Need new stove in old kitchen

6 years ago

Hello,

My 30 year old electric stove is on its last leg and I am researching for a new electric range. I am overwhelmed with all of the options available today.

Unfortunately, gas is not an option for me at this time and I do not want an induction range.

Other than Consumer Reports, what are some sites that can help guide me in this process? Do you have suggestions on recommended brands or brands to stay away from?

I like to bake quite often and cooking is something that I enjoy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Featured Answer

M

6 years ago

I, too, do not want induction as I have concerns about the amount of EMFs generated by the magnets

You do realize that this is a somewhat ridiculous statement, do you. While the "M" in EMF stands for "magnetic", these are altogether completely different physical phenomena.

To a physicist, your statement is about as meaningful as saying:

I, too, do not want a car as I have concerns about the amount of manure generated by the horsepower.

Yes, there absolutely is a historical reason why these words are related. But that doesn't mean the concepts are the same.

Electro-magnetic fields are heat (you do want that, I presume), visible light (you are probably not particularly worried about the oven light), and extremely low frequency radio and long wave radio (it's all around you, no matter where on the planet you are). And yes, both your electric stove and your induction stove produces each one of these electro-magnetic fields. But they are not going to have any effect on your body, other than that you'll burn yourself, if you touch a hot pot.

You are correct in principle (and that might explain your confusion) that both very high-frequency electro-magnetic fields (e.g. gamma radiation or X-rays) and/or very high intensity electro-magnetic fields could cause harm. But there is no way you could generate those without very specialized equipment. You might also have to upgrade to an industrial grade electric panel for your house.

Magnetic fields, on the other hand, are what makes motors spin and speakers produce sound. Clearly a very different physical phenomenon. There have been tons of studies, and unlikely some electro-magnetic fields (c.f. X-rays), human bodies are almost entirely oblivious to magnetic fields no matter the frequency or intensity.

The only exception would be insanely high field strengths that can only be produced in the lab. You have nothing to worry about, unless you somehow managed to get an induction stove that demagnetizes your credit cards from across the room and regularly turns your cutlery into shrapnel. And even those field strengths, would still not be enough to do anything to your body -- but the shrapnel might.

In addition, induction stove tops don't actually leak magnetic fields in the majority of cases anyway. As long as a pot is placed reasonably close to concentrically to the magnetic induction coil, magnetic field lines all run through the bottom of the pot. Only if you move the pot off-center by a lot, will some small amount of the field lines leak. But that's a mode of operation that the stove top doesn't like anyway and it usually simply turns off the coil. That's why you hear people complain about pot detection turning of their stove on ocassion.

What magnetic fields can do is induce electric fields in metals -- and only in metals. That's how an induction cooktop works. It quite literally produces electric currents in the bottom of the pot. And the pot thus becomes it's own electric heating element -- just like a traditional electric stove where electric current run through the heating coils. In principle, this could be made to work with any type of metal. But in practice, all induction stoves are tuned to only really work with ferrous metals. That's why you need special cookware.

As best as I can tell, the warnings about getting too close to the cooktop are all about you somehow bringing a piece of metal too close to it. Not many of us have iron implants or iron jewelry though. So, probably not much of a concern. And non-iron simply doesn't get hot enough for you to even register. So no need to take of rings.

But the real worry is about pace makers. When I said that the stove is tuned to work best with ferrous metals, that doesn't mean it has zero effect on other metals. It will in fact induce small currents into other metals. Usually, this is too little to seriously harm any electronics in the vicinity. But pace makers have wires (i.e. metal) and operate with super tiny voltages and currents. So, they could in principle be confused and mistake the stovetop for your heart. This usually just means they temporarily turn themselves off. No a big problem, as most of the time, a pacemaker is supposed to be inactive anyway.

But if you go into cardiac arrythmia, lean unto the cooktop, and push the pot just far enough to the side that the coil doesn't turn of, then you might not get the shock from the pacemaker that you need that very moment.

All the papers that I have found suggest that it is incredibly difficult to actually come up with a scenario where an induction cooktop would in fact disrupt a pace maker. But with very determined effort, it can be made to do so in a lab. Nobody has been able to show an adverse effect beyond 35cm though (that is about 14in).

Nonetheless, manufacturers are paranoid about bogus lawsuits; so, they'd rather add an extra warning than giving somebody a way to sue them. You never know how a random jury would decide.

