Range replacement advice please

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Janet H

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My oven died and now I have a giant dilemma. I'm hoping the DC gurus can offer some counsel.

About 5 years ago we gutted and remodeled the kitchen and at the time bought an electric jennaire smooth top slide in range. We got the thing new but damaged at a liquidation type place and paid about $300 (it had a sticker price of $2600. for Jenn Air). The top was cracked and so we spent another $270 to replace the cracked top - still a deal. In the the interim 5 years, we've had to replace that top again after I dropped something on it an cracked it. Fast forward to last week. The circuit board for the oven is dead and google says that this is a common problem as the oven overheats the electronics. The replacement part is another $300.

We have no natural gas in the area so electric has been our only option but.....

We were contemplating installing a propane tank on the side of the house and swapping out our woodburning Fireplace for a propane insert. The kitchen is at the same end of the house. so...... suddenly it might be possible to put in a dual fuel range. Hmm....


Who has one?
  • Do you like it?
  • Does propane cook about the same as natural gas?
  • Are there any models out there that are mechanical i.e. no digital boards? (so sick of electronics dying in appliances. I've had this happen numerous times over the years)

The propane project and fireplace project is spendy and adding a range to it would add to the cost. We had the propane installation scheduled for October - that would be 2 months with no oven.

Would you :

Fix the current one
Wait and buy a dual fuel range
Ignore the issue entirely and use the microwave...


Any thoughts about this?
 
I'm not sure what's meant by "dual fuel". When we bought a gas range for our home on the island, we just made sure that it was good for LP gas, and all that meant is that it came with the kit for converting it. We now have natural gas here in our new home, and I don't see a huge difference. I know that I read that LP didn't burn as hot, so maybe I'm not a great resource. We are also 4000 feet higher here than we were in the Bahamas, so there are many other differences in how things cook, especially when water is a significant ingredient.

I can say that we liked our GE range with LP gas, and we love this new GE Adora with natural gas. I just am so much more a fan of cooking with gas, even though it's only been for the last 4 years that I've had that luxury. I would never go back to electric if I had any choice.
 
I'm not sure what's meant by "dual fuel". When we bought a gas range for our home on the island, we just made sure that it was good for LP gas, and all that meant is that it came with the kit for converting it. We now have natural gas here in our new home, and I don't see a huge difference. I know that I read that LP didn't burn as hot, so maybe I'm not a great resource. We are also 4000 feet higher here than we were in the Bahamas, so there are many other differences in how things cook, especially when water is a significant ingredient.

I can say that we liked our GE range with LP gas, and we love this new GE Adora with natural gas. I just am so much more a fan of cooking with gas, even though it's only been for the last 4 years that I've had that luxury. I would never go back to electric if I had any choice.

Janet, I've spent my life cooking with gas with two short bad memories with electric. We bought the same stove as RP largely on his recommendation and it's a dream. We are obviously at sea level.
 
Time to ditch the current range. It's shown you the future.

A dual fuel range is often considered the best combo. "Experts" prefer electric ovens to gas. Those experts also prefer gas to electric for the cooktop. I agree. Another benefit is that propane is a higher energy gas than natural gas so you'll get even more BTUs from your burners.

I'd also go for a convection oven as you do a lot of baking.
 
From my understanding, you have to change the orifices when converting. Here is a discussion about this:
How to Convert Your Gas Range From Natural to LP Gas
I LOVE our new GE stove. On the right side is has a BIG mother burner, and behind it is a small burner for simmering. Plus it has sealed burners
We also had a question about the difference between convection bake and convection roast and this is the response I got from GE:
In convection bake, the heat comes from the heating element in the rear of the oven (this element is not exposed like the bake and broil elements) and the convection fan circulates this heat evenly, over and around the food.
In convection roast, the heat comes from the broil (top) element only and the convection fan circulates the heated air evenly throughout the cavity. If you are using a roasting rack, the heated air will be circulated over, under and around the food, browning on all sides as if they were cooked on a rotisserie. The heated air seals in juices quickly for a moist and tender product.
 
