Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

tripster

Just found out this past weekend that our propane stove is pulling 17-18 amps at 24 volts to power the glow ignitor in the oven. We could not figure out what was using the power until I installed a Trace battery monitor.

Are there any propane only propane stove/ovens that use no electricity. I seems the glow ignitor is a safety device. No gas is passed if there is no power.

Any suggestions?

mike95490

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

tripster wrote: »

Just found out this past weekend that our propane stove is pulling 17-18 amps at 24 volts to power the glow ignitor in the oven. We could not figure out what was using the power until I installed a Trace battery monitor.

Are there any propane only propane stove/ovens that use no electricity. I seems the glow ignitor is a safety device. No gas is passed if there is no power.

Any suggestions?

This was discussed in the the past, about how some units use a glow bar, and some use a pilot light or spark igniter. There is no easy way to convert, AFIK.

System2

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

OUCH !! I was brought up with pilot light propane appliances, and the first Glow Bar type igniter I encountered was on someone else's propane dryer. To say the tragic waste of electricity shocked me would be an understatement. I was disgusted. My thoughts were: If they're willing to design a dryer that uses that much electricity, why the heck are they bothering with the propane end of it at all? I thought the idea of a propane appliance was to get away from using electricity as much as possible. If I wanted an electric dryer, I'd buy one, otherwise give me one that runs on propane.
I know electricity is needed to run the blower and turn the drum, but 500 extra watts just to keep the damn thing burning propane? Come on!!!!
Your only solution is to dump it on some other unsuspecting soul and buy your next one with your eyes open. Please tell me that it was NOT energy star rated.

Wayne

Ralph Day

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

I'm currently shopping to replace my old Danby range. Are the glowbar ignitors glaringly obvious? Can you see the difference with a flashlight anywhere? Are "electronic ignition" systems piezo electric or maybe glowbars? Will not accept any electronic oven controls (many have them), knobs only. And no standing pilots.

Too much to choose from, so little time.

Ralph

mike95490

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

Ralph Day wrote: »

I'm currently shopping to replace my old Danby range. Are the glowbar ignitors glaringly obvious?
Can you see the difference with a flashlight anywhere?

Are "electronic ignition" systems piezo electric or maybe glowbars? Will not accept any electronic oven controls (many have them), knobs only.

And no standing pilots.

Ralph

Glowbars are a rectangular loop of grit covered metal, behind a shield.
view one here on this page of parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/Midwest-Appliance-Parts_Stove-Oven-Range-Parts_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ12605529QQftidZ2QQtZkm

they have to keep the end, in the flame, and that senses the resistance of the hot metal and signals the gas valve, that the flame did not blow out. Safety laws !

My range top has an electronic spark igniter, that can sense the presence of a flame, and a draft that blows the flame away from the spark gap, results in a fresh cycle of arcs till the flame re-appears. That would be the least consumption, except for a standing pilot. I don't know why standing pilots are seen as "bad". The parts seldom fail. Electronics, last 5-10 years.

icarus

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

Ralph,

There are several ranges available in Canada that use no electricity. Superior Propane sells at least two of them. I have "Brown" ranges. Very simple standing pilot stoves, very reliable.

If you can't find them locally, you can try Lehmans.com but then they have to come from the states.

Good luck,

Tony

autoxsteve

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

understand that it uses a lot of current to ignite the gas. How much energy are you talking about tho? It should go off once the flame is lit. Is it?

If the ignitor is on for 3 minutes, your total power spent is 18A*24V*(3/60) = 21.6 Watt hours.

That seems insignificant to me but I do not know what your situation is...

BB.

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

I grew up with standing pilots in our natural gas stoves... Besides the cost and extra heat of the pilots (cost is probably a few dollars a month for a stove), I never realized our family house always had the "combustion of natural gas" smell until I got married and purchased a range without a standing pilot... Now I can walk into a home and usually tell with one quick sniff if they have an old stove with standing pilots. I would never get a standing pilot stove again.

