# Electrical outlets on stoves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 10, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934 "2023-11-10T12:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/21 "2023-11-10T20:49:18Z")
I completely forgot about them until now, but I do vaguely remember the old harvest gold circa 1975 electric stove in my childhood home having one. It rarely if ever got used; even a 1970s kitchen had adequate outlets for everything we’d want to plug in without needing to use the one on the stove. When my parents remodeled the kitchen circa 1990 I don’t think the new stove they got had one. But maybe it did; I’m not completely certain. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/22 "2023-11-10T21:07:31Z")
Yeah, i routinely leave pans on the stove overnight. It’s not as if they would catch on fire. I don’t think my cats are capable of turning on the stove. What else might do that? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/23 "2023-11-10T21:11:43Z")
If you’re the only one in the house: probably only you. Maybe you never come in the kitchen, turn something on, realize it isn’t on and think you forgot to turn it on and turn it on again (getting the right burner the second time) and then turn the (correct) burner back off and leave the room. I have had people do that. Or at any rate, I’ve come into the kitchen when there are multiple people in the house, and found an empty pan on a turned-on burner; sometimes starting to stink. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/24 "2023-11-10T21:17:49Z")
I do remember them on my grandmother’s huge kitchen range. Hers was some weird combination of gas range and oven, but with a work area next to the burners and there was, indeed, a double plug. But this kind of made sense because back in the 20s and 30s, ranges were freestanding and not expected to fit into a built-in counter setup. But still doggone dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/25 "2023-11-10T21:23:20Z")
Had a stove with an outlet well into the 80s, but it was pretty old. Don’t recall ever using that outlet. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/26 "2023-11-10T21:24:26Z")
No, that’s never happened at my house. Sometimes someone is cooking something, removes the pot from the stove, and forgets to turn off the flame. And rarely someone else notices because they were about to rest a pot there. But usually, someone notices just because they were looking at the stove. Maybe that’s more of an electric stove hazard? Anyway, i am slightly worried that a burner might be intentionally turned on, and then left long enough that the food dries out. I am not at all worried that a burner might go on under a random thing on the stove. I mean, i don’t leave flammables on the stove, just because. But I’ve never worried about metal stuff. Getting back on topic, i suspect that courtesy outlets on the stove were really useful back when houses (and kitchens) had fewer outlets. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/27 "2023-11-10T21:31:21Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Maybe that’s more of an electric stove hazard? Ah. Yes, I’m talking about electric stoves. There’s nothing visible about a turned-on burner unless it’s on full high heat and has had time to get there, except for a little red light that might be behind the pot in question and appears to be possible for a careless person to miss even if it isn’t. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Getting back on topic, i suspect that courtesy outlets on the stove were really useful back when houses (and kitchens) had fewer outlets. I suspect that you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/28 "2023-11-10T21:48:49Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > Getting back on topic, i suspect that courtesy outlets on the stove were really useful back when houses (and kitchens) had fewer outlets. > > I suspect that you’re right. Yes, it’s amazing how much things have changed. My current new-ish house has 20A outlets every couple of feet along all the countertops. Those are the ones with the little horizontal slits for the special plugs of high-current appliances (none of which I own). But I can confidently run both the air fryer and microwave at the same time, plus other things like a mixer or blender, with no worries. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/29 "2023-11-10T22:28:32Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Maybe it’s more common in Canada? I haven’t had an electric stove since about 2001, so not for me. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/30 "2023-11-11T03:20:53Z")
My mom’s old stove (we moved into the house in 1971, and it wasn’t new then) had one. I haven’t thought about that in years. I don’t think we used it; there was an outlet on the wall right next to the stove, and I’m not even sure the stove outlet worked. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/31 "2023-11-11T04:45:32Z")
