Supposed safety item - probably some brain thinking ahead that it would be the next feature demanded by the nanny state.
It wouldn't be so bad if they put a big sticker on them to point out such moron friendly improvements.

Almost any modern gas stoves and cooktop can be lit from a match or other flame source.

There are a few gas stoves which run everything through electronic controller boards -- the dual oven Maytages being examples --- and those stoves will not work without some electric power.

Basically, the only relatively sure way that I have found to get info is by downloading and reading the user manuals. If the manual has a section or paragraph heading that contains the words "power failure" or "electrical outage," then its burners can be lit manually. If those words are missing from the manual, then that particular stove is one of the few that can't be lit manually.

Some models of Bertazzoni ranges have an old style oven burner similar to the range top burners and they will also work without power if you light them. The trade off is that the oven has a higher minimum temperature than other ovens because the burner is on all the time. Also some find the heat to be uneven.

So does the range in question have knobs that directly control the gas valve for each burner? I have a frididaire gallery range and can lite the surface burners with no power. The oven however is electronically controlled and will not work. So now they have safety features that render it useless completely with out power. What a joke this world is becoming. We do too much to protect idiots that we unconvinced our selves.

I have to remember this if I ever but a stove again.

When I was reading reviews on Amazon, someone mentioned that all the brands owned by Whirlpool had this "safety feature." We were out of power for a week last winter and it would have been really awful if we couldn't have lit the stove.

Actually, for gas ovens, the electronic control systems (and electro-mechanical ones, too) have nothing to do with the nanny state interfering with idiots and annoying the self-sufficient. Unless you feel oppressed by having thermostatic control, that is.

As Laat2 suggested, these controls allow gas ovens --- not to mention gas and oil furnaces and water heaters, too --- to modulate and cycle heating levels in relation to specific temperatures. Rather than being a new and misguided nanny state initiative, this is old fashioned technology was developed in the previous century for use with pilot lights on gas appliances such as stoves, water heaters and furnaces. You set a temperature on a thermostat --- get the Greek etymology? -- and when the temperature is below a certain point, an electrical signal opens a solenoid (i.e., an electrically operated valve) that allows gas to flow to the burner where it is ignited by the pilot light or an ignitor glow-bar. When the burner has heated the room or oven to the desired temperature, the signal stops, the solenoid closes, the gas stops flowing and the burner shuts down until the room or oven cools down to the set point and the burner fires up again.

If you want a stove without this modern and useful convenience of thermostatic control, there is nothing that prevents you from buying an old style stove. Heck,if the nannies were ruling the world, Hotpoint would not be making a selling a 30-inch gas stove (Hotpoint RGB518PCDCT) that uses a 9v battery to run the sparkers (like those on gas bbq grills) for the stove top and oven burners. It also allows you to switch over to an oven pilot light, if you want. And, of course, you could go all the way and buy a spiffy antique Wedgewood, Chambers, etc. (A friend of mine has one and completely dispenses with pilot light in favor of using a butane bbq lighter).

But, it can be pretty hard to maintain specific and even temps. Also, pretty difficult to run an oven at low temps (say, 150F for dehydrating or 170F for "keep warm" functions.) That is what I took laat2 to have been saying about the Bertazzoni ovens. My recollection is that they pretty much do not go below 225 F.

So, the glow-bar ignitors and electronics are conveniences not oppressive safety nannies. You have certainly can dispense with those convenience if you want.

>>>"When I was reading reviews on Amazon, someone mentioned that all the brands owned by Whirlpool had this "safety feature.""Someone is always saying something on the internet, but it often ain't exactly true.

Whirlpool does own the Maytag brand and some --- just some, not all --- Maytags have stovetop burners that cannot be lit manually. Go find some manuals for Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchenaid and Amana stoves. (AJ Madison often has links to the pdf versions). Check them. Almost every one will have a section with a caption about power outages and lighting burners with a match. A few of the manuals do not. Those are the models whose burners cannot be lit manually.

RTFM.

It's not like asking for help. It's like having a crib sheet. Think of it as cheating and it will be okay. (Apologies to Red Green and Buzz Sherwood for that one.)

Probably most of us could do without the oven in a power outage, I didn't have any luck lighting my Frigidaire's with a match either, it's the burners we're talking about not being able to light.

