Gas stoves with pilot lights

[mm]

A few months ago I said I saw a stove at Home Depot that used pilot lights. Someone didn't believe me, and I said I'd check again, and I finally remembered.

Yup, they sell them. Americana brand. I suppose that is there house brand. It was the cheapest one they had of course, 300 dollars iirc. The one next to it for 350 had electronic starters.

I liked the cheap one. It was simple but pretty. I think it came in white and black, and it seemed perfectly good enough. Just like the one I grew up with. Except for one problem, that might or might not kill it for me. The broiler drawer wasn't a drawer. It was just a door, and when opened, only could slide the broiler tray out maybe

3/4s of its length before it would fall out (I'm guessing because the broiler tray was in the oven, wrapped in cardboard, and I didn't think I should move it since I wasn't going to buy anything.)

All the others were like I grew up with, a drawer, which one could pull out and see most of the food that was on the tray, and one could pull the tray out of the drawer, too, to see the whole tray.

Considering only the consumer for a minute, I wonder how long it actually takes to use 50 dollars worth of gas for two pilot lights for the top burners, and maybe another one for the oven/broiler. (Most of my life, maybe my entire life with gas ovens, a match was needed to light the oven. I didn't find that inconvenient.)

[Martik]

My old gas furnace used 8GJ (80 therms) per year for the ONE pilot light - about $80. I would buy the electronic one.

[Tom G]

Years ago, I was touting the advantage and cost savings of pilotless ignition ($40 more) to an elderly lady. She said she'd have to think about it and left. She went home and called the gas company and was told she would save about $10 per year. She came back the next day and bought the model with pilot as she said...she wasn't all that sure she would live long enough to realize the savings. Like I said this was many (almost 30) years ago and I'm sure gas prices have gone up since. Government regulations were changed to require any range with an electric cord had to have pilotless ignition. In Arizona, we used to sell a lot to people who lived far out in the desert or on the reservation where they didn't have electricity.

Tom G.

[maradcliff]

One other thing to consider is the cost to repair those pilotless stoves. Mine quit sparking last year. I was quoted well over $100 for the parts. I just bought a 50cent Bic lighter and keep it next to the stove. It's not that big of a hassle to "flick my Bic" when I turn on the burner. Doing it this way actually saves both gas and electric, except for the 50cent lighter. A pilot model can also have the pilot shut off and use a lighter. Being on a fixed budget, one learns to find ways to save money and that saves energy. The small inconvenience of flicking the lighter is surely not anywhere close to $50 worth of gas, or over $100 for parts. Some people are just getting too soft these days and want everything to be instant and push button. My parents had to haul in firewood, make kindling, and start an actual fire. To me that's work..... I'll stick to my gas and Bic lighter, and that's convenient enough for me.

[Doug]

Actually almost every maker of gas ranges still offers a base model with standing pilots.

There's a demand for them, not just based upon cost but based upon places where there might not be electricity or an electric outlet near the range.

I'm a landlord and I also buy them for most of my apartments. Considering that I've had tenants trash expensive stoves as rapidly as they trash cheap ones, the cheaper ones are the way to go for me. Ever see a range catch fire because literally two inches of grease has built up under the burners (that was an electric range)? Having tenants sit or stand on open oven doors also does wonders for them...

I have a big old 36 inch gas range in a cottage. When I'm not using the gas heat and doing minimal cooking, the bill is virtually the minimum monthly service amount.

That's with a range that has FOUR standing pilots. It has two pilots for the top burners, one for the oven and one for a space heater. Yes, it's an old "Gas & Gas" heating/cooking range.

Another poster stated that it cost him $80/year to run a pilot? I find that hard to believe.

Doug

[Lawrence]

I have standing pilots on my gas apppliances. The thing I don't like about the pilots on the stove is that they noticeably heat up the kitchen. it is especially annoying this time of year when I am using an air conditioner in that space. yea, I could turn off the pilots if it bothers me so much but it doesn't bother me so much that I have snuffed them. I like the electronic ones though and would like to have one.

[m Ransley]

They are good for lanlords where the tennant pays cooking gas since they provide extra heat to an apt actualy lowering the lanlords heating bill in winter. Mine heats my kitchen 5f in winter. A downside in summer is they put an extra load on the Ac, I turn off my pilots in summer and my kitchen is 5f cooler. Use a welder spark lighter to light the pilots, it lights them better and its cheaper than buying lighters. For a homeowner they just waste gas and make extra heat.

