What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[gtaus]

I have an old gas stove that is sitting out in my garage. It worked fine, years ago, but Dear Wife insisted we get an electric stove. I have considered getting it converted to hook up to a BBQ propane tank so I can use it out in the garage. We had propane fuel to heat the house at the time. So, I think the oven would only need a connection to the propane tank and a regulator. The burners should already be set to run on propane.

My idea was to use it to help heat the garage in the winter. I was thinking that I could cook a pizza in the gas oven and maybe it would help boost the electric floor heat in the garage? Although I don't know how much it would heat up the garage if the oven door was shut while cooking the pizza. Maybe some heating affects afterwards when I could leave the door open to cool the oven back down?

FYI, I have the garage floor heat set at 45F, which is warm enough for the cars to melt off the snow overnight, but too cold for me to work out in the garage for any length of time.

Here in northern Minnesota, we don't get too many hot days. But when it does get hot, it's the humidity that kills us. I turn on the AC to dry out the house. The dry air feels cooler than the humid air. Last year, I think I ran the home AC maybe 10-14 days total. We have a nice BBQ grill outside on the deck that we use on hot days. I wonder if we could use the old gas stove in the garage as well to keep the house cooler in the summer?

If anyone has converted a gas stove to run on a BBQ propane tank, or uses one out in the garage, I would like to know if it would be worth my money to get it setup and working again. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[saysfaa]

I worked for a while for a distributor of appliances including gas ranges. Propane can be used instead of natural gas but it needs a specific adaptor. Something about changing the rate of flow because the btu of propane is different than the btu of natural gas, I think. Or maybe it was about different pressures. It has been a while.

Anyway, you would need that part.

I don't know if there is anything significantly different about connecting a gas stove to a bbq size propane tank vs a house size propane tank.

 

[gtaus]

I worked for a while for a distributor of appliances including gas ranges. Propane can be used instead of natural gas but it needs a specific adaptor. Something about changing the rate of flow because the btu of propane is different than the btu of natural gas, I think. Or maybe it was about different pressures. It has been a while.

Anyway, you would need that part.

Well, that's the part I don't think I need. I live outside of town. The house had a 500 gallon propane gas to run the furnace, so it would have been propane (not natural gas) running the gas oven as well.

I don't know if there is anything significantly different about connecting a gas stove to a bbq size propane tank vs a house size propane tank.

I called up the "gas company" and they no longer service gas ovens or appliances. I was told they got out of that business over 10 years ago. So, I guess it's trying to find someone else to service the old gas stove or maybe get lucky and find out some info on YouTube.

Thanks for the response. Appreciate your info.

 

[gtaus]

Returned $10 item, Got a $30+ Gift Card in exchange!

Well, happy days! I returned an Arborist Throw Line kit that I did not use with a retail price of about $10.00. The customer service rep gave it back to me on a Gift Card and wrote $10.73 balance on the card's back. I then bought an "Oops" bag of Layer Crumbles at 40% off - a great deal - and used that gift card to make the purchase. The checkout girl handed me back the gift card and told me that I had $28.32 remaining on balance! I thought I misheard her, so I asked what the balance was on the gift card and if she would print out the gift card balance receipt for me. Sure enough, for whatever reason, I now have a $28.32 balance on my original $10.73 gift card return.

OK, so I'll all happy about this situation. But it leads me wonder how many times the store makes a mistake in the opposite direction, against the customer's balance? I suggest you pay close attention to the balance on those gift cards, so you don't magically lose any money.

FWIW, I buy the store Gift Cards when they have a sale on them for 10% off - usually around Christmas. I know how much feed and supplies I can expect to purchase at our Fleet Store every year, so I load up on Gift Cards at Christmas time and use them the rest of the year instead of paying cash or using a credit card. I know that I will save 10% off every purchase when I use the Gift Cards even if I end up buying something at full retail price. It works for me, and I have saved lots of money over the years using those store gift cards.

 

[gtaus]

Free Gift Weekend at Harbor Freight

If you have a Harbor Freight store where you live, make sure you take advantage of their Free Gift weekend sales. I always have a list of consumable items or monthly special deals that I will purchase to take advantage of the Free Gift offers. As an Inside Track Club member, today I just bought a large clip hook for $1.00 and got the $12.99 strap kit for free. That's a good deal for me!

If I go back to town this weekend, I might pick up that $8.99 impact driver adapter kit for free. It is better than the non-impact rated adapter kit I currently use.

They have these Free Gift weekend sales about every 2 months, rotating the Free Gifts that they have in the sales. Most of the time, they are offering Free Gifts that have value to me, so I make it a point to drop by the store when I go into town.

You can save lots of money by creating your refill and special sales lists of items beforehand and know what to buy when you can take advantage of these free gift deals. Of course, the store is banking on you just dropping by and maybe buying something you might not normally need at full retail just to get that "free gift." Be smarter than them!

FWIW, I have been a HF ITC member for 2+ years now. You have to pay a membership fee, but in my case, I more than make up for the cost of the membership fee with all the free gifts and ITC member specials I took advantage of during this time. If you buy stuff at HF, that membership is a good deal for many of us.

 

[igorsMistress]

I did some testing on the thermal cooker and wanted to see if I could another five degrees of heat retention over an eight hour period. I found a reflective shade for a windshield on clearance. One standard shade was all I needed to fully surround my pot and towels. Tested again today and I did indeed get that additional 5 degrees. My cooker cost me a total of $7. Granted it doesn’t sit on my counter, but I would find that it was in my way if it did.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Well, that's the part I don't think I need. I live outside of town. The house had a 500 gallon propane gas to run the furnace, so it would have been propane (not natural gas) running the gas oven as well.



I called up the "gas company" and they no longer service gas ovens or appliances. I was told they got out of that business over 10 years ago. So, I guess it's trying to find someone else to service the old gas stove or maybe get lucky and find out some info on YouTube.

Thanks for the response. Appreciate your info.

I have an apartment size gas range that has been converted to propane. My friend gave it to me to use for canning outside. Yes, you can hook it up to a 20 lb "grill" tank. I believe we bought the connector from harbor freight. If I don't forget, I'll try to get a picture of it tomorrow during the day.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Well, that's the part I don't think I need. I live outside of town. The house had a 500 gallon propane gas to run the furnace, so it would have been propane (not natural gas) running the gas oven as well.



I called up the "gas company" and they no longer service gas ovens or appliances. I was told they got out of that business over 10 years ago. So, I guess it's trying to find someone else to service the old gas stove or maybe get lucky and find out some info on YouTube.

Thanks for the response. Appreciate your info.

I hope these photos help. I don't have the gas tank connected because we only connect it when we use it. The one is where the regulator is connected to the back of the stove. The other is the connector for the tank. I also had the label that was included. We did get it at harbor freight.

 

[gtaus]

I hope these photos help. I don't have the gas tank connected because we only connect it when we use it. The one is where the regulator is connected to the back of the stove. The other is the connector for the tank. I also had the label that was included. We did get it at harbor freight.

Thanks for the response and the pictures. Do you need a regulator on both the oven and the propane tank? IIRC, I don't have a regulator attached to the back of my gas stove. We have a Harbor Freight, so I could pick up the hose/regulator kit there. Thanks.

I think I would shut off the propane tank, but leave it attached, much like we do with the BBQ grill. No need to keep the oven pilot lights burning gas if it's not being used.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

No we didn't get a regulator for the stove end. That's where I believe the gas pipe would normally be screwed in. I do have to say that the oven doesn't work but that's why I was given the stove. My husband hooked it up so I'm just going by observation.