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Old 11-04-2020, 08:50 AM
 
14,263 posts, read 11,573,591 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cvetters63 View Post
If you've never heard of a gas explosion, you've been pretty sheltered.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cvetters63 View Post
The point was, the person I was responding to had never heard of it. Which is just silly in this day and age.
Okay, enough with the rude comments. Of course I have heard of gas explosions and I think I get out as much as anyone else. What I said was that I have never heard of one around me.

Here in California fires or explosions caused by gas are really not much of thing, no matter what you say. I googled it, and there were only two different incidents mentioned in the first four pages of results (I stopped looking after that). One was an explosion that happened 10 years ago near San Francisco, which is 430 miles away. The other burned down one house in another county. And neither of these had anything at all to do with a gas appliance; they were caused by carelessness around gas lines.

You know what is really dangerous? Electricity. Thousands of fires in my state, some of them vast fires that burned down not just "a neighborhood" but millions of acres of wilderness and entire towns, have been caused by power lines. Thousands and thousands of house fires have been caused by faulty wiring and appliances, too. If someone is worried about a gas explosion, they should be 1000 times more worried about electricity.

That said, both electric and gas stoves are safe enough if they are used by responsible people who are paying attention. What seems "just silly" to me is when people act like nervous Nellies at the thought of a gas stove, but are completely nonchalant about electric appliances. That is a classic example of a lack of ability to assess risk.
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Old 11-04-2020, 09:25 AM
 
15,633 posts, read 26,183,088 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot View Post
Okay, enough with the rude comments. Of course I have heard of gas explosions and I think I get out as much as anyone else. What I said was that I have never heard of one around me.

Here in California fires or explosions caused by gas are really not much of thing, no matter what you say. I googled it, and there were only two different incidents mentioned in the first four pages of results (I stopped looking after that). One was an explosion that happened 10 years ago near San Francisco, which is 430 miles away. The other burned down one house in another county. And neither of these had anything at all to do with a gas appliance; they were caused by carelessness around gas lines.

You know what is really dangerous? Electricity. Thousands of fires in my state, some of them vast fires that burned down not just "a neighborhood" but millions of acres of wilderness and entire towns, have been caused by power lines. Thousands and thousands of house fires have been caused by faulty wiring and appliances, too. If someone is worried about a gas explosion, they should be 1000 times more worried about electricity.

That said, both electric and gas stoves are safe enough if they are used by responsible people who are paying attention. What seems "just silly" to me is when people act like nervous Nellies at the thought of a gas stove, but are completely nonchalant about electric appliances. That is a classic example of a lack of ability to assess risk.
My family back East can’t even fathom of the electric company turning off power to thousands of people to prevent fires in gusty wind days.
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Old 11-04-2020, 09:26 AM
 
3,287 posts, read 2,009,093 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot View Post

That said, both electric and gas stoves are safe enough if they are used by responsible people who are paying attention. What seems "just silly" to me is when people act like nervous Nellies at the thought of a gas stove, but are completely nonchalant about electric appliances. That is a classic example of a lack of ability to assess risk.
This, exactly.
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Old 11-04-2020, 11:46 AM
 
6,503 posts, read 3,412,759 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riffwraith View Post
I am currently looking at condos, and most have electric ovens and ranges. Many have the option to go gas. I looked at a unit today, and asked the realtor why people choose electric when gas is an option, and he shrugged and said he thought it was personal preference.


I have lived with gas my entire life, until about 6 yrs ago when I started renting this apt, which is elec. I can still cook, don't get me wrong, but I much prefer gas. It seems easier to control the heat, and the burners seem more steady/stable.


Those who prefer electric - why?
Heat is heat is heat. It's not like comparing a gas grill vs. a charcoal one. Some people don't want to make the switch just because the option presented itself, some people are afraid they won't be able to smell a gas leak, etc.

Gas doesn't offer "more control" over your heat, the person cooking has more control with what they're most familiar.
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Old 11-04-2020, 11:37 PM
 
Location: Southwest Washington State
30,585 posts, read 25,041,229 times
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Gas explosions in a house are quite rare. Many years ago a very pregnant I called the gas company in the middle of the night because I smelled gas. Gas man came out and shut off the gas, and I think we replaced the gas cooktop. This kind of thing is far more common than an explosion. If you smell gas, leave the house and call the gas company.