[Joseph Meehan]

During the winter you will come out slightly ahead, but you will be paying double during the summer.

[HeyBub]

There are about 300 matches in a twenty-nine cent box, say 1/10 cent each. How often do you light a burner?

Do the math.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Running a pilot on a singe stove is not a big deal, but it is when multiplied by how many gas stoves in the world. 10 million? 30 million? I'm sure it is a lot.

[Jim Redelfs]

I guess it was only a matter of time...

"The economy of scale" has, in the 21st century, morphed into "The eco-impact of scale".

You neglect to consider the environmental impact of the manufacture and disposal of the alternative piezo systems, most of which are replaced several times during the time that a single pilot will operate flawlessly.

How about the countless oil drilling operations that "flare" waste gas? That alone would probably operate your 10-30 million pilot lights for years.

It's all about proportion and balance, folks. The restriction/elimination of DDT probably saved a few thousand bald eagles. How does that compare to the MILLIONS of people that died of malaria as a result of the same DDT restriction/elimination?

I wish our (bought-new in 1991) gas range required manual ignition for the oven. As it is, it has a heating element/glow plug that has died, and been replaced, twice. As infrequently as the oven is used overall, it would have been A LOT cheaper - for ME - to have a standing pilot or, better, required lighting with a match.

Near my home is a "new" neighborhood where the oldest home is probably 4-5 years old. The area was developed with GAS LAMPS for street lights. I know they have not resurrected The Old Lamplighter job and that these dual-mantle units operated night AND day. I think I'd prefer high pressure sodium.

[mm]

Oh, yeah, this pilot light stove didn't even have a clock (like all of the gas stoves I've used). The gas stove for 350 next to it had a digital display which was probably a clock only, and maybe a timer. It wasn't plugged in so I could't tell.

That makes sense. They can't very well bbe expected to use electronic ignition without electricty. I wonder who buys them in Dallas and Baltimore, where I've seen them for sale.

I was pretty sure that pilot lights were expensive, but it's good to know how expensive in case the topic comes up.

As to wasting, sometimes I think we could power the entire country of Dahomey with the electricity used in US public bathrooms when no one is in the building.

[mm]

You're right about things being easier, and maybe right about people being too soft now. When my parents got married the furnace was coal, and when my father was at work, I guess my mother had to stoke the furnace. She was healthy but 37 and 5'4" and not in a position to grow many new muscles.

So he had a stoker put in, which meant he only had to fill the stoker in the morning, when he got home from work, and maybe before going to bed. Just as much coal...the stoker just put it in the furnace gradually. (I think some later railroad engines worked that way??) Doing so much at once made him tired, and he was 53 years old )and often walked two miles to work. (worked downtown but it was a small town.)

So he changed it to a gas furnace. Then there was no work.

[mm]

Of course. I just wanted ammunition for those who don't care about the other 30 million. Or care a bit, but mostly worry about their own cash flow.

[mm]

Yes. Even though my mother's gas stove only had two pilot lights for the burners, none for the oven, she would keep food warm in the oven using only the heat from the pilot lights above the oven. It wasn't that warm, 75 or 80, or 85? I don't know, but it was convenient.

In those days I was too young and no one else would have thought to turn off the pilots in the summer, even if there were valves to do so.

[mm]

If "you" means me specifically, I think "double" is only if I use AC and I rarely do.

But when I do have the AC on, this past week, every thing I do bothers me, like if I leave a 75 watt light on, I wonder how many watts it takes the AC to remove those 75 watts.

[mm]

I meant if one used the pilots, but I'd be willing to turn them off if I could.

Did the old gas stoves have a way to turn off the pilots without damaging them?

Do the new ones tell you how to turn off the pilots?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

True, and many jobs were created to manufacture those systems. One of the most used, Norton, is still made in the USA also. (but not for much longer)

Not much of a consideration. That gas would be burned off anyway.

I'd prefer no lights in most cases. We waste a lot of energy lighting unused parking lots and roads with no traffic.

[mm]

I thought that was his point. I don't know about drilling, but I think refineries that used to burn off a lot of gas have come up with some way to use it or sell it.

[hallerb]

theres a flame height adjustment screw, tighten it gently and the pilot will go out.

I did that on our old stove it had 2 pilots I turned off one.

pilot lights on stoves can be a fire hazard, had realtive who forgot kitchen clean up wrag on stove, had pretty bad fire.

there new stove was pilotless