I'm considering a new oven


 
Clint

Clint

TVWBB Olympian
Or maybe not.

My oven is at least 9 years old, maybe more than 16. It's on old electric with 4 coil burners on top.

Yesterday while cooking fish sticks for lunch (I'm a real gourmet sometimes) I noticed the bottom burner had a hot spot and appeared to be starting to burn through so I switched it over to broil. The burner needs to be replaced and I know I can do that easily.

I don't really have a need to replace it other than the clock is always set to 4:20 (doesn't work), and the only thing that bothers me is how I smoke the house up especially when cooking chicken wings.

Do the new ovens vent to the outside? I looked and didn't see anything about this, or if it's just something I have to deal with.

Ideally, I'd switch to gas, and it wouldn't be that hard since my kitchen is almost directly above my furnace/water heater.

I also noticed that the electrics I looked at had smooth tops - no more coils. I've read that they're inductive and your pots/pans all have to be ferrous (no stainless unless it's made special for inductive cook tops). I don't have a huge stainless collection but 80% of it is.

So my concerns:

venting (stink up the house w/ my chicken wings)
inductive (what technology is used, are there variations?)

I'd appreciate it if you guys can help clue me in....
 
If you go gas, you'll definitely need a fan that vents outside. Don't go cheap. You need to move a lot of air. Probably in the $500-600 range. You will probably need to have the exhaust pipe made larger as well (diameter). Don't know of any exhaust systems that are part of the stove. Do NOT get anything that vents into the room. I've also seen systems that vent into the attic. Shake my head at that one.

Vent-a-hood, Wolf and Zephyr come to mind. Pay attention to "sones". The noise some of the better ones put out (on high) put airplane engines to shame (but they push a LOT of air).

Induction uses the pot as part of the "connection"-->no pot = no heat even if the stove was turned on.

Pots don't get hot like on a "normal" element but they are another expense.
 
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sounds like I'll want to go gas when I'm ready. Not now if it doesn't make sense. I just paid off one debt (took 2 years), need to catch up and pay another.

I'll be the jackass you see walking through home depot tomorrow with a heater element in hand ;)

There's not vent on my stove right now - my microwave doubles as a hood - it has a fan that circulates the air through a charcoal filter & then back into the room. When I installed it there was an option on how to mount the fan - either vent into the room or mount it facing backwards & it'd go another way. Guess I could look at that again.
 
"I'll be the jackass you see walking through home depot tomorrow with a heater element in hand"

If the HD doesn't carry it than call an Appliance Repair shop, if they don't have it they can order it for you.

" There's not vent on my stove right now - my microwave doubles as a hood - it has a fan that circulates the air through a charcoal filter & then back into the room. When I installed it there was an option on how to mount the fan - either vent into the room or mount it facing backwards & it'd go another way. Guess I could look at that again."

Same here. Mine backs up to an exterior wall so venting out the back was doable. HD carries universal microwave vents which has a damper like a dryer vent that keeps the cold air out. The only thing you would have to watch out for is if the electrical feed for the MW is sharing the same stud bay as the vent location.

Tim
 
Thanks Timothy. I may go with a new oven now. I unscrewed the element & it looks like it's soldered along w/ stake-on connections, doesn't just plug into sockets like I expected.....and then instead of just removing the lamp I unscrewed the mount & shorted (BANG!) the light's lead in wires. So now it may be color choices ;). I saw some coil top stoves online so that's encouraging....Might scope out the materials required to go the gas route - one of my friends has the crimpers for the PEX line or whatever it is.

If I go w/ gas, does it need to vent directly outside for C02?
 
You're talking a range, right? a combo oven/cooktop. Then no you don't have to have a fresh air or combustible vent as far as I know.
Check the local building code just in case.

Tim
 
The 2012 edition of the National Fuel Gas code states that venting to exterior is not required for listed appliances. I'm betting any residential range or oven falls under this. I did service work for my gas company and have never heard of red tagging a range or oven for no vent to exterior.
 
I've used a gas oven all my life without a vent. I've never (gack) had any (ureep) health issues. :)
 
Again, it's best to check with the local building department if for any case just insurance.
They go buy the sg ftg of the kitchen and see if it's sealed off from the rest of the house by a door. If you have a small enclosed space they will spec a vent located between an interior wall and an adjacent room just to have air movement.
We do this alot on laundry rooms with a gas dryer. The location of the vent is always over the laundry room door.

