What's Cookin' ?

[mgbinspect]

Here's a first for me, and one for the brain-trust. I found myself having an internal argument, on and off, all afternoon deciding what to say about this double wall oven set up:

The home is a solid masonry 1925 duplex row-house. A natural gas fired double wall oven has been installed through the rear exterior kitchen wall to project into, what appears to be, a tongue and groove wood enclosure with a tin top and a vent on top of the enclosure.

At first I found myself thinking this was a fire hazard, supposing that the ovens vented burner exhaust into and out of the enclosure, but then I realized that these units are actually zero clearance units exhausting out the front of the units back into the room. Isn't that accurate?

If that conclusion is correct, then the vent on the top of the enclosure is merely venting any residual heat from around the unit; which probably isn't even necessary and may actually affect the reliability of temperature and even cooking.

So, with all of these thoughts tumbling around in my head, I tee this up to the brain-trust: How does this setup strike you? What are your thoughts? What would you emphasize in your report about it?

Thanks in advance!

Class is in session...

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[Richard Moore]

Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen gas wall ovens before. Even in an otherwise all gas home, with gas cook-tops, separate wall ovens are typically electric around here. But...I did look up the install manuals on a couple and it sure doesn't seem that any modern unit would have or need an exterior vent. It's an odd set up and I have to wonder if there was something else in that space before the wall ovens.

It would seem that if there is anything that actually needed venting then the flue shouldn't terminate right next to the door and opening window.

I would probably report it as an unknown, potentially hazardous due to the flue location, and recommend someone find the original install manual.

[mgbinspect]

Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen gas wall ovens before. Even in an otherwise all gas home, with gas cook-tops, separate wall ovens are typically electric around here. But...I did look up the install manuals on a couple and it sure doesn't seem that any modern unit would have or need an exterior vent. It's an odd set up and I have to wonder if there was something else in that space before the wall ovens.

It would seem that if there is anything that actually needed venting then the flue shouldn't terminate right next to the door and opening window.

I would probably report it as an unknown, potentially hazardous due to the flue location, and recommend someone find the original install manual.

Yup, I first noticed the setup from the outside, when I dropped by to do the outside well before I had access to the inside. The clearance problem was the only thing that initially jumped out at me, because I didn't have access to the inside and had no idea what was venting.

I must admit that once all the additional input came along, I totally forgot the clearance issue so thanks for reminding me. (It's probably not an issue in this case since the over would have vented to the interior anyway in a normal application, but it's certainly another factor to address.)

Never a dull moment in this business, eh?

[Jim Baird]

It's been some time, but in about Y2K I inspected a rehab house that had an under the counter gas clothes dryer that vented straight out the exterior wall. Have never seen another.

[Tom Raymond]

Wall oven is a bit of a misnomer. They are intended to be installed in a cabinet, and while some installations require heat shields (clear acrylic deflectors) most do not. I've never seen one installed in its own little addition like that, but I bet it gets hot enough to get the roof cover smelling all asphalty. Maybe the vent was an attempt to cool the roof and improve the smell of dinner.

Mike, did you open the drawer there? My guess is that it slams right into the upper oven door.

[mgbinspect]

Mike, did you open the drawer there? My guess is that it slams right into the upper oven door.

Yeah, Tom, the did interfere with one another. Welcome to the world of old somewhat renovated row houses.

[Marc]

Mike, did you open the drawer there? My guess is that it slams right into the upper oven door.

Yeah, Tom, the did interfere with one another. Welcome to the world of old somewhat renovated row houses.

Houses like these are the ones on which we have to really work to earn our money. []

Marc

[inspector57]

If it is venting excess heat out of the box, what is it going to do in the winter when the oven is off? My be is it might be a tad bit drafty.

[mgbinspect]

I stated, among other things, that the cooking temperature settings and performance may prove to be unreliable.