I’ve seen them. Gas stoves have electrical needs. The igniters are electric. Lights are electric. If there’s a timer or clock you need electric. I’ve never had a stove with an outlet though. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/32 "2023-11-11T04:56:32Z")
I remember my grandmother routinely using her slow cooker on top of the stove. The range in this picture is similar to her setup, including the clock: [![](https://retrorenovation.com/wp-content/gallery/vintage-major-appliances-uploader/image-13208750cdf26be2b99a85ec3e549c2f838dae99.jpg) ](https://retrorenovation.com/wp-content/gallery/vintage-major-appliances-uploader/image-13208750cdf26be2b99a85ec3e549c2f838dae99.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/33 "2023-11-11T14:33:26Z")
I certainly recognize the oven door (with a window), but what’s the door-resembling thing to the left of that for? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/34 "2023-11-11T15:33:48Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Gas stoves have electrical needs. They do now. They didn’t use to. I used, in the 1970’s, a gas stove that was already old at the time. You lit the thing with a match. You lit the oven with great caution. If you didn’t get the timing just right, there would momentarily be a LOT of flame – or none at all, but it wouldn’t be safe to try again immediately; you needed to wait for any accumulated unlit gas to dissipate. My mother, born in 1914, was afraid of gas stoves. I don’t blame her. > [@Seanette](#): > > I certainly recognize the oven door (with a window), but what’s the door-resembling thing to the left of that for? I don’t know about that particular stove; but it might have been a storage compartment. So might the one at the bottom. I never found those storage compartments very useful – grease and other cooking detritus seemed to creep into them over time, so anything stored there often needed to be re-washed before using. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/35 "2023-11-11T15:41:51Z")
Many years ago I worked as an electrician wiring a new apartment complex. The code for kitchen outlets had recently changed requiring an outlet every 3 feet and all to be controlled by an ground fault outlet. This was a huge change. The kitchen in my mother’s house, it was built in 1911, had only 2 outlets, one on each side of a very large kitchen. The outlet on the kitchen stove became a third outlet for the kitchen. With modern kitchens having many outlets installed, one on the stove is not really needed anymore. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/36 "2023-11-11T15:59:20Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I used, in the 1970’s, a gas stove that was already old at the time. You lit the thing with a match. I used, in the 80s, a gas stove with pilot lights. If one happened to go out you had to re-light it with a match, but that was rare. I don’t think i ever had to light the oven pilot light. The oven was a great place to proof bread, too. I also don’t think that stove used electricity, although it’s possible the oven thermostat was electric. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/37 "2023-11-11T16:19:57Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > the flat surface is perfect to put my slow cooker on I’m smart, I’d never put the Instant Pot on a hot stove. I know better than that. [![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHdnbIwTSU9Xo607_kzB1a16cQV45exWuPSnBTaYbdxhjG3jZ03djISu_bIobTgkhTQ7G8RSOAp39ZLi32nY1JrURR_VU74RBUj7D_sL4kYdMwHD4ya85AOAZomT0f1CVjlB9b3aFYEnBG3P8aA-IswfOQ=w2714-h2044-s-no) ](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHdnbIwTSU9Xo607_kzB1a16cQV45exWuPSnBTaYbdxhjG3jZ03djISu_bIobTgkhTQ7G8RSOAp39ZLi32nY1JrURR_VU74RBUj7D_sL4kYdMwHD4ya85AOAZomT0f1CVjlB9b3aFYEnBG3P8aA-IswfOQ=w2714-h2044-s-no) The entire time I was growing up and living with my parents, they had a GM ( **not** GE) electric range with an outlet on it. We weren’t supposed to use the outlet. I’m not sure why, except, see above. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/38 "2023-11-11T16:25:42Z")
Oops. I guess one virtue of my gas range is that it doesn’t have a large enough flat area to tempt me to put appliances on it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/39 "2023-11-11T16:25:49Z")
I never store things inside my oven(s). Never have, never will. Neither did my parents. But lots of people use their oven as an extra kitchen cabinet. To this day I open the door and look in before turning the oven on. Never find anything, but I still do it. If nothing else, it’s easier to adjust the racks while they’re cold. The risk with stoves is mostly the inadvertent turn-on, or that perennial favorite “right idea, wrong burner”. Whether from absent mindedness or misleading / confusing control layout. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934/40 "2023-11-11T17:21:28Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > I’m smart, I’d never put the Instant Pot on a hot stove. I know better than that. That will buff right out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrical-outlets-on-stoves/992934.md?page=3)