No details until tonight, when will be able to view a free stove with a cracked top. Gather at this point it's a complete glass topped stove with oven; but it may turn out to be a separate cook-top and separate oven? No make or model yet. Insufficient details given in local posting! For information any idea what a is typical cost for a replacement glass, also am assuming that the elements and controls can be detached and affixed to the new glass. Also that it is not so old that the glass is no longer available. With these caveats it may not be worth doing? But since would be own labour and tools worth looking into. Any advice please welcomed.
From experience with a friend who bought a glass cooktop stove for his rental house (big mistake) and the experience of others who have posted here, it's very likely you will find the cost of the replacement glass is so high that in the vast majority of cases, it isn't worth it. In the case of the friends stove, the whole thing cost like $320 and I think the glass part was ~ $250. And if you had to pay for labor, obviously it's worse. The exception might be if it were a high end unit, but even then, who knows.
Get the make/model and check it out at some online parts stores. Let us know what you find out.
From experience with a friend who bought a glass cooktop stove for his rental house (big mistake) and the experience of others who have posted here, it's very likely you will find the cost of the replacement glass is so high that in the vast majority of cases, it isn't worth it. In the case of the friends stove, the whole thing cost like $320 and I think the glass part was ~ $250. And if you had to pay for labor, obviously it's worse. The exception might be if it were a high end unit, but even then, who knows.
Get the make/model and check it out at some online parts stores. Let us know what you find out.
========
Personally, I've never heard much good about them from friends that have/had them.
I don't know how much replacement parts may be but we have had our glass cook top for about 10 years and we love it. This is much easier to keep clean. We would never go back to the coil type burners.
Over the past 18 years, in different houses, we have had 3 glass top ranges. None of the 3 were inexpensive, each costing upwards of $1100. I have loved using all of them and we've never had a cracked or broken glass top. In fact, the only minor damage to one of the tops was a small scratch which did not interfere with its function.
Yes, replacement of the tops is not cheap, and I agree if the range was not very expensive, then replacement of the top is impractical.
Having said that, I have never liked cooking on gas, and I would never go back to an electric coil top range.
Aside from the traditional glass cooktops, there are also quartz-halogen and induction cooktops. The replacements for these are even more expensive.
Thank you for all the opinions re glass topped stoves. Seems like a 'Love em' or 'Hate em' situation.
Apparently somebody, not very knowledgeable of electrics and do it your self repairs has taken the 'cracked' stove. Not sure what is their intention is but rather glad to not be involved. Maybe they are going to use it in a summer cabin or something? Wish them well; but think they will find the glass top expensive if they decide to replace. More expensive than finding a used stove we reckon.
Still curious by the way ................ are the electrics and/or burners on a glass top stove detachable; have never worked on one!
Since we tend towards the practicalities and costs of any situation and for many years ran a small catering company whereby one learned to cook on whatever was available at the catering location, whether the stove worked or not was the main consideration! Not just once arriving at a location and having to 'fix the stove' before catering the meal.
Quite coincidentally later that day we were offered yet another cooking stove (not glass topped) free! It must be something to do with "Being able to fix most things" and aversion to wasting anything, harking back to older times. But these days it's called 'recycling'.
This would be our third free used stove, cos we haven't bought a new one since the 1980s. All coil topped and handed over due to friends/ neighbours renovating moving house etc. We declined this last one; because our existing free stove works fine, is easy to fix if ever necessary and have lots of scarpped stove spare bits to do.
Slightly used full size cooking stoves often available for $100 or less. Sometimes just for the trouble of carting them away. I do recall the last 'new' one we bought for a school cafeteria, some 8 years ago cost about $300 brand new. They delivered it (about 5 miles) for free.
I'm not thrilled with our glass cook top. First, you must use pots and pans with a heavy, thick bottom that is very flat, even when it heats up. Second, it's not as easy to clean as I thought it would be. Some burned on food has never come off, even with the special cleaner and scraping with a razor blade, the two accepted ways of cleaning.
As much as my wife and I both love our glass top stove and the one we had in our prior home, I would NEVER place one in a rental home. They are not for use by people who are uncaring or unwilling to take care of them on an as used basis. Renters are not going to care if they clean them right away or let them get dirty and cracked.
If you are asking if the burners under a glass top are removable, the answer is YES. In mine the glass top needs to be removed and the burners simply unplug from the wires that control them.
I have had a glass top range for a little over a year now. I like it, but I am not a chef. Those who are serious about cooking generally prefer natural gas for cooking. Glass top ranges retain heat after they have been turned off, so you must consider that when you cook.
The top does make for a clean look, and it is much easier to keep clean. The top does however cost around $200 for mine.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.