Whilst planning a replacement kitchen my wife wants to replace our electric hob with a gas hob, just in case we get a power cut (which we rarely if ever get). When I read the spec on new gas hobs most of them talk about auto-ignition and automatic gas shut-off valve if there is no flame. Which suggests to me that they need to be connected to mains electricity.
Does anyone know whether new gas hobs need an electricity supply and if they do will they work in a power cut?
Jerry
Some do, some don't.
I have yet to meet one that can't be lit with a match if there is no power - but such a thing may exist!
Yes. Some do, some don't.
I'm sure I've come across auto-ignition models where, if there's no spark, there's no gas supply? Could be wrong...
David
Some have a large enough burner nowadays that they have to include flame failure detection which cuts off the gas, although the one I'm familiar with uses a thermocouple and I think it will still work without the electricity connected.
You can get electric ignition or battery pack ignition.
-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite
The two gas hobs we've had in this house, one wouldn't go without 'leccy and the present one (a Zanussi gas-on-glass) will. This one has flame failure detectors which work even without the 'leccy, so it's fine when there's a power cut.
AFAIK .... :) Gas hobs are controlled by the 'knobs' /Valves for each burner. Many such hobs have a ignitor system that produces a spark between an insulated spark point and the burner that causes the gas to ignite, The sparks are usually called by depressing the knob while turning it on - mke sure the gas is lit before releasing the depressed knob. Some of the ignitors may be powered by batteries [the first one I had in the mid-seventies was one such type and the ignition was obtained by depressing a discrete button] ... but most newer one are mains-powered so need an electricity supply _to energise the ignitors_.
In the event of a power cut, the burners may be lit using a match and/or spark generator (available in most hardware shops and/or Tesco, Sainsbury/Asda whatever).
When we've had a power-cut, the 'emergency-kettle' is extracted from the back of the cabinet and then boiled on the gas hob lit by a match.
IMHO, this back-up ability is a consideration for having a gas hob - in a power-cut the coffee maker, electric kettle, microwave et. al. revert to being expensive paper-weights ... but the match-lit gas hob will cook your food.
HTH
I assume you have had a gas hob in the past? If not, make sure you both realise how dirty gas is compared to electricity.
I have a gas oven - I would never ever get another one. Buy a calor gas camper stove for the rare power cuts.
In message , Geoffrey writes
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Our cooker is battery ignition (so works during a power cut as I found out the other day when the wiring in the road blew up!).
And our gas 'mutipoint' still heats our water and our gas fires still heat us (not that we seem to turn the latter on much thes days?). ;-)
Oh, and the electric storage rads also keep the place warm (as long as the power cut isn't over night ).
All the best ..
T i m
I have a gas cooker - my sister has electric. Her cooker takes minutes to clean, mine takes a LOT longer. I hate cleaning and I am forever scraping my fingers on those damned electronic ignition posts. They break too.
My next cooker will have a ceramic hob and a self cleaning oven and never again will I have gas (unless of course I also have someone to clean it for me).
Clearer? :)
If you buy an electric hob, then never again will you bother to cook.
Christian.
And there speaks a man who has someone else clean up for him.
I cook every day and I clean every day. Microwaves are a godsend and life sucks :)
I wish. It takes less than a minute to clean a gas hob. You'll save at least that in cooking time, assuming it is even possible to cook the dish on electric. Sauted potatoes or stir fry on electric? Yeah right. It's fine for heating beans, provided you can wait until tomorrow for them to get hot enough.
Christian.
The original poster refered to a gas _hob_: you have given your opinions about a gas _cooker_. Although a 'cooker' will have burners on the top of the intergrated unit, most d-i-y-ers would consider that a _hob_ as refering to the cooking situation where the _hob_is a dicrete unit seperate from the _oven_. IMHO; anybody who is daft enough to have a gas _oven_ doesn't understand that there's a 'big' hole to allow the products of combusion _OUT_ in order to permit maintenance of an internal temperature. Electric Ovens, on the other hand, are effectively sealed units keeping the majority of the expensively purchased heat_IN_.
Contrarywise, an electric _hob_ is slow to respond to temperature change demands - but both elctric and gas hobs are dumping heat into the kitchen,
As for cleaning - a wipe with a (clean) cloth after cooking suffices to remove any boiled over and/or fat splashes. Very rarely any 'burnt-on' residue might require some 'washing-up' detergent liquid but I've never (previously) heard anybody declaim how difficult it is to clean a gas hob.
YMM - self-evidentily does - V,
Have you been cooking magic mushrooms? Ceramic hobs (and solid plate electrics) are light years ahead in ease of cleaning. In comparison gas hobs and radiant ring electrics take an absolute age to clean.
eh? Gas is no quicker than electricity, it might be slightly more controllable but that is just about its only virtue. (being able to cook when all the lights go off this winter might be another!)
Absolutely no reason why not.
I hate beans (assuming you mean baked ones) cooked on gas or electric.
OK, a ceramic hob takes 30 seconds, whilst the gas takes a minute. So what? It takes longer when you clean the rings themselves, but this is a five minute job once a month, or less than that.
We obvious have used different electric cookers. It takes about a minute before the hob is even warm. When it is, it fails to transfer anywhere near enough heat, even if you can find a horrible to use flat bottomed Wok to attempt it with.
Christian.
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