# Gas vs electric range



## monkeyscience (Feb 5, 2008)

Which would you consider safer? We've always had an electric range/stove, and that's all my family ever had when I was a child. We are buying our first home, and I'm considering possibly upgrading the range/stove. I'm wondering what others think about the safety of gas vs. electric. My ideas so far

Electric:

Pros

-No open flame

-No possibility of gas leak

-Controls usually at the back of the stove and out of reach of children

Cons

-Slow heating/cooling time means a lot of time for potential burns before/after actual cooking

-No clear visual indicator to a child that it is on/hot (I don't think the "surface heat" indicators are helpful at all for a toddler or preschooler)

Gas:

Pros

-Quick heating/cooling time

-Easier to see if it is off/on

Cons

-Open flame

-Possible gas leaks, especially if the child manages to turn on the gas but not ignite the burner

-Controls are often on the front and therefore accessible to small children (though I know child locks are available)

Other thoughts? Am I missing something? Has anyone else made safety a primary consideration when choosing a new stove/range, or did you mostly go with your personal preference and just implement safety measures accordingly?


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Quote:


> Possible gas leaks, especially if the child manages to turn on the gas but not ignite the burner


With ours you have to push in and turn to access the gas and it then makes a clicking noise while trying to light so we can hear if any little hands happen to access it, which is pretty rare.

I am not sure if it is rational or not but I am definitely more afraid of burns with the electric ones than our gas. Maybe because they can visibly see the flame, whereas electric only changes color when very hot.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

My gas stove has a safety feature that if the gas is on and it does not ignite within a certain amount of time the gas flow is turned off. It then beeps at me and I have to go check the knobs and press a button to get it working again. Between this and proper installation, I'm not worried about gas leaks.

When my kids were little I used knob guards and a stove guard as preventatives. I had climbers, so I would have needed the knob covers no matter where the knobs were located. And I never walked out of the kitchen with the stove on. I did like that the burners cooled off really fast, so I didn't have to babysit the stove while it cooled down.


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## Matt Mega (Apr 18, 2015)

If you go with gas, just make sure to get one with a lock feature.


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## elus0814 (Sep 21, 2009)

We've had both and while I don't think one or the other is safer I have preferred gas stoves. I think fire=hot is an easier concept for kids to learn and understand compared to trying to explain that sometimes this surface looks the same but it is actually hot.


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