Hi, My husband and I just moved into our new home; the previous owner installed brand-new Frigidaire stainless-steel appliances, including a slide-in gas stove (I believe the model is FGS365EC, according to a search on the Frigidaire website). We have been using the stovetop burners with no problem, but when we went to turn on the oven last night, we discovered that it isn't working. I've put in a call to the realtor to find out from her clients who installed the appliances (we have no idea where they were purchased), but unfortunately they're out of town. I'm wondering if this is an installation issue, or if we should call Frigidaire on Monday to see about having it serviced. I'm hoping someone on here might have an idea. The manual gives me no ideas whatsoever--it says that the heating element should automatically ignite the gas. The element is heating up, but there is no gas ignition. thanks, Jody

BTU/hr is heat per hour. Within reason, more BTU/hr will just reduce the amount of time it takes to get the pot up to boil. "Old" ranges (pre-mega-BTU-era) were around 10kBTU/hr and people were able to can just fine on them. I don't think you'll see a big difference in the sub-$2000 price class. I would strongly recommend you get a range with "continuous grates" which will let you better support a large pot, as well as slide it if you need. I liked the Frigidaire pieces in that price range.

Thanks for the replies! These were really helpful. We weren't going to have a backsplash (just some high gloss paint) b/c there isn't a lot of room above the stove - we have an above-the-range microwave, and there is only a little bit of wall above the stove because of that. But a small bit of stainless steel to fill the gap might work (also, we wanted to use the Bertazzoni toekick to keep that area under the stove from collecting interesting and disgusting things that we can't reach to clean, but apparently it only works if your stove is exactly 36" high, and ours had to be placed higher to be level with the countertops - so maybe whoever does that piece could also come up with a simple toekick). It sounds like it might be a good idea to try to find a stainless steel fabricator - any tips on how to find one? This would mean going out of my way to hire yet another firm to do work in the apartment, and we are at the end of our time limit for renovations (baby due any day now, and just general renovation fatigue has set in), so I'm hoping to keep extra logistics to a minimum...