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...suddenly it might be possible to put in a dual fuel range...
OR, you could replace the oven with a wall unit in electric. Then, after the propane install is done, get a gas cooktop. This was Himself's idea when I was daydreaming about options I could have whenif we move back to OH.
 
We have propane for the fireplace and cooktop, along with an electric double wall oven. I don't use the oven all that much, as I don't bake (and my wife only rarely bakes). The gas cooktop is waaayyy better than the electric cooktop in previous houses. It's one of those ridiculously expensive Vikings, and the only complaint I have is that there is only one burner that is small enough for a gentle simmer on a small pan. The big burner can put out more heat than you ever want to use in a home kitchen. The house came with it, so I didn't have a choice.

If you can manage it, go for the dual fuel setup. You'll forget about the inconvenience waiting for the installation once you have it.

Edit - One more comment. The wall oven has a fan that runs whenever it is on, which was not the case in the previous house with a slide in cooktop and oven. Kind of annoying. My understanding is that this is a common complaint with wall ovens. Not sure if they are all like that, but worth considering.
 
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Souschef, you're right about having to change orifices for propane. I looked at the Adora and it looks really nice. I saw one with a griddle in the middle.

CG, tell himself that's a great idea.
 
Propane is expensive and must be delivered. If its your only choice and you must have gas, go for it. Nice looking tank sitting outside too!
If it was me and only electric was available, I would stick with electric.

A proven inexpensive electric range. You proved what many have been saying over the years.
"High priced, un-tested appliances are not in your best interest"
Buy something thats priced fair and has been in production for some time. This enables the manufacturer to work out any issues.
Better they work them out than the consumer.

Good Luck on whatever you choose. We had a similar decision to make regarding our heating and cooling. Turns out, the decision to go electric was less up front money and lower monthly utility cost.
Propane is expensive.
 
I have the same problem with no gas pipe to the kitchen, so when I replaced my appliances a few years ago I bought a glass top stove. If I had it to do over I would have gotten the induction range. I use an induction burner in the Amoretti test kitchen and I really like the way it works. It's instant on/off like gas, it boils water in under a minute, it doesn't heat up the kitchen, and if you are doing something like deep frying, you can set the burner for temperature, so there's no need for a thermometer in the pot. I need to call Jerome, the appliance guy to fix my dishwasher and maybe my dryer, so while he's there I will ask if it's feasible to replace my cook top with an induction unit. I usually don't trust repair people, but Orange Julius trusts Jerome, so I trust Jerome.
 
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Propane is expensive and must be delivered. If its your only choice and you must have gas, go for it. Nice looking tank sitting outside too!
If it was me and only electric was available, I would stick with electric.

A proven inexpensive electric range. You proved what many have been saying over the years.
"High priced, un-tested appliances are not in your best interest"
Buy something thats priced fair and has been in production for some time. This enables the manufacturer to work out any issues.
Better they work them out than the consumer.

Good Luck on whatever you choose. We had a similar decision to make regarding our heating and cooling. Turns out, the decision to go electric was less up front money and lower monthly utility cost.
Propane is expensive.

Actually the tanks can be buried. That's how we had it on the island - just the fill valve and meter stuck up out of the ground.

It's not that expensive - every farm out here in wheat and corn country uses LP gas. We paid about $400 for a tank fill that would last us about a year (About $33 per month, and that was in the Bahamas where the prices for gas imported by freighter were significantly higher than here). However, we only used it for cooking. No need for home heating there, and the water heater was electric (which wasn't that cheap either, as the generators at the power station ran on diesel, also imported).
 
