Suzie-Q ) said...
[about self cleaning ovens...]

That's pretty expensive, too. The cleaning is done by raising the
temperature in the oven so high that whatever food debris is in there
turns to ash. It uses a lot of electricity (or gas). Not as expensive
as someone cleaning the oven for you, but more costly than manually
cleaning the thing. (Like mom used to do.)

Hogwash.

Just look at the Energuide ratings on appliances ("Energuide" is what
we have here in Canada, but there is a similar sticker on new appliances
in the USA with a similar-sounding name that escapes me at the moment).

Self cleaning ovens use LESS energy overall than non-self cleaning ovens.

How can that be, when the cleaning is done as Suzie-Q describes above?

Simple: insulation.

Due to the high temperatures needed for the cleaning cycle, the oven must
be far better insulated than non-self cleaning units.

This insulation level results in the appliance using less energy during
cooking operations. So much less energy, that the energy used to clean it
once in awhile added to the cooking energy it consumes is LESS than the
energy consumed by a non-self cleaner. That does not even consider any
environmental costs that using chemical cleaners impose.

Now, I suppose that if you run the cleaning cycle fairly often, it will
consume more energy. In practice, we probably run the self cleaning cycle
on ours just about as often (maybe a little more) as we would perform
a manual cleaning if this oven were not a self cleaner, which is probably
between four and six times a year. Your mileage may vary.

--
Calvin Henry-Cotnam
"I really think Canada should get over to Iraq as quickly as possible"
- Paul Martin - April 30, 2003
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