Two of the 20+ year old appliances in our home are nearing the replacement
stage - the dishwasher and the electric stove. I'm guessing that newer
appliances are more energy efficient, but in general, do they put less of a
"load" on the circuit that's servicing the appliances? Our home is 30+
years old, and I'm guessing that the wiring, while up to code, didn't
anticipate microwaves over the stove, larger refrigerators, and all the
different things that use electric current that didn't exist 30 years ago.
Sometimes, when we're cooking on the electric stove, AND using the
microwave, AND running the dishwasher, AND have the 4 flourescent tubes on
in the kitchen, the lights in the kitchen dim a bit. If I put in a new
flat-surface electric stove, am I likely to see more lights dimming or will
the situation improve? THANKS!

"Oh no, not again!" wrote in message
...
Two of the 20+ year old appliances in our home are nearing the replacement
stage - the dishwasher and the electric stove. I'm guessing that newer
appliances are more energy efficient, but in general, do they put less of
a "load" on the circuit that's servicing the appliances? Our home is 30+
years old, and I'm guessing that the wiring, while up to code, didn't
anticipate microwaves over the stove, larger refrigerators, and all the
different things that use electric current that didn't exist 30 years ago.
Sometimes, when we're cooking on the electric stove, AND using the
microwave, AND running the dishwasher, AND have the 4 flourescent tubes on
in the kitchen, the lights in the kitchen dim a bit. If I put in a new
flat-surface electric stove, am I likely to see more lights dimming or
will the situation improve? THANKS!


Stoves in general take the same amount of energy old or new. You need a
given amount of power to boil water or fry an egg.
Refrigerators, dishwashers and the like are probably more efficient than
they were 20 years ago. Thirty years is not all that old and you should
have sufficient power to run everything you have. At that time 100A service
was the norm. You may have a balance problem with one side having all the
appliances, but the range will be on both poles. Perhaps some of the
circuits should be split if you have the lighting and appliances on the same
breaker.

The simplest (and best) solution would be to put in a gas stove. It's
really not possible to do proper cooking on an electric cooktop anyway.
Thus you solve two problems at one time.

A 30+ yo house should have adequate wiring for such devices though. I
suspect your microwave may be on your lighting circuit. You may want to run
a seperate line for it, if that is the case. Your stove feed should not
have anything to do with the lights dimming unless there's in adequate
service in the main panel to begin with.

s

"Oh no, not again!" wrote in message
...
Two of the 20+ year old appliances in our home are nearing the replacement
stage - the dishwasher and the electric stove. I'm guessing that newer
appliances are more energy efficient, but in general, do they put less of
a "load" on the circuit that's servicing the appliances? Our home is 30+
years old, and I'm guessing that the wiring, while up to code, didn't
anticipate microwaves over the stove, larger refrigerators, and all the
different things that use electric current that didn't exist 30 years ago.
Sometimes, when we're cooking on the electric stove, AND using the
microwave, AND running the dishwasher, AND have the 4 flourescent tubes on
in the kitchen, the lights in the kitchen dim a bit. If I put in a new
flat-surface electric stove, am I likely to see more lights dimming or
will the situation improve? THANKS!

Gas cooktops don't have this issue.

s


"PanHandler" wrote in message
. ..

This may seem trivial to some, but it's a real issue when you're serious
about cooking. An aside to this aside: They're not as easy to clean if
you're particular about keeping them looking nice, which is all they have
going for them.

There's always propane. And it's cheap to operate also. My son has an all
electric house we put in a propane stove. He, like us, knows that cooking
is a pain (if not downright impossible) on electric.

s


wrote in message
...

. All things
considered I would never go back to a coil style electric and gas is
not available to me.

"Steve Barker DLT" wrote in message
...
Gas cooktops don't have this issue.

AMEN to that!