I have a combination electric oven-range that came with my apartment. It’s not new, but I don’t have a year of manufacture. I can tell you that it’s a “Tappan.”
Anyhow, there’s a tube leading from the oven’s chamber to underneath the left rear burner. As far as I can tell, this is just an open tube with nothing inside it – when the oven’s on, I can see all the way down through it to the (glowing) heating element. It’s about an inch in diameter.
What is the purpose of this tube? Seems to me that it’s allowing an awfully large amount of heat to escape from the oven while I"m trying to cook something.
huh. I think I have a very similar oven model. Yes, it’s sometimes useful and sometimes frustrating that that particular spot on the stovetop gets so warm when the oven’s on. Now I know why!
“I have a cheese grater. That’s the positive name for it. No one ever calls it by its negative name: Sponge Ruiner. Because I wanted to clean it, but now I have little bits of sponge.” – Mitch Hedberg.
Thanks everyone. I figured it was probably a vent, but I also figured there was probably a more efficient way to vent than just shoving a 1-inch tube through the wall, and through the top, no less.
I was just watching my mom cook something on a newer stove the other day. I was rather alarmed to note that smoke (actually steam, but it looked like smoke) was issuing from a small grill just under the control knobs. Apparently that’s how you do it when the burner surface is one flat piece of glass (it uses induction heating I think).
My parents old stove had that burner vent - I like to use it to warm plates myself.
You are not alone. All ovens have a vent.
Seeing the elements is a new/novel twist. There are usually baffles to control air flow.
Not much heat is lost during baking as there is no inlet. It helps to reduce the hot air rising in you face when you open the oven door.
Yeah, my house’s original stove/oven had that too. Right rear element had metal tube through the center of the drip pan. It was an odd size, naturally, since every single thing that was originally in this house is WRONG. So, I had to buy one single burner drip pan that had a large enough opening in the center to fit over the tube. Wasn’t a particularly simple thing to to. Had to exchange many drip pans.
My new flat-top stove has the vents under the control panel. I know now not to leave bread stored in plastic bags on the stove when the oven is on.
Why, why must every stinkin’ thing about this house have something outta whack? Even my electrical outlet boxes (in the walls) aren’t level. This house was built by half-assers. I’m a whole-asser, thanks. This results in all re-mod project taking a huge amount of extra time just to make things the way they should’a been to begin with. devil house.