Tim
 
Clint, PEX is for water lines, not gas lines. You would want someone to hard pipe the gas line up through the floor then install a shutoff, followed by a flexible appliance connector. Shutoffs for ranges can also be installed before the line runs through the floor. Complete combustion of methane only produces CO2 and water. The vent timothy is referring to would be necessary for a range location where there would not be enough "make up" air to allow for complete combustion. This location is referred to as a "confined enclosure". Your kitchen would have to have less than 50 cubic feet per 1000 btu's/hour, including all rooms that are communicating directly with the kitchen ( where no solid doors are present) for you to have an enclosed space. Timothy's example of a laundry room is a good for a confined space since one can envision a small room with a solid door housing the dryer.

If you bake, I'd recommend a dual fuel range with an electric convection oven and a gas cook top.
 
Nice choice. However, I note:

Gas ovens are not necessarily good if you're doing (a lot of) baking. They do produce moisture (normal) which is not that desirable when you want crispy crusts (ie bread) for which electric excels. The gas cooktop is ok. Get dual fuel. I did. I decided on this model P2B918SEMSS.

edit-->I revisited some of my notes and it is a controversial topic as to whether gas vs elec oven is better. Stands to reason that elec would have a 'dryer' heat but when I make baguettes, I add water/ice to create a LOT of steam (or I mist the bread) which then comes out so crispy it "sings" when cooling. You'll really have to do some searching for "gas or electric ovens better" and make up your own mind. I personally thought at the time that gas burner/elec oven was the way to go in that I love baking. YMMV. There are bakeries out there that use elec ovens and some that use gas. It may be an economic reason though (gas being cheaper than elec).

Cost is always a concern both for a stove and a vent. We don't know what your budget is.


Regarding the inside vs outside vent: you don't want all that moisture (pots boiling) venting into your house. My opinion but if you're getting a nice new stove, get an updated proper vent system too.

The other item is no probe. Granted that some might think of this as a "nice to have but not necessary item".

Let me tell you, it's great option to have. Bring that butt inside after smoking for 6 hours, set the oven at 225 and the probe for 190 and FORGET IT!!

Oven goes off and the meat is cooked to the exact temperature you want. No having to worry about running out of briquets or the wind or anything.

I went through the EXACT situation you are now a year ago doing our kitchen reno. I know whereof I speak.

BTW, don't get a stove that is black. It is AWFUL trying to keep clean (smudges, fingerprints, etc). I thought at that time "it won't bother me". Well, it does ;(
 
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my budget is as little as possible, $1k is a bit of a splurge (I can do the vent myself), especially since I consider myself able to cook on 'anything' (I'm not cocky lol). I don't bake a lot of bread, when I do it's in a zoji breadmaker. I guess pizzas are bread too (I don't do a lot of them either).

Seems they really get nice when you get up to $2k+.... Might be better. & I can def see where the probe would be nice....and the vent.

Half tempted to throw an electric back in there. Don't really want to repair the old POS though.
 
Well I went one cheaper (the next model down).

Now I've gotta run some black pipe. I have a cousin & a friend who are/were pipe fitters if I run into any difficulty. this is the first range I've purchased, seems like a decent choice (sometimes I learn the hard way)
 
Now that's a fine looking appliance. I like that burner layout a lot more than my cook top. That oval burner in the middle is sweet.

Tim
 
Clint, I bought that oven with the Kenmore label and we love it. I also agree with the black cooktop complaint. It's a beech to keep clean.
 
It was delivered this morning - looks great - I feel a little silly for being excited about it but I am. UPS delivered a 12" lodge cast iron pan that everyone's been raving about in the photo gallery or grilling.... thing's huge.

I've almost got the gas line done. My cousin who's a pipe fitter came and inspected my work last night, made up the connections behind the oven, and after work tonight we're going to connect it to the main & fire it up!

Does the top (the metal grates) get scratched up and how do I care for them? Oil? I notice the price has gone up by about $200 (it was ~$840 delivered) so I got lucky with my timing :)
 
Today's Lunch - Lasagna: (a first for me)

205709_4300480312131_738766865_n.jpg
 
It just gets the black kinda worn off where the pots get slid on and off. Nothing to be concerned about.
 
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