Yes, good to stick to he point. I got off on a tangent responding to mike_73 about the ovens. Sorry if it looked like I was responding you you on that one.

It seems Berta no longer has the manual ignition feature on their US sold gas ovens. Their UK site shows only dual fuel models. Suppose Europe and elsewhere are country dependent for availability.

Jwvideo,, Maytag just has lousy designers. You could want the electronics for the oven temperature but that doesn't mean you have to make it so the top burners don't work. I bought a Maytag refrigerator at the same time and that design is so bad the repairman laughed at it cuz the defrost freezes in the drain hole and filled up the freezer with ice until it melts on your floor. Even after he tried to repair it by putting a wire down the drain hole same thing happened a few months later. I have to take the ice out of the bottom of the freezer at least once a month or it melts on my floor, the floor it has already damaged. If I knew the range top burners wouldn't work in a power outage I never would have bought it, too late now. I will never buy another Maytag appliance

Apparently, you are so mad at Maytag you want to find somebody to fight with. If you think it is me, you've been too mad to have read what I actually said here five years ago.

But I can at least tell you how to easily fix your Maytag fridge drain line problem. You have a bottom freezer fridge, right? All Whirlpool bottom freezer fridges have a soft silicon spout at the end of the drain line and that is where the problem that causes freeze-ups lies. It will be on the end of the drain line back in the motor compartment right above the plastic drain pan.Running a wire through the spout and drain line will not clean it out enough to last more than a few weeks. You have to pull it off and scrub it out to fix the problem. Also, you have to make sure that he whole line and whole back of the freezer compartment is defrosted. There is a youtube video on how do this. Some folks reportedly just pull the soft silicon rubber spout off the end of the drain line and have done with the problem altogether.

I'll post a link here for you when I find that link to the video. That fix should tide you over til you replace your fridge.

Here is the youtube link I used to fix the problem whent it happened with my Kitchenaid fridge. (I'm assuming that you know that Maytag is just another Whirlpool brand like Kitchenaid and Amana, right, and they are all made in the same factory?)

Thank you for the help JW. And I am not mad at you or Maytag.

When you have to fix a $2,000 refrigerator because it's a bad design is not what I'd like to find. And to find out about a gas cooktop not working with no power after you bought it also doesn't make me happy. That should be information it before you buy it. I live in the country like a lot of people and would not trade a working gas cooktop in a power outage for a more accurate oven. I believed the salesman when I bought mine. The fault is mine for not double-checking. Just FYI I've been working on gas appliances for over 30 years. And most people assume a gas cooktop work in a power outage.

Thanks again j w for the fridge info

As far as Maytag goes. If they put their name on a bad Appliance and do nothing about it they will get a bad reputation. Do you know if the refrigerator problem has been fixed in their Factory? And since I respect your opinion jw. Couldn't you supply the cooktop directly off the appliance regulator and not go through an electronic control for the cooktop?

Seems disappointlngly Ironic that cheaping out on a $5 part is screwing up $2k fridges, eh? But the fix is pretty easy and I hope it solves your fridge problem. AFAIK, all of the Whirlpool BF and FD fridges still use that little soft spout thingie.

On your range, is Maytag customer service (or the vendor sales rep) really telling you that you "trade a working gas cooktop in a power outage for a more accurate oven."

If so, what they are saying is complete and utter hooey. There is a trade-off between having an accurate, automatically cycling gas oven and being able to manually light the OVEN burners. But that has absolutely nothing to do with an ability to manually light StoveTop burners --- except for the few gas stove models on which somebody came up with a goofy unified control system. That is just goofy, not a requirement for accurate oven control.

As for hacking the stove by hooking the stovetop supply lines to a physical bypass around the digital solenoid, I kind of doubt it would work. Aren't the sparking ignitors also wired through the circuit boards? Dunno how you get around that unless you wanted to go with a totally manually lit stovetop. You'd have to read the the wiring diagrams very carefully to find out if you could create your own frankenstove.

Someone on another thread suggested hooking up a UPS normally used for the computer to drive a stove in an emergency. Far easier fix than a frankenstove approach. My new this year basic Whirlpool cook top will light with a match. My power was out for four hours Today and I was happy to fire it up for some soup.

