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About that "shopping therapy"
Jan. 10th, 2008 11:56 amFor Giftmas, my sweet husband went down to the Big Box Store and bought a kit to replace the knobs on our kitchen range. We have a Tappan with knobs that have the degrees/settings printed on them and over the years they have worn off until it's mostly guesswork and habit that tells us what heat setting we're using. The new knobs were very pretty and very shiney and we both smiled at them and gleefully threw away the old ones.
And about 36 hours later, the new knobs began to slip, fall off, and not work. Now we glare at the range whenever we're in the kitchen.
So being smart shoppers, we began the 'finding real replacement knobs' search. And guess what I learned? Repair stores only keep oven/stove knobs in stock for about 7 years. Manufacturers only make them for about 10 and then it's a seller's market as the supply dwindles. Right now, it would cost us about $170 (+shipping and handling) to replace the knobs on our stove.
That's right. They cost about half of what a new stove would cost. Well, assuming we bought a low-end stove. But still, it's insulting enough to our intelligence that we are now looking for a replacement range. Why not? For the replacement cost + skipping one SCA travel event, I can have an oven with the new 6 or 8 swiggle heating elements. Or maybe even one of those new stovetops that have a little warming area, too, or the big burners that are big (or small) as needed! Wow!
But really, we were kinda looking at replacing the water-heater first. And the sink in the main bathroom. And I feel really bad for Arn - it was such a thoughtful thing to do and now it's all blown up. That doesn't seem fair. Stupid stove.
And about 36 hours later, the new knobs began to slip, fall off, and not work. Now we glare at the range whenever we're in the kitchen.
So being smart shoppers, we began the 'finding real replacement knobs' search. And guess what I learned? Repair stores only keep oven/stove knobs in stock for about 7 years. Manufacturers only make them for about 10 and then it's a seller's market as the supply dwindles. Right now, it would cost us about $170 (+shipping and handling) to replace the knobs on our stove.
That's right. They cost about half of what a new stove would cost. Well, assuming we bought a low-end stove. But still, it's insulting enough to our intelligence that we are now looking for a replacement range. Why not? For the replacement cost + skipping one SCA travel event, I can have an oven with the new 6 or 8 swiggle heating elements. Or maybe even one of those new stovetops that have a little warming area, too, or the big burners that are big (or small) as needed! Wow!
But really, we were kinda looking at replacing the water-heater first. And the sink in the main bathroom. And I feel really bad for Arn - it was such a thoughtful thing to do and now it's all blown up. That doesn't seem fair. Stupid stove.