I would not go back to electric for love or money.

used both LP and natural. LP is a bit hotter - but that's why they put knobs on the front.....

in NJ we had a buried LP tank. the EPA classifies them as UST (Underground Storage Tank) and as some terrible opportunity to pollute. yeah yeah yeah, it's a gas and 'goes away' - but we're talking about government morons here....

because it was such a pollution danger, the tank remained the property of the LP gas supplier and that meant we could not shop around for LP gas. we had to buy it from the tank owner and that was the end of that story. budget beware.....

my advise, don't bury anything. plant a big bush. get two tanks. the one always runs out at 10AM on Thanksgiving Day....

the cost to install LP gas lines is seriously affected by local codes. here the nat. gas is black iron piped to a manifold and flexible lines used to feed cooktop/water heater/furnace. in my parents house (DE) they could run copper tubing to the stove. hard black iron pipe end to end is the most expensive option.
 
Lots of good comments here. :)

A wall oven is not an option - we just don;t have the space. When we remodeled a few years ago we actually removed a wall oven in favor of a range and reclaimed so much good counter space and upper cabinet space with this choice that I could never go back.

The current range has a lovely convection oven - I loved the thing. But now faced with yet another repair, it seems like throwing good money after bad.

Does anyone have experience with a propane oven? Are there some that are self cleaning?
 
...Does anyone have experience with a propane oven? Are there some that are self cleaning?

If the stove itself has a self cleaning feature, you're all set. Once it's set up to handle propane instead of natural gas, all the stove's features should work fine.

I have a gas (not propane) stove with a SC oven and love the ease of cleaning.
 
Lots of good comments here. :)

A wall oven is not an option - we just don;t have the space. When we remodeled a few years ago we actually removed a wall oven in favor of a range and reclaimed so much good counter space and upper cabinet space with this choice that I could never go back.

The current range has a lovely convection oven - I loved the thing. But now faced with yet another repair, it seems like throwing good money after bad.

Does anyone have experience with a propane oven? Are there some that are self cleaning?

Our LP gas range was selfcleaning - worked just a good as any electric range we've had.
 
A couple of comments:

We have a 100 gallon tank for the cooktop and fireplace. We probably don't use the fireplace more than 20 hours per year, and I don't think we use the 100 gallons in a year. I have them fill the tank in late November before the snow comes, as the tank is in a location that is not easy to get to in the winter. They usually show up in the spring to fill again. Memory says that it was only 25 or 30 gallons this spring.

I know some people who purchase their own tanks and then shop around for price, but that's for heating. I think that most have the tank rental included in their supply agreement. We pay a lot for a gallon of propane, as we don't use much. Still works out to only a few hundred dollars per year. If you rent the tank, you don't have any responsibility for maintenance.

Piping requirements will depend upon local regulations. We have flexible hose running in the crawl space.

I have no experience with induction cooktops, but I would never want to go back to a conventional electric cooktop again.

If I were in your shoes, I would quickly get some price estimates, and then decide which way to go. Personally, I would spend a fair premium for the gas cooktop. I enjoy cooking, and life is too short to spend so many hours in a kitchen that has compromises. Just my opinion.
 
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Induction cooktops are the most economical kind of electrcal cooktop, as there is no wasted heat rising around the pot/pan. The only downside I know of is that if you lose power, say a squirrel decides to fry itself on a nearby transformer on the power lines, you have no cooktop. On the other hand, you never have to worry about running out of LP. In our area, Liquid Propane is one of the pricier options. And it's cold enough that many people have to fill their tanks twice a year or so. My co-worker had complained of 1200 dollar heating bills if the winter is very cold.

I like induction stoves for their safety, their functionality, and because I'm part geek and understand how they work. I do use a natural gas stove and oven in my home and liek every other appliance made by the hands of human, it needs maintenance every now and again. I've had to replace the burners, which just plain wore out, with multiple ports shooting out a great flame, while others gave just a little flame. I've had to replace the oven's hot surface igniter, and the spark igniters on the cooktop.

There is no perfect stove/range. You have to look at your situation and decide which is the most economical and useful option for you. Each has advantages, and disadvantages. And remember, expensive does not always mean high quality. Sometimes it just means expensive. Look for consumer report reviews.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 

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