jasdip, sweetie, you're just TRYING to cause trouble aren't you? ;) I get such a kick out of reading threads when gas vs. electric comes up. The hyperbole comes flying and reason goes out the window. Few acknowledge that there's differences between stoves and yes, even between gas. Propane has approximately 8-10% less BTUs per gallon than natural gas, so some arguments have to be made as to whether you're talking about propane or natural gas. I did notice a difference cooking on LP and propane than on natural gas. If I were given my choice, all things equal, and the choice was only one fuel, I'd opt for natural gas, but I'm also very interested in induction. When thinking about buying a new place a while back I seriously considered an induction HOB and a couple gas burners with a small and large wall-mount electric ovens. I grew up with natural gas in town and propane at the cabin. For over 30 years I've cooked on electric at home and a propane camp stove when camping and at the cabin. I'll say this without reservation: GOOD COOKScolor="red"> can cook on gas OR electric! People bring up their mamas and others, and my mother was a fabulous cook but you know what? She could and would go across the street to help out on an electric stove and guess what? The food was fabulous! I have several aunts who were all terrific cooks and about half had gas while the other half had the dreaded electric. (How did they ever live???) And I know a lot of people will be upset, but the stove does NOT turn a bad cook into a good, to say nothing of a great cook. I know people with $5k "professional" ranges by Viking and other makers and they have trouble heating a TV dinner. I can take my camp stove, oops gas makes me perfect, so let's clarify, I could take a hotplate or an electric frypan and cook a circle around some of them. With all due modesty, I'm a good cook, but I don't claim to be a great cook. I know many great cooks that use and know how to use electric. There's some fallacies that should be cleared up: Few people are truly prohibited from putting in gas if they don't have it, fer cryin out loud I'd put in a propane tank and accept the lower BTUs if I were so heartbroken as to not have gas. I have a gas furnace and gas water heater but have an electric stove and electric dryer. That's what was in my place when I got it and it's the same stove although I've replaced a couple dryers, I couldn't see (for me) enough reason to pay to run a gas line and yes I could have done it myself, I wasn't comfortable doing it even though I replaced a gas water heater myself. I would prefer gas on those appliances also, but I don't get all hot and bothered because I don't have it. As far as no gas user will switch to induction. WRONG! Check out the appliance forum, I've seen a LOT of people switch! LOL It's entertaining how defensive people get over appliances. Shall we enter the rage of central air vs. window unit? The other thing that makes me split a gut laughing about, and my sister said this just the other day, if the power goes out, I can cook! Well whoopie-ding! My response to her was that when the power is out in the middle of the night, the last thing I want to do is run down and start cooking a Thanksgiving dinner and a birthday cake! And the fact is, that many gas stoves DO require electricity since they won't release the gas without power. Now there are ways around this. Use a battery and an inverter or use a UPS. But again, it's the misinformation that gets spread on a hot topic. Growing up, our house CERTAINLY got much hotter with a gas stove. That's common sense. HOWEVER, that was when pilot lights were used on virtually all gas stoves. And it's true that gas stoves are far less efficient than (coil) electric stoves because of the direct contact of the element compared to the flame and heat riding up the side of the pan. I know that the gasfans (I won't use the normal term of endearment I usually use) will jump and argue this but look at professional kitchens using gas stoves and how the sides of the pans are burned up the sides. MOST cooks don't do a lot of cooking on the side of a saute pan. I saw this dramatically growing up and also while camping that the flames go up the side. I was one to turn down the flame to keep it on the bottom of the pan and of course it would take longer but use far less fuel. Another experience I had with this issue was when I was at some friends' new home and we were in the dining/kitchen area. There was a crowd at the housewarming and Martha was cooking some things on the (gas) stove. Her husband was standing by the stove, leaned back and the back of his shirt caught fire. That fabric went up like a torch, and no, not because of gas. Another friend standing there had the sense to grab the shirt and rip it off him and throw it in the sink. I was looking at them at the time and I did not see the fabric touch the flame but it goes to show how much heat goes up the sides of pans. And I suppose I'd better clarify that I'm not using this to say not to get a gas stove. OTOH, his burns were minor enough so we were able to laugh about it (I suggested he was now inducted into the "Pepsi Generation" and we had a good discussion about how home injuries can happen quickly. The whole point is, if you're used to something you can do fine. If you don't like something you will not be able to tolerate it for love or money. I almost always refrain from using terms like "always" and "never". I'm pragmatic. I try to deal with facts and common sense. Luxury liners have professional chefs onboard and they use electric appliances, not gas. I've watched Wolfgang Puck, Julia Child and others cook on hotplates, electric stoves and gas. Further, if you compared a high end electric stove with a gas camp stove I think many peoples' choice would change. So let's compare things as we can and recognize they're different. Many bakeries use only electric ovens. Many pizza places use wood! That said, to me there's only one rational drawback for me I can see to gas, other things being equal, and that is generally speaking gas appliances cost more than electric. And that's a pretty minor drawback IMO. Most people who have a preference though, don't care and will gladly pay the difference. And there's the gasbags, oops, gasfans who will argue that gas is "always" cheaper than electricity, which also is not true. But often you can recoup some of the cost but it depends on your local rates and as said, most people just don't care. Some people want Ford over Chevy or vice-versa and will pay more to get their preference. You don't have to rationalize, you say, I preferred it and got what I wanted. Personally I have trouble believing that people with a big preference of one over the other will be swayed by the fuel/power cost. In the big picture I doubt it would be that much. It wouldn't be for me I guess. I will also comment on the simmer question. The stove we had growing up had a center "simmer" spot in the center of the gas burner. That stove had an adjustment for the gas though we never adjusted it and never used the "simmer" setting. My campstove will adjust down so low I can simmer anything. But I've also used gas stoves that couldn't simmer anything. A lot is the stove, a lot is the adjustments when so equipped and the cookware can make a big difference too so there's no definitive answer to the question. A friend of mine had emphysema and asthma and had to rip out the gas appliances from all the homes in which she lived. Now in fairness, she wasn't the normal person, but there are some people who advise against gas appliances if you have children with breathing difficulties. I'd advise using common sense. There are also a number of people who advise against vent hoods venting inside because it can draw more fumes. Most residential hoods don't have the suction to be a problem in this regard in my opinion, but here's another example of if I had my choice, I'd vent it outside. Naturally, you should vent a gas dryer, furnace and water heater outside though. I will say, that my sister has a gas stove, "LOVES" it but does admit that her asthma IS affected if she's using it a lot. So I think a person should be informed rather than going by uneducated comments. There can be issues. I know this is long, but I'll say it again: GOOD COOKS can cook on gas OR electric and yes, even on a campfire or a grill! Red Green did his Thanksgiving dinner in the hub caps and under the hood of his car.... but I'm not suggesting he's a good cook.... OK Jasdip, are you next going to ask propane vs charcoal? (Taste the meat, not the heat?) Or better yet, real charcoal vs briquettes??? :)