $130 for repair!

Volvo Farmer

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by Shadow on Sun Nov 26, 2006 at 07:32:17 PM MST

Good Post! I'm glad you brought this up. We are just about to start looking for our new kitchen range to be used off grid, with propane. Any particular brand or model we should be looking for? or staying away from? Thanks

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by cyplesma on Sun Nov 26, 2006 at 08:25:10 PM MST

Shadow,

this one is a GE XL44.

The house I'm in is a double wide, I usually have to go to suppliers for those types of homes to get my appliance repair parts.

It's about 5.5 years old so maybe I better get that replace part. Although I don't like the idea of a pilot light, I got 250 lb propane tank, or maybe I can find something in between. or maybe I'll just have to reengineer the stove (of course it'll probably break before then).

heheh

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by Volvo farmer on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 05:46:18 AM MST

Don't buy that part from the people who sold you the mobile home. And I wouldn't buy it 'till the old one fails. Once in a while, I see an igniter last 10 years or more.

Don't buy the GE branded igniter. You'll pay way too much. There's two different kinds of igniters and they're all made in the same factories. If you need a round one, the Whirlpool 4342528 will work at about $20. If it's flat (rectangular), the Maytag 12400035 is available for $15 or so.

Lastly, re-engineering the stove would be quite a project. The whole gas valve would have to be replaced since it senses the 3A from the igniter and opens a bi-metal strip in there to let the gas flow.

Volvo Farmer

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#8)
by cyplesma on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 11:04:10 AM MST

Volvo,

thanks for the info.
I got it copied I'll have to write it down in the manufacturer's book.

I do realize that reengineering would be quite a task.

I like the burners on this stove since they have the electronic spark so you don't need a pilot. It's a shame they can't just do that for the oven.

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by DanB on Sun Nov 26, 2006 at 08:58:28 PM MST

seems like all the new gas stoves have glow bars and electronics, except for the very cheap lousy ones.

I'd look for a nice antique with pilot lights.

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#12)
by Experimental on Tue Dec 05, 2006 at 10:35:16 AM MST

Hello Shadow,
You can buy a new stove at Lowes hardware, that has pilot lites and no electrical at all..
This stove is either natural gas or propane, with a simple conversion setting for the type of gas..
This stove is fairly cheep, but it isen,t a very fancy one -- just very basic and the pilots can be shut off, so you would have to use a match to light the burners.
However, on the oven, you light the pilot, then wait a few minutes for the oven to actually come on -- pretty fool proof !!
There is also the stoves used in motor homes and RV,s, either spark egnited or pilot or match !! (these RV stoves are fairly expensive)
The point being, new stoves are available without electronic starters !!
Happy building, Bill H.........

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by PaulJ on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 04:30:26 AM MST

Yes, we got burnt by the glow bar igniter (pardon the pun). We're off-grid, and did our homework on all our new appliance purchases.

With the gas stove we went as far as calling the manufacturers pay-per-minute technical advice number before purchase, and explaining our situation in detail to ensure that the unit used no electricity while in use (we were concerned that the oven might have a cooling fan in continuous operation).

To our horror, the thing used HALF A KILOWATT of electricity when the supposedly gas oven was operating, thanks to the glow bar.

To the manufacturers credit, all it took was one email to get a full store credit to buy a unit with spark ignition that used no electricity other than the insignificant amount at the moment of ignition. They even let us use the stove until the replacement arrived a month later (didn't repay the call to the technical advice number though).

In Australia, and possibly elsewhere, the glow bar is called "hot element ignition". Beware.

Paul.

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#7)
by thefinis on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 06:01:49 AM MST

I have a commercial stove that I love. They tend to be a bit more old fashion. Mine has piolts for burners and oven It does have adjustment screws so that during the summer I turn off the burner pilots and use matches. The pilot in the oven makes the best jerky better than even the food dryers I have tried.

I liked the spark igniters on my last standard stove but had trouble with the oven glow thingy. I have not run across one with a spark igniter for the oven. Got a brand name? Not sure if I can go back to a regular stove after using the commercial one. I paid about what a new standard one would cost for a used commercial but it came with ss back splash and shelf and 6 burners.

Finis
Texas born and bred

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#9)
by vblueste on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 02:06:37 PM MST

Look into Peerless Premier gas ranges. They use a spark ignition to light a pilot light and then use the pilot light to light the main burners. You can even light it by hand and not use any electricity. I have one of their high end stainless steel models and you can't really tell that it isn't a "normal" stove other then it doesn't have a clock on it. It even comes with the orifices to convert it from NG to LP. I can't say for sure how well it works since we haven't moved in yet, but it did do a good job on the frozen pizza without any electricity at all. (well as good as frozen pizza gets at least).

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#10)
by cyplesma on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 03:10:51 PM MST

thanks,

had the wife check those out she found a few online descriptions and prices on bizrate.com from a google search.

[ Parent ]

Re: ? about gas stoves (3.00 / 0) (#11)
by desertcoyote on Mon Nov 27, 2006 at 10:51:42 PM MST

the sunray brand stove i have uses the spark ignitor for the stoves. i got mine at circuit city, donot know if they are still viable or not. did get a new ignitor for a rental unit a couple years back.

? about gas stoves | 12 comments (12 topical)

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