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Thread Number: 37298
Vintage vs. Modern Freestanding Ranges |
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| Post# 554600 11/6/2011 at 18:21 (4,575 days old) by gefilterflo (Newark, Ohio) | ||
I haven't really seen much about older ranges being better than their modern counterparts. Case in point, a 1970 GE 30" freestanding range, close to top-of-the-line with the surface light, the "digital" timer, the P7 self-cleaning system and the window. It needs two new Calrod elements and the timer and the clock don't work, but the oven heats very evenly and is by far one of the most accurate ovens I've used. Despite its quirks, it does what I need to to do, very well, I might add, but it had made me curious: how do new ranges compare to their older counterparts? Has the quality declined enough to merit maintaining an aging, nondescript specimen or does one replace it and later wonder why he put up with an faulty, obsolete range for so long? Anyone have such an experience?
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| Post# 554609 , Reply# 2 11/6/2011 at 18:54 (4,575 days old) by vintagekitchen () | ||
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Timer... Clock is most likely the motor, easily available online. Timer available online as well. Another good source is junkyards, or the "graveyard" behind appliance stores. They will usually give you the part if u remove it yourself . | ||
| Post# 554744 , Reply# 5 11/7/2011 at 08:02 (4,574 days old) by customline (pennsylvania) | ||
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Well...... You can't beat an older range or oven for the extras. The wiring always needs to be updated on the older units though and if you're up to it and replace it and ground the unit properly, you will have a great cooking appliance. | ||
| Post# 554807 , Reply# 9 11/7/2011 at 14:50 (4,574 days old) by drewz (Alexandria, Virginia) | ||
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| Post# 555042 , Reply# 13 11/8/2011 at 10:01 (4,573 days old) by amyswasher () | ||
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I think they were discontinued because of air-conditioning. I don't know, but that's what I'm thinking. The ad's that were pics-of-the-day all had air-conditioners in the wall of the kitchens, and electricity was cheap. | ||
| Post# 555082 , Reply# 15 11/8/2011 at 13:00 (4,573 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
Double Oven Range | ||
Post# 555332 , Reply# 18 11/9/2011 at 07:24 (4,572 days old) by combo52  (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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DEEP WELL BURNERS  These came about because they were a little more efficient in thier use of electricity. You have to remember that it was VERY expensive to cook with electricity as power in most of the country was around 3 cents per kilowatt hour till the 1960s. And when cooking everyday in the 1960s as most households did you could easily add $6.00 a month to your electric bill and at the time this was real money.
Deep wells were continued on some ranges through the 1950s, our 1957 40" Frigidare shear look still has a raisable Deep Well burner.
Deep Wells were not well insulted, in fact they had no insulation other than another layer of metal around the pot, but the small size allowed you to bake a few potatoes without heating up the whole oven just like we do today in uninsulated toaster ovens.
Deep Wells were not discontinued because of more people getting air-conditioning as in fact they would have helped keep the kitchen cooler.
But in reality Deep Wells did not do anything that could not be easily done on top of any other element and because of the slight added cost to build and the extra cleaning hassles they created they went away, this also allowed range makes to have larger ovens below the cooktops. | ||
| Post# 555354 , Reply# 19 11/9/2011 at 10:16 (4,572 days old) by vintagekitchen () | ||
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Dee wells were not insulated.... I beg to differ, the cavity for my deep well is insulated, as is the lid. perhaps inn some of the last models they skipped this step, but origionally it was one of the most important parts of the deep well | ||
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Post# 555358 , Reply# 20 11/9/2011 at 10:53 (4,572 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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INSULATED DEEP WELLS I think that Westinghouse was probably the only company that insulated deep wells, even my 1952 WH TOL 40" range has no insulation of any kind around the metal well, nor do any of the more than 20 different electric ranges that my friend and I have. Interestingly WH sold a separate plug in cooker that used a standard DW kettle that was well insulated, I believe that Tom Turbomatic has one of these cookers, it was an early crock-pot type of appliance. As I had mentioned in the last post manufactures went to considerable lenghts to make electric cooking viable cost wise when it was first being promoted. | ||
| Post# 555360 , Reply# 21 11/9/2011 at 10:59 (4,572 days old) by vintagekitchen () | ||
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well, mine is a GE, but the well and the lid are each very thick, and insulated. The pot itself is just thin aluminum though. Mine is the 1939 model, so they might have cut corners on later models.. | ||
| Post# 555452 , Reply# 22 11/9/2011 at 17:59 (4,572 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas) | ||
 I don't know about electric ranges, but the deep wells on Chambers' ranges were very well insulated with rock wool up until the point they were discontinued. The deep wells, like the ovens, could "Cook With The Gas Turned Off" on retained heat. I've dismantled a couple of Chambers stoves and the deep wells are pretty heavy. | ||
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