The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: WootWoot on October 26, 2016, 11:50:36 AM
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I've been googling to find the answer to this but have not found it yet.
We're renters, and the gas stove came with the house. I am not quite sure how old it is, but it is avocado green, so I'm guessing late 1960s-early 1970s. I've often thought of replacing it, because in summer, it tends to make the kitchen warmer. It's also hard to clean (for various reasons).
Today I was reading another frugality forum, and somebody mentioned having an old "energy guzzling" stove/oven. Is it possible my landlord's stove is an energy hog? I understand that old fridges are, and even old washing machines, but stoves? Never heard that one.
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I think that usually refers to electric appliances, and not generally gas appliances. Many modern ones are more efficient, but not in all cases. You could try turning the gas off to the stove for a few weeks and see how much your bill drops - that would tell you what it costs each month.
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If it's making your kitchen warm when not in use (if you meant when in use, then all stoves do that), then it means there's a pilot light on all the time burning gas. I don't know how much gas this uses, but it has to be something.
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Yes, there is a pilot light going all the time. DH says the new ones have some sort of electronic spark that only lights up when you turn the knobs.
It's handy to have it warm in winter, but...
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It's handy to have it warm in winter, but...
Also handy to have if you want to try making yogurt. The only time in my life where I've been consistently able to make good homemade yogurt was when I was in an apartment with an old gas stove with pilot lights.
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Yes, there is a pilot light going all the time. DH says the new ones have some sort of electronic spark that only lights up when you turn the knobs.
It's handy to have it warm in winter, but...
Keep in mind:
1. Pilot light should not generate noticeable heat. If it is, something is wrong.
2. Ovens with pilot lights will work without electricity.
3. Modern gas ovens will not work without electricity (the over part, you can still light the stove top with a match).
4. An older gas oven is a good back up/emergency source of heat when/if you lose power.
5. If it belongs to the landlord and works, leave it alone. Even if it IS avocado.
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We have an old gas stove that has 4 pilot lights. I turned one off, because we never use that feature. As far as I can tell by comparing bills from before and after, it uses a max 4 therms of gas per month, which comes out to be about $3. Yours, if it does have pilot lights, probably has one for the oven and one for the stovetop, so costs even less per month.
The operating costs of the gas stove would not change significantly if you bought a new one. Just the pilot lights.
They do make great yogurt!