Gas Range Installation
Also Read: 10 Best Gas Ranges For 2019 By Consumer Report
Remember to always carefully install the gas range by fixing the thimble to the exterior wall, hold the thimble in place by asking someone to help you out then check to see whether it fits into the cut slots.
Once, you are sure everything looks just the way it should proceed to screw the thimble in place.
Secondly, take the screen with the elbow and attach it to the far backside of the venting pipe. Also, don’t forget to drill a hole about 2 inches wide so that the fresh air will have a chance to enter and circulate.
However, make sure that the fresh air vent is at least 10 inches away from the exhaust fan. Also, you will need to drill an exact same hole only through the interior wall.
Once you have finished gas range installation, keep in mind that you will need to seal all the holes and stitch lines with a waterproof silicone paste around the gas range.
How many BTU’s are needed for each square foot?
BTU is an abbreviation for the British thermal unit often used in the imperial system measurement. It is considered that 1 BTU stands for 0.45kgs of water at -17 degrees Celsius.
Such a unit is important because it helps calculate just how much thermal energy an electrical appliance such as a gas range can produce in a given hour.
Moreover, sometimes BTU’s are used to determine just how well air conditioners can cool a given room in a given time period. In other words, BTU’s are used to calculate just how much thermal energy an air conditioner will be able to remove from a room in an hour.
Thus, choosing a durable and reliable gas range with the right BTU can help you pick an energy-efficient model for your kitchen.
What size HVAC do I need?
HVAC is an irreplaceable piece of equipment in any kitchen because without it you would not be able to ensure good air quality in your kitchen.
However, before you go on and pick any HVAC kitchen system make sure you measure the required size so as to avoid purchasing a small or too large HVAC system.
Moreover, if the HVAC system is not strong enough for your kitchen then you will not be able to regulate the air temperature in the kitchen plus the humidity level will likely remain very high as well.
On the other hand, if you install a large HVAC system for a medium-sized kitchen you will be inclined to pay much higher electric bills then you would need to with a smaller HVAC.
To make sure you choose just the right HVAC system you will need to consider these things;
1.Kitchen size
To determine your kitchen size you could either measure it yourself or you could find your house documents that would contain each room size in the appendix or the house plan chart.
2.Calculate base BTU
Once you have measured your kitchen size you would need to move on to the BTU mentioned above in this article. BTU stands for British Thermal Unit.
According to the latest studies, the average BTU needed to cool down a square foot of kitchen space after cooking is roughly 25-30 BTU’s. Hence you will have to multiply the kitchen size you got from the above step by 25.
3.Account your ceiling size
On average, most American homes have 8 feet high ceilings however if your ceilings are higher then 8 feet then you would need to increase the BTU calculated above by at least 25%.
Why do glass top stoves crack?
Also Read: 10 Best Space Heaters For 2019 By Consumer Reports
Glass top ranges are great because they are much more energy-efficient than other standard gas ranges plus the glass top ranges are much quicker to heat as the heating element is right beneath the glass top.
However, this also makes it much more prone to cracking due to temperature difference thus it is very important to be very careful with glass top ranges.
Plus, you would need to be very careful when cleaning the glass top otherwise you would risk scratching and scuffing the surface especially if you use abrasive cleaning agents.
Furthermore, certain cookware such as cast iron or enameled cast pots and pans can cause serious scratches and scuffs that would then lead to cracks in the top glass.
The same goes for aluminum cooking ware thus it will be important for you to ensure that the bottom of all your cooking ware is not harsh so as to not scratch the glass.
Also, make sure to timely clean any caked or burnt spill on the bottom as they tend to form small but sharp edges that in turn would scratch the glass thus leading to glass cracking.
Lastly, remember that cooking ware made out of ceramic, stone or porcelain is not suitable to be used on glass cooking tops as these materials are very likely to lead to the glass breaking.
On the other hand, you will need to keep in mind that like any glass, the cooking top will be vulnerable to breakages if pots or pans will be dropped. This is often called impact damage.
Therefore, you should be very careful when placing or lifting the cookware especially if it is heavy with food contents. You should do even if you just fish to move the pan or the pot from one burner to the other.
Also, never slide the cooking ware from one burner to the other hence make sure to gently pick the pot or the pan. Below are some of the other damages that can lead to cooking glass top cracking;
1.Sudden temperature difference
Make sure you always place the cooking ware on the cooking top before you actually turn the heat on because otherwise, you will risk the glass cracking due to the temperature difference especially if you have just taken the pot out of the fridge and would like to reheat it. Moreover, never place anything hot on the glass cooking top even if it is just for a second.