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Comments (9)

dan1888
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I'd suggest a Bosch Benchmark induction range. If you haven't tried induction there could be working models at your local appliance showrooms. Faster response than gas without the glass heat up of Ceran electric. You will need magnetic cookware.
Julie B
6 years ago
Check the appliances forum here and the cookware forum on chowhound.com
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cvm01hoosier
6 years ago
Hi, cdogsmom. I'm in the same boat as you with a 26-year old electric drop-in, cast-iron solid-element range (yes, I believe the solid cast-iron elements came and went in the same year, lol!). I am replacing the oven sensor today (a $40 part), but it prompted me to look for a new one before anything else gives out as most parts are now obsolete.

I don't know what your set-up is, but for me with a drop-in on a peninsula, it's more complicated. I want a slide-in to make it easier when we remodel in a few years, but have been reading about needing a counter height of 36" for those, and mine is only 35-1/2", plus they are deeper and we will have to cut the counter. I, too, do not want induction as I have concerns about the amount of EMFs generated by the magnets and their recommendation to keep the body a minimum of 12" away from burners (just go ahead and try standing a foot away from stirring a pot - ridiculous).

I also like to cook and bake a lot, and have decided to definitely get a convection oven, plus there are a few with a steam rack feature that allows you to put moisture into the oven to get highest rise from dough. And, there is a warming drawer feature that might come in handy at holidays to warm those rolls you baked the day before... ;-)

I am also looking for an easy-to-clean surface without a lot of places for food to accumulate. This is much harder to find. I thought I found it in the newest Samsung ranges, but after doing research on their products, would advise against buying any Samsung ranges because of poor products and poorer customer service as reported by owners who have had their products beyond a year.

I found with my current stove that the less I used the self-clean cycle, the less the electronic circuit board got fried and damaged. So, I'm just used to manually cleaning up every so often with soap and water before things get burned on, or a good once-a-year with non-toxic oven cleaner. But nowadays they almost all have a self-clean cycle. And having wi-fi connectivity isn't on my list since it seems it is the induction ranges that have it and not the radiant models.

I thought I had found the perfect one a few times, but research made me decide against them. I am still searching. Look at reviews all over the web for any range that suits you, and gauge the good reviews against the bad. You will begin to see a pattern and then can make a judgment about product quality. My biggest criteria is reliability. It's no good to me if it continually has problems. It seems that also with ranges it is as they say, "they don't make 'em like they used to". Good luck with your search as I continue with mine!
venmar
6 years ago
Is your current range a coil top and do you still want that? For long high heat cooking and canning some prefer these to smooth tops. The Frigidaire and Frigidaire made Kenmore ranges self clean very well, better than Bosch and some others, and CR rates them and GE ranges as being generally reliable. Some Kenmores have leave in porcelain self clean racks for a similar price to Frigidaires with regular chrome racks. You might like to have a Convection option in the oven. Frigidaire and Kenmore offer economy choices to some innovative and good looking models-the Symmetry two equal size oven models and the Frigidaire Professional stainless steel slide-in range which looks very sharp. Electrolux and Frigidaire / Kenmore deserve recognition for wide selection and innovative features and good repair records for coil, gas, and electric smoothtops. From my own experience and reports here induction repair rates may be somewhat worse but you said you do not want induction. If you want a self-cleaning oven DO NOT BUY an AQUA-LIFT Whirlpool, Maytag or Jennair, it DOES NOT Self Clean.
Toronto Veterinarian
6 years ago
If you are really set against induction, I'd recommend a coil electric over a smooth top electric. Have you ever tried an induction cook top? If not, I'd recommend you try it, even if it's just a stand-alone unit or in a showroom. I simply can't tell you how much I prefer my induction over the electric I replaced.

I also recommend having a convection option in your stove. I use mine most of the time, and it's great.
plllog
6 years ago
Um...that 12" means don't lay on the cooktop not don't stand within a foot of your pot. Standing normally will keep your pacemaker out of the field--a ruler away from the inductors. The actual induction field only comes up about a quarter of an inch from the surface.
3katz4me
6 years ago
M - thank you for that explanation. Hoosier had me wondering there for a moment if I missed something in my induction research. Gotta' add that I love my Electrolux induction range so far (about a year). I got it because I was a gas gal and moved into a place with an electric that I could not get used to. Thought I'd run a gas line to the range but started investigating induction thanks to the helpful advice here and now I'll never go back to gas. Only thing the jury is still out on is reliability but I think that's a crapshoot with most any appliance now days.
Milly Rey
6 years ago
I have had a double oven range for YEARS and it's the next best thing to having a double oven

Need new stove in old kitchen

M

Comments (9)

dan1888

Julie B

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