If you go to the Bluestar website you will be able to download the use and care manual which has installation instructions.

The manual for the RNB which we will be getting says it needs a 120 volt 15 amp outlet. I didn't think to ask how the oven ignites, and haven't read through the whole manual yet...

Sandy

They use glow plugs to light the ovens. Bluestar recommends a dedicated, non GFCI, 15amp circuit, which is code nowadays anyway. Everything is supposed to go on it's own circuit.

-Stooxie

Thanks everyone.

Sandy808....

I've read the manuals from front to back and they simply don't give you the info about the watts used. I know it requires a 120Volt 15 amp circuit, but that still doesn't tell me the wattage of the glow bar. Not that your average person needs to worry about such a trivial thing. I am simply not in that position. Power use is a huge issue for my reality here. If the bread is in the oven using too much power...well...I might not have the power to turn on a light when it gets dark. (my wife hates it when that happens!)

Stooxie...glow plugs huh?
Thanks for the info. Was there a specific place you found this?
You wouldn't happen to know the wattage?

Thanks.

Hi Morpho,

How do I know? I opened my oven door and took a look ;)
I have an Bluestar RNB and I'm sure that the RCS uses the same.

As for wattage, I don't know, I could only guess about 500. Why do you ask? Are you trying to see if you can put the range on a shared circuit?

The difference between a glow plug/bar and a spark ignitor: with a spark the gas must flow first. With a glow plug the gas will ignite as soon as it hits the hot metal. That is very important with the amount of gas flowing through a large oven or broiler burner in an enclosed environment.

Spark ignitors are fine for the range top where you want faster response and gas can dissipate faster if it doesn't
light. (Maybe the circuit breaker got tripped because it was on the same circuit as the hair dryer ;-) )

-Stooxie

I suspect that the ignitors probably have the full electrical specifications somewhere in the packaging. If not, then the ignitor manufacturer must have this info, if you can get the brand and part number from BlueStar.

I'm sure you've already looked into it, but I would think that a pilot light would be the ideal solution for off grid use. Pretty much all commercial ranges have them.

It's 120 Volts and probably around 3.5 Amps.

Watts=AmpsxVolts

Watts=3.5x120

Watts=423.

A hairdyer is about 1600 Watts.

Thanks everyone!
Be careful sticking your heads in your gas ovens checking for the glow bars!

cassity...mrblandings...stooxie...again....thanks for the info.

We haven't purchased the range yet as these details need to be worked out.

I have looked into commercial ranges, but the BTU input is too high for the gas line I have as well as the gas line I have is 1/2" and commercial ranges have 3/4". Easy to change...unless your line is under your brand new polished concrete slab.

I had found a 36" gas range with no glow bars, but I have to order it sight unseen as there are no retailers anywhere close to me.
It's from a company called Peerless Premier

http://www.premierrange.com/rangeP36.php

The price is good, but I can't find one to get a hands on look at. So that makes me nervious to order one.

Thanks again.

While not a huge standout in gas range performance, Bertazzoni has a number of characteristics that play to your needs. Oven spark ignition saves lots of power. All burners on top or in the oven can be lit manually without using any electricty on many, perhaps most models. Since the oven and broiler burners work like the top burners - adjustable flame on all the time, rather than on off thermostatic action, the lowest set and forget temp is higher than on most ovens.

Here is a link that might be useful: User Manuals at aj madison

Interesting, so what is your source of electricity?

-Stooxie

laat2,
Interesting you mention Bertazzoni.
I was in a shop a few days ago and saw a spark igniter on the broiler.
I couldn't see under the bake pan to see if it was the same system.
Went to the website and found little to no info about this.

Thanks for the link.

I haven't done much research into Berts, I have read mixed reviews online...for what those are worth.

Stooxie,
We are on Solar. 2000 watts of panels and about 3-4 days of back-up battery capacity. Small generator just in case...and when it's winter just in case is about every other day for a little while to keep the batteries in good shape.
But we like being in charge of our own power and the cost was about the same as hooking up to the grid....minus the monthly bills and service fees ...so it was a no brainer.

All is super cool until we start to look for an oven.