Most igniters operate off the knob that you turn for the cooktop to come on. So you would have to match light it in the power outage but other than that it should work normal. But I'm not going to go through the hassle. I have a camp stove I can put on top when needed. I just saw a new stove yesterday with a dedicated line to the cooktop off the appliance regulator to avoid the trouble. Wish they all did that

JW, Finally had some time and I did that freezer drain repair you told me about. So easy and seems to have been the trouble. I really want to thank you!! Much appreciated

I have a new Maytag slide-in gas stove and just checked to see if I could light it with a regular lighter. I had the lighter burning when I turned the gas on and the stove lit. Thankfully, because that was one feature I was counting on.

Hi Karen,

Did you first unplug the stove? Also, does your manual confirm it can be lit during a power outage?

My family thought I was weird during our last power outage when I ran to see if I could light the stove. :)

homepro01, the following is copied directly from the manual "Power Failure. In case of prolonged power failure, the surface burners can be lit manually. Hold a lit match near a burner, and then turn knob counterclockwise to LITE. After burner lights, turn knob to setting."

We keep saying RTFM, and you did! Makes me feel useful. :>) Anyway, when the manual has that kind of language, there is no need to unplug your stove for testing manual lighting. Of course, if you do want to "test and verify" anyway, the stove has to be unplugged to keep the spark-ignitors from firing.

or i could flip the breaker... I'll just trust the manual. I'm NOT moving the stove!

Karen,

You RTFMed!! We are so proud. No need to flip the breaker before you break something else:-)

Chas045: Did the UPS think worked? I brought a 2nd hand Maytag double oven gas range and doesn't work without power. I live in Puerto Rico, after Hurricane María we spent 6 month without power. Having this Maytag is like having a white elephant in my kitchen instead of an appliance.

Aracelis: I never checked since my gas stove works without power. I'm afraid that I doubt the UPS approach would work for a weeks or months solution although it might. I suspect that stopping the gas is designed for safety and it is likely that power would be needed continuously to keep the gas flowing. Probably not a big power draw, but over time would drain the UPS.

For months of no power, even a generator and propane storage tank would eventually run out without a functioning delivery service. For Puerto Rico, solar cells (if they survive the hurricane) would be needed to recharge the UPS batteries.

I feel for you. We have frequent power outages where I live too. Mostly due to people crashing their cars into the poles...... I use a UPS to charge the electronics and we have a portable generator. The neighbors recommend the new Hondas because they’re significantly quieter and easier to start. I mostly use it to keep the all fridge and all freezers on. If I need to cook, I use the BBQ outside (it has side burners).

For portable generators, in my experience the Hondas are relatively quiet, but not as quiet as a dedicated fixed generator installation. Mine is by Millbank, but the guts are from Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group. These larger units have the space for adequate muffler sizes.

Yes, but we’re talking about $5k worth of generator equipment and installation vs a couple hundred dollar portable generator. It’s a huge difference in cost.

Exactly!😡 Unfortunately, i did not discover this until we had a large ice storm and i had all my grandchildren at my home to feed ”because i had a gas cooktop” What a JOKE! too late to send mine back , But believe me, i will be getting rid of it ASAP when i can afford to buy another one and it WILL NOT BE A MAGTAG!!

I don’t think you need to get rid of your Maytag. there are some new portable battery backup solutions available that you probably should invest in anyway (fridge, medical equipment, radio radio/internet access for news) that would be more appropriate than a gas generator. I’m assuming your maytag runs off a regular 110 outlet? walmart has a bunch of these and they’re reasonably priced. plus plus, most red cross and fire stations will recharge for free. I’m looking at one for my pump house to keep our water and electric gate running - they are 220 running intermittently).

I read that you can't use an extension cord to power a gas stove? We have a Maytag gas double oven that locks down when there is a power outage. You cannot turn the knobs to self light the burners. We thought perhaps we can run cord from generator to stove to get it to turn on. But I read this post -- Can You Plug A Gas Stove Into An Extension Cord?

You cannot use an extension cable or adapter with a gas range stove. You must connect the gas range to a 120V output, with only 3 spins.

Anyone know if that is true?

IIRC, the regulatory ban is against permanent use of extension cords for stoves and not against temporary use during a power outage.