THE GAS STOVE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2318, 20 August 1921, Page 4

THE GAS STOVE.

Do what we will, the gas bill is always bigger than we meant it to be. Some women, of course, throw all the blame on the gas company. The pressure is too great, there is air mixed with the gas, the meter is not accurate —these are some of the absurd reasons advanced for gas bills that are heavier than they ought to be. But the woman who is strictly honest with' herself sets herself to disgover what she has done to cause the extravagant expenditure.

First- of all, be careful to keep the stove clean. The bars and top should l)e scraped and washed and polished, the burners should be removed frequently and cleansed, and still more frequently they should be pricked with a skewer to prevent their getting clogged. The inside of the oven should be scrubbed with soda and water, the shelves should be kept scrupulously clean, not even Hour being allowed to remain on them. No pot should ever be allowed to boil over, for this means, the partial clogging of the burner, as well as waste of gas in burning up the ovcrllow. And it means, too, that an unnecessary amount of gas has been used under the pot. Burners sjjould never be left fuH on after the contents of a vessel huve been brought to boiling point. Only as much gas should be turned on as is necessary to keep the pot simmering or boiling. > Most housewives would bo sur- % 'prised if they could realise how much gas they waste in little unconsidered ways. It is a common practice, for example, to leave the gas burning while tea is -being made. The teapot is warmed and the tea is put in, then the kettle is lifted from the gas to fill the teapot, and replaced on the gas to keep hot in case the teapot needs more water presently. It hardly seems worth while to turn off the gas for the few seconds it takes to till the teapot. But that process is gone through six or seven, or even more, times every day, and in the course of a month it accounts for a considerable addition to the gas bill. And it is only one of a number of little wasteful practices that go on all the time. How many women, for example, turn off the meter when the stove is not used for a couple of hours? The majority of gas stove meters are never turned off at all. Yet- there may be a tiny unsuspected leak in the pipe that is letting gas eseapfi all the time. If the gas stove is set in a speciifl recess, there will be practically no smell from a tiny leak, as.the gas all escapes through the chimney above the stove. So the only possible safeguard against loss of this kind is to turn the gas off at the meter. The observance of all these precautions is bound to make a substantial reduction in the monthly gas bills.