(secretly we are happy as it pushes us towards a fancy shmancy range and we live a pretty frugal life, so a couple of decadent things is great)

Thanks.

Lehman's in Ohio carries a lot of different appliances etc. for off grid living. Most of the Amish do not have electricity. They are wonderful to work with and have a high level of customer service. I would e-mail or talk with them. I'm betting they can set you in the right direction. They have a grreat website.

If you have your heart set on a Bluestar there should be a dealer somewhere that would be interested enough to help.

I understand about the watt concern...we've set ourselves up for partial off grid living and hope to be totally free of it at some point in the near future. We'll stay hooked into the grid for back up though.

During a long power outage from a hurricaine we lived with a small generator. It becomes a balancing act where we shut something off (like the fans or lights) while we took a shower because of the electrical load when the well pump kicked on.

I'm assuming once the burners of a Bluestar are lit you can keep running them without electricity. My GE Profile burners can be lit with a match, so while I couldn't bake I could still make a lot of delicious meals without the oven. I truly hope the Bluestar burners can be manually lit with a match during power outages because we get a lot of them.

Hi Sandy, Morpho,

Certainly the Bluestar's top burners can be lit without power using a match but you won't be able to use the ovens. The gas burners cycle on and off so the glow plug will be used every time to reignite, say every 10-15 minutes.

Let me do some rough math that anyone can feel free to correct. If the glow plug is on for 30 seconds every 10 minutes (worst case) then you have 3 minutes of glow plug use per hour. If it were 500 watts then you're using
1/2 kw for 3/60ths of an hour for each hour the oven is on.

So to use one kwh of glow plug you'd have to run your oven for 40 hours. Eh, may not be too bad?! Dunno how many kwh@120v your batteries store. Even if you said 20 hours of oven time per kwh it still doesn't sound too bad.

-Stooxie

Sandy,
Lehmans..oh yes...I showed my wife the ringer washer they have for sale....I got "The look".
I will have another look though. Thanks.

I haven't been able to get my eyes or hands on a bluestar yet. Just reading a lot. I have had nothing but bad experiences at appliance stores so far. Either I know more than the sales person, or they have pre-qualified me and decided I am not worth wasting the time on. I could appreciate it if I was standing in a Ferrari showroom, but it's just an appliance store...nice appliances, but just appliances. Oh well their loss!

Stooxie,
Oh the ugly head of math shows it's self once again.
I'm amazed how often people like you are able to rattle off these numbers.
I usually have to spend half the day trying to first remember the equation, then I usually end up on a forum asking somebody with a clue.

Thanks for that.

I get the point that the load may not actually be too much,when put into perspective, but my wife likes to bake a lot, so it is something I need to consider.

Forget it!
Who cares about the glow bars!
I just ordered a brand new Bluestar RCS from costco for so much less than it would have cost in the "Appliance Gallery" that the money saved will buy enough panels to run 2 glow bars! MMWAHAHAHAHA...

Thanks everyone.

morpho1234 I understand about being your nervous about making a pricey purchase without having seen or touched the range first. I'm the same way. Fortunately we found a dealer about a 2 hour drive away where I could look at all the high end ranges....everything from Viking, Wolf, DCS, AGA, Capital, Kitchenaid, you name it they had it. They had just gotten a red Bluestar 48 inch RNB in.

I carefully looked at all. The Bluestar called my name over and over. My husband looked at all the ranges and said the Bluestar was the best built of all of them. The cooktop portion, burners and grates are awesome. And beautiful. We're placing our order tomorrow morning when the store opens. You will be thrilled with your Bluestar.

I chuckled about the wringer washer. I'm actually thinking of getting one. Eventually. We'll be building a carport at some point and making a room off the end. Those washers are bullet proof and I hang my wash out on the line anyway, weather permitting. They are probably the only washers that actually get clothes clean. But.....

I'm still having an automatic washer and dryer inside!

sandy808,
And you have to understand I'm also SUPER cheap..so this was a huge deal! ;)
My wife is so impressed!
But after two years of cooking on a 30 year old RV range that was about the equivalent of holding two lighters under a pan it was a no brainer.

Good luck with yours.