Gas Upright Cookers
Once upon a time
gas stoves had no electrical connection. You lite them with
a match or they had a pilot flame to light the burners. Today
the cooker uses gas as the energy source but uses electronic
ignition to light the flames and electricity to heat the oven
and sometimes even the grill. So only the burners on top are
gas. This means that the job of installing gas cookers is
for an electrician and a gasfitter. So any price we give you
needs to have both components if we are doing both. Or you
can use your electrician. We are happy to supply our electrician
if needed.
The Cooker You
Choose
Amps?
The cooker you choose
can have a three pin plug suitable for a standard 10 Amp outlet.
Some cookers have a different plug on the electrical cable.
Often these cookers are not 10 Amps but 20 Amps. These cookers
require a larger cable from the power board to the kitchen
outlet behind the stove requiring the electrician to run a
larger cable back to the fuse board. This can cost more than
you expect for a gas stove installation. To prevent this check
the electrical rating of the cooker before buying. Choose
10 Amps and not 20 unless you know your cable is ok. A way
to check is that a standard 10 Amp power outlet is the same
as any other in your house. The 20 Amp outlets are bigger
or the cooker is permanently wired to the wall.
Gas Pressure
1Kpa or 2
Check also the gas
pressure it requires, some cookers need 2Kpa. You may not
have 2Kpa in your street or at your gas meter the latter is
fixable for a small fee to the gas utility, the former is
not. Which means you take the stove back and get one for 1Kpa.
Gas Type
Natural or LPG
Also check the gas
type. If you have natural gas get a cooker for natural gas
and not LPG. If it comes with a conversion kit it costs a
little more to convert it to the other gas.
If the stove is the only appliance
in the house consider going LPG if you have not already done
so. That will save you the line charge. How much is the line
charge - well in 2008 it will cost you over $5000 during the
next ten years at todays rates - probably more as the charges
go up. I bet you didnt think a gas fitter could save you money.
Gas Hobs
Similar to cookers
above. Just watch out for that hole size and make sure the
walls with in 200mm of the burner are not combustibel otherwise
when that large frying pan sits on the hob the walls will
catch fire. Allow to fit some tiles to the wall to prevent
this and aid cleaning as well.
Check there is a
hot point under the hob to power the ignition if needed. It
does help if the hot point has a cable running to it.
|
