I have both. I have a 1950’s Chambers gas range that isn’t hooked up yet, and an electric. I can’t wait to get rid of my electric!
StG
Electric, always and forever. I have a (probably irrational) fear of gas appliances.
BUT it is still very possible to fill the house with gas by having the knob turned on and no flame. I’ve had it happen at my house. But I still love a gas stove.
We have gas (which seems to be standard in NYC apartments), and I also grew up with gas stove/oven in my parents house.
When I lived in Virginia and Michigan, electric seemed to be more standard. Ugh! HATE!
All gas here. My adorable little apartment sized oven/stove looks very much like this one from Bridget Burke’s link. When I first moved into this apartment, I was a little nervous about gas, but over the years I’ve gotten used to it and I wouldn’t want to go back to electric.
I do have traditional pilot lights which I frequently have to relight with a long kitchen match. I am very attuned to the smell of the gas when the lights go out, so I can relight them quickly.
Gas, both stovetop and oven, and I love it. I grew up with electric and when I first had a gas stove, I was kind of nervous about it too. Now I absolutely prefer the heat control, the ability to get some really high heat on the stovetop for certain uses, and so on.
Gas stove/oven, water heater, clothes dryer and furnace.
I’ve used electric stoves before, in a rented apartment, but even then the other appliances were all gas. I was very happy to get back to a gas stove, even with the not quite as even oven.
Gas. I’ve had gas in all five apartments I’ve rented since 1983.
When I was a kid we did have an electric stove a couple times, but mostly gas. I prefer gas, but that might be because I so used to it.
Thanks everyone (so far). One of the main reasons I asked was because last night one of my pilot lights went out and I didn’t know it. So, in trying (in one of the rare times I use it) to cook a pizza, nothing happened…although I didn’t know it until I got out of the shower and smelled the huge aroma of gas filling the house. I shut the oven off and opened the doors and it dispersed quickly, thankfully…but then I faced a problem because:
- I didn’t know how to light a pilot light.
- I was too afraid to teach myself or try to.
- It was Friday night so there is no apartment maintenance until Monday
- Horror stories went through my mind of the gas slowly leaking out/escaping while the flame was out. I mean I’ve heard a day and a half or a day with it out isn’t too bad (that it’s not enough to harm a person or animal), but this would have been three full days.
So suffice to say, this wasn’t helping my unease with gas stoves.
Just now, though, the fix-it guy was paged because I tried the number and he came out and told me the pilot light is on. So then HE tries to start the stove up and…
…it doesn’t start up for a long time. He turns it on but it doesn’t come on for about 15 seconds. And then he tells me this is normal (!?). Uh, normal for the flame on a gas stove to take 15 to 20 seconds to pop on fully when you turn on an oven? That just doesn’t sound right to me. All the movies and even in real life when I’ve used it (or seen someone use it) it’s been only a few seconds–like two or three–not twenty.
So anyway, I’m still more uneasy than ever at using this gas range. It’s a very old one. They all are. They all came with the apartments and I’ve been here about 6 years and who knows how long it’s been here before me (the complex is 20 years old). For all I know it’s been here that long. It looks that old.
So I’m going to stick with the microwave. Oh, and I made this topic to (hopefully) hear how “great” gas stoves were and take away some of my fear of them (and also hopefully hear about how an out pilot light ISN’T that dangerous after all and that a 15 to 20 second delay IS normal).
I got my first gas stove/oven in 2002, when I moved into this apartment. Before that I only lived in areas with electric hookups. I much, MUCH prefer cooking with gas, though I admit to being very intimidated by the whole pilot light thing. Once mine went out, and I didn’t realize it for a really long time. I have a terrible sense of smell, and though I could tell something was off, the odor wasn’t that strong (to me) and I didn’t connect it with the stove. A neighbor came over to feed my cat and she noticed it right away. I called the gas guy and they were nice enough to re-light it, and explain how I could do it myself (though truth be told I would probably never have the nerve).
So I slept in a gassy apartment for several days and it didn’t kill either me or my cat, if that’s any consolation.
I would rather live in a shack with a gas stove than a mansion with an electric stove…course if I lived in the mansion I could afford to put in a gas stove!
How the heck can people cook with electric? There’s no control! I’d sooner live with just a microwave than use an electric range.
I have a gas stove that does just what you’re describing–takes about 10-30 seconds to light. I’ve had gas stoves all my life, and wouldn’t have an electric(I have, but hated them). My current gas stove(in a rented apartment) is old, takes a long time to light. I thought it was me. But, this seems to not be unusual on old ones.
So, get over your fear, and cook better, non-electrically.
When my wife got her kitchen we went with Gas range and electric double oven. Her reasoning. She likes the gas range because of instant on and off and infinate control. Electric oven because in cooking she saw no difference and the electric ovens had better options.
Well, that does ease my fear a bit more (as did Rachel Rage’s post) so thank you.
I called my mom just a bit ago and she’s like me. Has used electric all of her life and is scared of gas ones. I wonder if this sort of thing runs in families?