2. Pick the right burner size
If you have a large pot or pan make sure you place it on the right sized burner because otherwise, you will risk cracking the cooking top glass because it will become vulnerable in trying to maintain the right cooking temperature despite the size difference. This process will lead to stress fractures forming which in turn could then crack.
3.Using the cooking top as a cutting board
This point is very obvious yet so many people still, albeit sometimes, use the cooking top as a cutting board thus leading to many small scratches and scuffs that will then lead to cooking top glass cracking.
How to clean oven glass?
Also Read: 10 Best Infrared Heaters By Consumer Report In 2019
Nowadays, gas ranges are used not only for heating and cooking food but for complimenting kitchen interiors and overall room décor.
Using your oven to slow roast chicken or turkey for Christmas can be a bonding experience for families around the holiday season. You could also bake delicious grinder cookies with your children in the oven.
However, keep in mind that the oven glass tends to quickly get dirty thus spoiling the overall gas range look hence you will have to regularly clean it.
There are many different ways that you can clean it, for example, you could purchase specially made cleaning product that has been specifically designed for oven glass cleaning however keep in mind that such cleaning agents usually contain a lot of chemicals that will get into our atmosphere so you would want to avoid them.
There are also more natural cleaning products that you can even find in your kitchens such as baking soda or white vinegar. White vinegar is great because it not only cleans and disinfects but it has great stain reducing properties as well.
Method 1
- Take white vinegar
- Baking soda
- Clean, lint-free cloth
- A bowl with clean and warm water
Take baking soda and white vinegar then carefully mix it into a thick paste however be careful by adding white vinegar a few drops at a time because otherwise it will react with baking soda and become basically useless.
Once you have made the paste take a clean cloth and apply the paste onto the oven glass. Allow it to sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes then proceed to first remove the leftover paste with a dry cloth.
Then, wipe the oven glass with a wet cloth to make sure that everything is gone.
In addition to being environmentally friendly, these cleaning products can be found in your kitchen and cost nothing to what you’ll have to spend on commercially made oven glass cleaner.
Method 2
- Take tea tree oil
- Spray bottle
- Water
Mix the tea tree oil and the water in the spray bottle then evenly spread the oven glass and let it sit for about 20 minutes. After that, wipe the residue with a clean cloth damped in soapy water. Dry off the glass with a lint-free cloth under all marks are gone.
If you do not have a spray bottle for some reason then you could use a clean cloth saturated with tea tree oil solution to clean away the dirt from the oven glass.
However, keep in mind that tea tree oil has a particularly pungent smell but do not worry it will go away in a few hours plus you can store the remaining solution for future in the spray bottle and use it whenever needed plus you could even use this solution in the bathroom as it also prevents any mold growth.
Method 3
- Take dishwashing liquid
- Citric acid
- Empty and dry bowl
- Little water
- Spoon
Mix the dishwashing liquid and citric acid in equal parts until you get a paste then apply it to the oven glass. Allow it to sit for at least an hour before removing it with a microfiber cloth damped in warm water.
This method is very popular with many individuals as we all have dishwashing liquid in our kitchens while citric acid crystals can be bought at any convenience store for a few dollars.
Moreover, citric acid crystals are very similar to tea tree oil in their properties with the only difference being that the citric acid crystals do not have the pungent smell.
Conclusion
Nowadays, lots of manufacturers also make a gas range with heat resistant oven glass that if touched from the outside will not feel as hot as from the inside.
Furthermore, gas ranges are now manufactured in a much prettier design with better features than it was back in the day when an American engineer has just invented it.
Also, if back in the day gas ranges were generally very large and produced a lot of smoke, soot and would accumulate a lot of grime on the oven glass then modern models that come with much better filtering system, as well as thinly coated glass windows that are more resistance to grime, build up.
Lastly, in order to evaluate the efficiency of the gas range, you will need to think about how much propane or butane it is going to use.
However, if you have opted for an electrical gas range then you would simply need to look at your electrical bill to see how it has changed since you have installed and started using your electrical gas range.
Although, this can be a little tricky especially if you have bought or installed other electrical appliances that could be using electricity at the same time.
Generally, it is highly recommended for you to opt for more environmentally-friendly models of gas ranges that will release less harmful gases into the atmosphere.
But despite what particular model of gas range you’re going to purchase make sure that the manufacturer is trustable and that he offers good customer support and warranty that you could use in case you will get any problems.
