Layout:
Home > our oven could have burnt down our house!

our oven could have burnt down our house!

October 14th, 2009 at 02:46 am

For a week or two we have been smelling a burning plastic smell whenever I light the oven (note: our oven has a stove on the top). Because it's summer I've only used the oven a few times, so I haven't really paid that much attention. But last night I finally asked DF to have a look, and lo and behold, gas is leaking from one of the pipes, which has created a bigger pilot flame.

It could be a case of a loose nut or fixture, but the burning smell indicates it has probably melted something that might be important. How scary to think that could have made a huge fire one day if we hadn't checked it!

So, I guess this means we will have to buy a new stove. (Truth be told, it is around 10 years old and in need of replacing anyway...)

Our problem now is, in 4 to 5 years we had hoped to have enough to remodel the kitchen. It would be a medium sized renovation as we would be putting in a bay window to add extra room. We would look at getting a wall mounted oven and a stove with a rangehood - which is something that is impossible to do at the moment.

So - do we fix it or buy a cheap(er) stove/oven now with the intent of using it for only 5 years? Do people buy second hand stoves? Could we sell it later? Or should we buy a second hand one? Doesn't that mean that whatever we save on buying second hand, we will have to shell out for new fittings anyway?

----------

In the meantime, I am confined (yet again!) to cooking on the barbecue or using bench top appliances. Hooray! As if I didn't already have enough of that experience when we first moved in.

Now I have to think up ways to use our veges up that don't involve the stove or the oven. GREAT Frown

I have:
a slowcooker
a rice cooker
a barbecue
a grill/sandwhich press

I also have an outstanding assortment of takeaway menus Big Grin

10 Responses to “our oven could have burnt down our house!”

  1. homebody Says:
    1255484985

    Why don't you buy a used one(stove)? Just a thought. Grill your veges! Glad you and the house are okay!

  2. whitestripe Says:
    1255487364

    homebody, i did mention that in my entry as one option i could take Smile tx

  3. boomeyers Says:
    1255491970

    Definitely buy a "new" used one! In the US we have something called Craigslist, which is a big FREE advertisement website for used items (and just about anything else!) If you don't have that in your area, check with the local papers and if worse comes to worse and you HAVE to buy new, try the "scratch and dent" stores that sell new but cosmetically damaged goods.

  4. miclason Says:
    1255493808

    er, I know this is the latin american experience, but, canīt it be repaired? How much would it cost?(here, it would be much cheaper to fix it than to buy a new one)

  5. baselle Says:
    1255494088

    This dates me as an old person Smile, but we rent and when we have an issue with some of the large appliances, like the stove, we call the landlord who has a repairman on call. If you haven't already, I'd call a repairman first and have it looked at, or at least ask whether one could come out. 10 yrs is a teen-aged stove, in my mind. Smile It might be something totally monstrous, but it might not be.

    I'd also do a google search against the model of your stove. You might hit it lucky and come up with the owner's manual, which could have a troubleshooting list.

    Veg stew in the crock pot, foil packets of veg on the barbeque. Our veg steamer doubles as a rice cooker - is it possible that your rice cooker has a secret double life as a veg steamer? I'll bet some of the "harder" veg that can be sliced and still firm - like onion or patty pan squash - might work well in the grill press.

  6. whitestripe Says:
    1255494263

    we are going to get it looked at first before we buy a new stove - i'm not that stupid! i'm just preparing for the worst.

  7. Debtfreeme Says:
    1255497857

    I vote for tryong to get it repaired!

  8. homebody Says:
    1255526069

    I read really fast and miss things!!

  9. baselle Says:
    1255544636

    Apologies that my tone sounded harsh - I was aiming for funny. I think that how we buy computers and electronics (busted? buy new) is leaching over into other appliances. A stove/oven is fundamentally a pretty stable piece of mechanical technology - parts are available, no new mind-blowing killer ap upgrades. There might be an issue if there's a computer chip on the fritz, but plastic smells indicate to me a part failing ... should be straightforward to fix.

  10. whitestripe Says:
    1255591020

    i know you weren't being harsh baselle! Big Grin (my tone was also aimed at being funny...) lol.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]