Grew up with gas and have a gas stove now. Rented an apartment once with a behemoth of a Chambers. It was awesome!
The only thing I don’t like about gas stoves is the broiler on the bottom. I rarely broil anything, so it’s not much of an issue.
We’ve had several multi-day power outages since we’ve lived here, and having a gas stove was great.
My grandfather, who was a slightly :rolleyes: eccentric inventor, had a phobia about being without proper facilities in the event of a disaster (tornado, storm, nuclear attack, whatever) even though he lived in a major suburban area. So when he built his dream house, he fabricated a one-of-a-kind prototype of a combination gas & electric stove for his wife. Each burner was a dual one, and you could use either or both kinds of heat at once.
As prototypes often are, it was clumsy, and his wife, who was a very good cook, hated it. I have no idea which burner(s) cooked our excellent dinners when our family got together every Sunday. All I know is she kept her mouth shut about it and suffered in silence.
Idle Thoughts - Here’s an idle thought for you ;): At one point my oven was having problems lighting. It would be very slow and sometimes not light at all. Eventually we had a repair guy come out and take a look, and it turned out that there was a problem with the starter assembly. Once that was fixed, it lit quickly and immediately every time. You might want to have it checked out, just to make sure that the long start time is normal, and not evidence of some slight (non-dangerous) defect.
Gas now; I grew up with electric. When I was in college, my sorority house had ancient gas stoves that were unsafe and I was terrified of them. Some of the girls who lived in the house had used them without incident, but there were others who had had close calls and I remember a couple of times we’d had to call the fire department because of leaks. This led to my having a longstanding distrust of gas stoves.
When my husband and I remodeled our kitchen, he suggested that we convert to gas. I was aghast and told him about my fear. He assured me that modern gas stoves are safe and much better to cook on than electric – and he was so right. I’ll never go back to electric. You can get a much better, more level temperature, and you can turn the stove off. It’s great.
Well, I can understand your concern as gas and flames are nothing to fool with, but relighting a pilot light is quite simple if you ever care to learn how to do it. My parents taught me how to do it when I was a 10 or 12 year old. At least have someone show you how it’s done so it won’t seem all mysterious and secret to you.
Some gas stoves do take a bit of time to start. My understanding is that it’s because they allow only a very, very small amount of gas to be released at any time, even when on highest setting, and it needs a couple seconds to build up enough to start, even with a lit pilot. The gas might smell strong, but that’s because they put the stink in it so that you will smell even very small quantities of gas, much smaller amounts than are dangerous, so you’ll do something about a leak before it becomes a true hazard. If you don’t know these things they are alarming. If you do know them you start to understand that these stoves are not as hazardous as movies/TV/books would have you believe.
There are actually two sorts of pilot lights I’ve had experience with: old fashioned ones, the sort where if they go out you smell the gas, and “electric” pilot lights, which I have now. The older kind you have a small flame burning all the time, which I actually liked for bread baking as even when the stove was “off” the pilot light kept it slightly warm which made an excellent environment in which to let my dough rise. My current oven has the electric pilot. That means when the stove is off it’s really off with nothing burning. The “electric pilot” is really an electrically generated spark that lights the flame when you turn a burner on (Note: this is a simplified explanation devoid of technical details). The downside to that is that when the power is out I have no pilot light. If I want to use the stove I have to light the burner by hand.
Now, before you run out of the room gibbering let me tell you how that’s done. I take an ordinary wood match. I light it. I set it on the stovetop so the flame is almost touching the ring where the gas comes out. I turn on the gas. Gas meets flame and poof! instant light. No build up of gas or anything of that sort. Remove match from area, blow out, and dispose of it. If you get the willies being that close to fire use a long, fireplace match instead.
Even if you don’t plan to use your gas stove much I suggest you at least learn if you have a lit pilot or an electric pilot (sounds like the former, but be sure) and take a look behind the stove. Don’t move the stove, just look behind it. Behind the stove is a gas line. You want to make sure that’s in good shape because that’s where you’re more likely to have any potential problems, not with the burners or pilot lights. Also, ask where the gas shutoff valve is. There should be one, and if you know where it is you will be able to turn it off yourself should you even feel a need to do so. It is HIGHLY unlikely you will ever need to do so (and let’s be honest, if you smell a LOT of gas you should leave and call 911 from a non-gassy location) but I think knowing your have The Power to shut that baby down will make you feel more comfortable about the whole thing.
I can completely understand your concern about this mysterious appliance about which you’ve heard so much bad, and with which you have so little experience. On the other hand, you don’t fear electrocution from an electric stove, do you? Even though electricity is dangerous and potentially deadly you trust the stove/oven to keep it under control. Likewise, gas ovens also keep the gas under control.
I’ve safely cooked on gas ovens that were built in the 1930’s. They last a very long time if not abused. It’s more important the appliance is in good condition than how old it is. The chief advantage of the newer ones is less finicky stuff with the pilot lights, so for that reason I’d recommend you stick to the newer ones given your comfort level with these things.