Natural Gas Range Basics

Many of the new natural gas cooking products use an electronic or spark ignition, rather than a continuously burning pilot light - resulting in energy savings.

Natural gas cooking products come in many sizes and shapes. Most familiar is the free-standing range, which includes a cooktop and an oven. Also available are built-in ranges, which either slide or drop in to a space between cabinets.

Commercial style ranges are now available for home installation. They have chrome or stainless steel finishes and multiple burners and ovens. These ranges are built with extra safety measures and insulation added specifically for home use.

Gas cooktops are made of stainless steel or steel coated with porcelain or glass. Modular cooktops may have a unit that allows you to pop in a grill, rotisserie or wok. Standard models have four burners but some models have two, five or six burners. Some have a grill or griddle unit in the center or on either side of the burners.

Sealed burners are popular because they are much easier to clean than open burners. Standard, unsealed burners produce about 9,000 Btu per hour. (A Btu or British thermal unit is a standard measure of heat or energy output.) Sealed burners range from as much as 12,500 Btu per hour to 5,000 Btu per hour for simmering.

Look for features that make clean-up of the cooktop easier such as; removable control knobs, porcelain drip pans under the burners, a glass or porcelain backguard (rather than painted), a raised edge around the cooktop to keep spills under control and corners and edges without seams.