I remember my mother having to practically crawl into the oven to light the pilot light, or maybe it was the burner?—cannot remember. I think she also had to light the pilot light on stovetop from time to time. The gas cooktops I used in the 1979s and ‘80s were much more reliable. I think I had to relight the furnace pilot light more often than I did the stove. Surely newer gas stoves and cooktops are easier and more reliable than those in past decades.
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Old 11-05-2020, 06:33 AM
 
13,011 posts, read 13,002,641 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ddm2k View Post
Gas doesn't offer "more control" over your heat, the person cooking has more control with what they're most familiar.
Gas does provide more control, for the reason that it responds instantly, where an electric stove has a lag in response as the burners heat up or cool down.

If you turn your gas stove on to high, it provides high heat instantly. If you turn your electric stove onto high, it takes a minute or two to get to temperature.
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Old 11-05-2020, 06:54 AM
 
Location: Metro Detroit Michigan
6,980 posts, read 5,369,185 times
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Omg all this discussion on what’s better gas or electric. Both are dangerous if not installed right. I’ve lived wit natural gas my whole life and I’m 65 never had any problems, with a gas leak or explosion from the furnace, water heater, dryer, or the stove. I’ve also had a electric stove and dryer and hot water heater never a problem. Use what you like a electric stove is better for baking, a gas stove is better for everyday stove top cooking more heat control. There’s pros and cons for both just like anything else in life. In some areas of the country you’re not given the choice if you can use a gas stove, only electric. So location throws this discussion out the window. And if you can have either than go what you want because you’re going to get allot of different opinions on what’s best from people you don’t even know.
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Old 11-05-2020, 09:33 AM
 
2,571 posts, read 2,054,174 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markjames68 View Post
I’ve used electric coil, electric glass top, electric induction and gas over my lifetime.

For boiling water I prefer induction.

For simmering and frying I prefer gas.

I have had electric coil, electric gas top and gas in houses, apartments over the years. When we built in 2010, went back to gas (from ten years with electric gas top).


Most of our "cooking" occurs on the stove and gas has always provided the best control. Lots of omlets, stir fry, pan fry, soups, etc.


For the oven, we don't bake much, except for the occasional batch of cookies and loaf of bread (I like making bread, we just don't eat much of it). For us, the oven is used mostly for pizza (homemade, with a stone that needs to get to 500 F for an hour before sliding pizzas onto it) and meats in a cast dutch oven. For other items, even regular sized frozen pizzas and just about everything else, we use the Breville convection toaster-oven on the counter - that thing is used for something (often two things) for every meal. That may be the best $400 or whatever we have spent, considering how much use it gets. It is a wonderful item in the kitchen.


Friends rave about induction stove tops in their homes and I have gotten to use it to help brew beer (which requires getting a huge volume of wort to boil, in addition to step-mashing that required precise control at lower temps) outdoors, with portable induction units. The speed and precision of induction is impressive. It is on the radar should we need to replace here (not likely, hopefully) or when we move next.
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Old 11-05-2020, 12:18 PM
 
6,503 posts, read 3,412,759 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishbrains View Post
Gas does provide more control, for the reason that it responds instantly, where an electric stove has a lag in response as the burners heat up or cool down.

If you turn your gas stove on to high, it provides high heat instantly. If you turn your electric stove onto high, it takes a minute or two to get to temperature.
I see what you mean - I can see how gas, as a practically massless fuel (relatively speaking) in relation to a red hot metal coil that still has energy transferring to the pan. There is no residual heat when you turn gas down, but the coil still has some heat to release.

I haven't tried this yet, but it appears that on some (maybe all) gas stoves you can actually change the burner or puck size to suit your needs. Whereas electric stoves are limited by the cutout size for each burner.
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Old 11-05-2020, 12:36 PM
 
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
10,348 posts, read 7,936,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ddm2k View Post
I haven't tried this yet, but it appears that on some (maybe all) gas stoves you can actually change the burner or puck size to suit your needs. Whereas electric stoves are limited by the cutout size for each burner.
That's what I hate the most about my smooth top electric stove. Two of the burners are so large that I will almost never use them (one is so large it's really only useful for a big stock pot or similar). On a gas stove, that would be no big deal, I'd simply turn the flame down. But on an electric stove, the whole coil heats up. There's no way to make only the inner 1/3 of the burner get hot (as an example). Thus those two oversized burners are effectively useless to me.

My dual fuel rage (gas burners, electric stove) is the biggest thing I miss from my old house.
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