Regarding the glowbars--I have seen appliances that both leave them on the whole time the gas is on (our natural gas range), and also where the glow bar is on for 10 seconds just to light the flame (gas drier)... If your is on the whole time the gas is running/oven is on--that is probably a large waste of energy for an off-grid system.

-Bill

icarus

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

As Bill says, many ranges keep the hot surface on all the time as a way to keep the gas valve open. In these cases, if the gas valve can "see" the glow from the hot surface, the gas valve won't open, or if it can't "see" it while burning it will close the gas valve. I should know what the device is called that "sees" the glow. but my memory is getting feeble!

As for "smelling" the pilot light flame. I sorta know what you are saying, but my intuition is that if you are smelling burned gas, it is more because the gas is not burning cleanly, due to poor air mix, or dirty orifices.

Icarus

BB.

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

Nope, just 4 small pilots with nice blue flames... Natural gas does leave a film on the walls when used without a range hood plus the mercaptan has a sulfur atom in it--so that there is some (slightly acetic) smell from combustion would make sense.

-Bill

tripster

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

Thanks for all the input. The glow bar does stay on the whole time the oven is in use. The oven is used about 2h a day on average.

System2

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

FWIW, although the glowbar may require more electrical energy than desired, in an oven or dryer a 500 watt glowbar does introduce ~1700btu into the appliance, it's not a total waste.

Cheers,

Bad Apple

System2

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

BB. wrote: »

Nope, just 4 small pilots with nice blue flames... Natural gas does leave a film on the walls when used without a range hood plus the mercaptan has a sulfur atom in it--so that there is some (slightly acetic) smell from combustion would make sense.

-Bill

With the propane I grew up and lived with for 40 years, the only time we were ever aware of the pilots, were if one or more were to be extinguished. Then it was mercaptain time. I've learned from this form that propane is far cleaner than NG.
The safety device in the ovens were of the thermocouple type. If the oven pilot were to go out, the thermocouple powered valve would close in 5 or 10 seconds.
No external electricity required except for the oven light and clock. Both of which we could do without.
Cheers
Wayne

icarus

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

Another point that takes us even further from the OP's question but,,,,

With propane, the mercaptan concentrates in the tank. I can always tell when a tank is about to run out, because it begins to smell like leaking gas. My wife has a nose that a Basset would be proud to call it's own. She'll tell me a couple of days before the tank runs out that it is going to.

I also think that the mercaptan is stronger in older tanks that have been filled a few hundred times.

A PS to Waynes comment. Some of my gas ranges have thermocouples on the oven, and some don't. I think it is a requirement that all new ones come equipped with thermocouples. The problem with the non thermocouple ones is if the pilot flame blows out, a significant quantity of gas blow into the building for a long time before it is discovered.

Still waiting for the ice to go out,,,

Icarus

tnhunter

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

We have a Peerless gas range that uses spark ignitin for both the top and the oven. Works great, do a google search for Peerless gas stoves.

Ralph Day

Re: Help! Propane stove uses to much electricity

After an exhausting search for a replacement gas range we finally decided. GE gets the nod, not for any really good reason mind you. Here in Canada we have about 20% of the models available in the US (are we safer because of it?). I'd looked on the web for days, found hundreds of gas ranges, most of which were "innapropriate".

Off grid, didn't want self clean (already have relf clean), glowbars, computers/clocks, all the gadgets that look spiffy in a kitchen. There are battery run clocks and timers within easy reach, electronic ignitions were the main "need". When you winnow out all the fancy crap there's usually one or two models per manufacturer that fits the bill. These are probably aimed at the fish and hunt camp market, but that's just what we were looking for.

Perhaps as more people want less phantom loads more manufacturers will provide nicer ranges with fewer doo-dads (I'm looking for "development land" in Florida too)

Ralph