Kitchen Gas Appliances - Improving power of GE Adora stove?
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MSakey
10-25-09, 06:45 PM
Hey folks, hoping someone can help me. I recently re-did my kitchen and went from an electric to a gas stove. Thus far I'm a little frustrated with it. I can't seem to get the heat I used to be able to get with my cheap old electric. I love the control, but I'd really like to be able to improve the power of the stove.
Part of the problem is that more than anything else, turning up the power just widens the flames. I have big pans, and good ones; my primary pan is a 12-inch All-Clad. But even so, the broad flame mostly heats the edges of the pan, which doesn't really translate to making the whole thing hotter.
Ditto on boiling water--it takes forever.
The stove is a 30" GE Adora, and claims 16,000 BTUs on the biggest burner. It's not a top of the line, but it was $1200, hardly bargain priced.
Is there anything I can do to increase the power? Maybe a regulator I can remove, or different burner caps that might solve my problem? I have a good exterior exhaust vent, so I want as much flame as possible. Or is it just the stove? If so, are there others, or other types (open instead of sealed, maybe?) that would give me more power?
Any suggestions at all welcome. Thanks so much!
Part of the problem is that more than anything else, turning up the power just widens the flames. I have big pans, and good ones; my primary pan is a 12-inch All-Clad. But even so, the broad flame mostly heats the edges of the pan, which doesn't really translate to making the whole thing hotter.
Ditto on boiling water--it takes forever.
The stove is a 30" GE Adora, and claims 16,000 BTUs on the biggest burner. It's not a top of the line, but it was $1200, hardly bargain priced.
Is there anything I can do to increase the power? Maybe a regulator I can remove, or different burner caps that might solve my problem? I have a good exterior exhaust vent, so I want as much flame as possible. Or is it just the stove? If so, are there others, or other types (open instead of sealed, maybe?) that would give me more power?
Any suggestions at all welcome. Thanks so much!
SeattlePioneer
11-02-09, 02:05 AM
You need to determine the actual BTU input you are getting with one of the range burners.
You can do this by using the gas meter. Usually there is a 1/2 foot dial and next to it a dial labeled 2'.
One complete rotation of the two foot dial means that two cubic feet of gas have been used. Each cubic foot of gas is about 1,000 BTUs of heat.
To do this test you need to turn off the main burners of any furnace, water heater or other gas appliance so it can't turn on during the test.
Then turn on the 16,000 BTU burner.
When the 2' dial is on the upswing, start a stopwatch and measure how many seconds it takes for the dial to turn 360 degrees.
Divide 7200 by the number of seconds to get the number of cubic feet of gas consumed.
For example, if it took 450 seconds to make the one revolution, 7200/450= 16 cubic feet of gas consumed. Since there are 1000 BTU/cubic foot, the BTU input to the burner would be 16,000, just what it should be.
Were the seconds 900, the BTU input would be 8 cubic feet or 8,000 BTU and you'd have a problem that need to be corrected.
You can do this by using the gas meter. Usually there is a 1/2 foot dial and next to it a dial labeled 2'.
One complete rotation of the two foot dial means that two cubic feet of gas have been used. Each cubic foot of gas is about 1,000 BTUs of heat.
To do this test you need to turn off the main burners of any furnace, water heater or other gas appliance so it can't turn on during the test.
Then turn on the 16,000 BTU burner.
When the 2' dial is on the upswing, start a stopwatch and measure how many seconds it takes for the dial to turn 360 degrees.
Divide 7200 by the number of seconds to get the number of cubic feet of gas consumed.
For example, if it took 450 seconds to make the one revolution, 7200/450= 16 cubic feet of gas consumed. Since there are 1000 BTU/cubic foot, the BTU input to the burner would be 16,000, just what it should be.
Were the seconds 900, the BTU input would be 8 cubic feet or 8,000 BTU and you'd have a problem that need to be corrected.