The is a loss with LP Gas! The Manufacturers are not required to disclose this info to consumers unless the precentage loss is in excess of 10 percent.

LP gas will not burn as hot as Natural and so there is a unavoidable reduction.

I also would like to point out the the 22K burner on a bluestar range will not out cook other brands with a lower btu rating. Hight proformance requires more than just a btu number its the total design of the grate the burners and the relationship of the pan to the heat that produces the higest heat and fastest results. Most dealer have local distributors with live kitchens, Try before you buy!

If your limited to the electric and want some real power try the new Viking Induction range. Its far more efficent and will out run gas ranges like crazy!

Sam.... you are right but at the same time SO WRONG.....Due to the Power, burner design and grate design Bluestar does out cook all other residential burners with out exception.

Just to keep an even playing field - We all know that Trevor is a Bluestar dealer. Sam seems to come to us from HADCO, a Viking dealer.

Now with that out of the way:

The is a loss with LP Gas! The Manufacturers are not required to disclose this info to consumers unless the precentage loss is in excess of 10 percent.

Interesting. But are they allowed to lie if they are specifically asked? Both Wolf and Bluestar will gladly put it in writing that there's no loss on their ranges.

LP gas will not burn as hot as Natural and so there is a unavoidable reduction.

Actually I believe it's the opposite, but even if I'm wrong it's a moot point for cooking performance comparison unless you consider fuel delivery, like perhaps amount? Let's just say butane burns hotter than wood (I don't know, but let's assume) can we agree that a Bic lighter will put out less heat than a bonfire?

Hight proformance requires more than just a btu number its the total design of the grate the burners and the relationship of the pan to the heat that produces the higest heat and fastest results.

I'll buy that. But it's not a helpful statement unless you tell us what's wrong with Bluestar's setup that makes lower BTU ranges outperform it.

BTU's is an imput rating not an output, BlueStar does not do LP conversions, they build LP ranges, because of the variety of LP, some tanks are buried some tanks are 20ft away some are 50 feet away different climates different size supply lines, but for the most part with the correct size supply line and air shutter adjustments the difference if any is small

LP gas will not burn as hot as Natural and so there is a unavoidable reduction.

Really? From a non-cooking related FAQ Q. Which fuel burns hotter, propane or natural gas (methane)?

A. Propane is the hotter burning fuel. Propane is a gas that is present in most natural gas and is the first product refined from crude petroleum. It contains approximately 2,500 Btu per cubic foot. Methane is the chief constituent of natural gas and has a heating value of about 1012 Btu per cubic foot. Therefore, propane has more than twice the heat value of natural gas per cubic foot.

From another cooking-neutral source, the flame temperature of propane and methane in air are both about 4600 degF, within 20 degF.

If you define "hotter" as more BTU per volume of gas, propane wins hands down. If you are asking about flame temperature, it's a push.

I am a BlueStar Range Top owner with LP gas. I am delighted with the performance. The flames are a clean blue with no yellow tips. I have heard the urban legend (which does seem to be supported by scientific fact) that you get less heat from LP. My experience has beed that there is no appreciable difference as long as we are talking about a properly designed burner/orifice/regulator and correctly sized gas lines. I believe that the legend is based on some bad experiences with badly done conversions and inadequately sized gas lines.

I ment to type

(which does not seem to be supported by scientific fact)

My experience has beed that there is no appreciable difference.

Blindstar - Does your experience include both NG and LP for Bluestar ranges though? Not trying to be argumentative, I'm hoping your answer is yes. I'd just have a hard time imagining that there's no noticable difference in a Viking whose burners are 15K NG and 12.5K LP. Almost a 17% drop which percentagewise is almost as big a difference as when BS jumped from 18K to 22K.

I'm not talking about numbers, I'm talking about my personal perception of the cooking experience. I came to the Bluestar from 18 years of using commercial, natural gas, 30,000 BTU burners. I have not noticed a significant difference other than the pilots no longer heat the kitchen. My, completely empirical, observation is as you move to higher BTU values the incremental effect of adding more BTUs is less perceptible when cooking. As I said, I don't see a difference between my old commercial Wolf hot plates and my Bluestar, although, if you believe both manufactures there should be a ~30% reduction in available heat. This an opinion based on my cooking experience, not an analysis. Your milage may vary.

I have a 36" RNB running on LP and it has been perfect in every way so far (2 months). It was converted to LP by the dealer. It was originally a natural gas model ordered for another customer who didn't like the color when it came in.

I adjusted the air shutters for each burner myself and the flames became perfectly blue afterwards. They were apparently left in the NG positions since they could not turn it on in the store of course. I also adjusted the low flame setting for each burner and the simmering ability is amazing.

I did try a live NG version at the store, and my burners look exactly the same on LP for what that's worth. It is one big pile of fire!

The only thing I am concerned with is there is a loud !boom! every time the oven finishes preheating. It is quite predictable and happens every time we turn it on from cold. Happens just once (after about 5 minutes), and never again until the next time we use it. It is startling if you're in the kitchen! Not sure what this could be, whether it's a gas explosion or metal expanding. We plan to ask the White glove folks when they come out. I don't expect any meaningful answer based on what I've been reading though.

Anyway, other than the !boom! it's fantastic.

Maybe Trevor knows what the boom is?

The boom is usually the oven floor plate flexing during the initial heat up.

Yes, that is the kind of boom it is, like a large piece of metal is banging into place with considerable force.

I wonder, tough, why isn't there similar a boom upon cool down? Perhaps there is a way to preload the over floor so it does not boom. Anyway, for now it serves as an audible indicator that the over has finished preheating ;-)

I just had the white glove service.
The service guy told me the conversion to propane was supposed to include a change of the oven burner orifice, but it was not changed and was still using the orifice for NG. This may have caused the flame to be too hot and caused the boom when the metal expanded.

The service guy told me he thinks this is the only orifice that gets changed at conversion, but he is going to check with Bluestar and get back to me. Apparently their white glove service guys are not always familiar with the product line.

Well now I'm feeling a little less comfortable with the White Glove Service.

A different guy came out for the second visit and brought the parts that they ordered from Bluestar. But he told me there it was useless to order a new oven orifice because the exact same one is used for both LP and natural gas. It is, in fact, and adjustable flow orifice. He turned down the amount of gas and declared the flam ok now. However, there is still a startling BOOM! after about 10 minutes of preheating.

He also replaced two of the range top burner valves because the child locks were broken. Now I have this problem where the ignitors continually click even though the flame is on. This only occurs for the left front burner, which is one of the ones he fixed. I also now get occasional "jet engine nose" from the griddle burner.

I had absolutely NO problems before the White Glove. I'm thinking I now wish they'd never touched it.

Propane(LP) has 3 carbons & 8 hydrogens; Methane (NG) has 1 carbon and 4 hydrogens.

When you burn propane, you break all those little bonds to form water and carbon dioxide. Since there are more bonds to break, you get more energy release from burning Propane than Methane - assuming same volume and pressure.

Isn't science fun?

I have a blue star with LP and have been very happy with the cooktop. I can quickly boil water and sear steak.