WHY YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR

    Over the years, I've received hundreds of e-mail's, phone calls, and letters from people asking questions about their CHAMBERS range. A lot of them ask questions I've answered before, but I'm always happy to answer them again.

     There is one question that keeps coming up often, but it is ME that asks it! When someone tells me they want to sell their CHAMBERS, I always ask them:


    I routinely post this question to people who are selling them on eBay, also!

    The typical responses cover the gamut -

    * "The oven is too small."
    * "I don't know how to use it."
    * "Is it safe?"
    * "Why does it only have three burners?"
    * "It's old - surely the new ones are better!"
    * "I want a modern kitchen!"

    Etc., etc., etc.....you get the idea. Most people want to get rid of them because they don't understand WHY the CHAMBERS is superior to the modern stuff.

    So, for those who don't know, or haven't heard, I've written the following, which is what I typically send out to those who are thinking about selling their CHAMBERS and opting for an ordinary range:

You really should keep your CHAMBERS Range!

Here's why:

    1. IT'S BETTER BUILT AND OUTPERFORMS ANYTHING YOU CAN BUY TODAY. You have, in essence, a wonderfully designed, wonderfully built stove. Nothing on the residential market today is built as well as what you already have. In fact, according to the world-famous kitchen designer, chef, lecturer on kitchen architecture, and Chambers 90C owner  Angela Phelan, your CHAMBERS is BETTER than ALL of the modern ranges built for home use today on every level. Further, she states that it is a BETTER than 80% of the professional products being manufactured today, and is JUST AS GOOD as the remaining 20%! How's THAT for an endorsement?

    2. IT HAS FEATURES THAT ARE UNPARALLELED IN MODERN RANGES. Your CHAMBERS has features that no other range - be it from then or from now - has. Nothing on the current market can do what your CHAMBERS can do. From the In-A-Top Griddle and Broiler (who wants to stoop to broil steaks, chops, and chicken, anyhow?), to the ingenious Thermowell, all the way to the super-insulated Oven that cooks with the gas turned OFF on retained heat, NOTHING on the modern market today offers the features your CHAMBERS does!

    3. MOST OF THEM DON'T HAVE TO BE RESTORED BEFORE THEY CAN BE USED. Most just need to be repaired, that's all, unless they've been really abused or damaged, of course. Places for parts and service are plentiful, and can be found here,

     4. MODERN STOVES CAN'T BE REPAIRED. All that they can do is have their broken parts "replaced". Incidentally - after 18-24 months after manufacture, the common practice is to cease making all parts for it. That means in, say, 5 years, the few parts that might remain will be available only at sky-high prices, and, in 10, you won't be able to get them at all, in most cases!


    I know of a lady in New Jersey that bought a brand NEW Viking a little over a year ago for FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. It is now broken and is going to cost her ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to fix it! She is SO MAD that she's looking for a 50-year old CHAMBERS to replace the stupid thing. "At least I'll know I can get parts for it!", she said.

    5. YOUR CHAMBERS IS AN INVESTMENT. Lastly, consider your CHAMBERS an investment - not only do you SAVE money at the outset (even semi-decent stoves today run about what it would cost you to repair a CHAMBERS with typical problems for it's age), it will SAVE YOU MONEY for the rest of your life.

        Here's how:

        A. Your Chambers SAVES GAS when it cooks. Whether you're cooking with the gas turned off, on retained heat, or use it like a simple, ordinary range, your CHAMBERS is SUPER-EFFICIENT with it's use of gas. Most users report as much as a 1/3 drop in gas consumption used for cooking when they switch to a CHAMBERS. With the high cost of energy these days, this is as important to us as it was to those who lived during the Great Depression, when the basic Chambers you have was designed.

        B. Keeping your CHAMBERS insures long-term savings as well. For example, if you go out and buy a Whirlpool range (blechhhhh!), you're going to spend around $600.00 for the cheap one. If you get a "good" range, plan on spending around $1,500 to $2,500 (nearly the price it would cost to have your CHAMBERS totally restored, by the way).

            Now, deep down, you KNOW that the Whirlpool is "junk", but you buy it because you can "trust" it to serve you well, but can you, really?

            * Not only will you NEVER be able to get the oven to cook "right" (because it doesn't have the cast iron oven floor yours does which makes your CHAMBERS bake SO evenly, thoroughly, and rapidly), in about 3-5 years, at best 7 or so, it's going to start having problems. The cheap parts and construction methods (as seen on the popular TV show, "How It's Made") are all going to start taking their toll on the life of your "superior, modern range." Pretty soon, things are going to start to go wrong, and when the electronics that control it go bad, forget it!

            * The flimsy burners it comes with will begin to corrode.

             * The electronic ignition (which, by the way, WON'T let you light ANYTHING during a power outage on most models), will start to get finicky, before it gets to where it won't work at all.

            * The oven igniter will go out (they cost about $125.00, PLUS labor to install around here!). Your CHAMBERS, which works WITHOUT electricity, will work for years and years and years - it is NON-electronic. Instead, it's mechanical, which means greater reliability over the long term, and repairs, should it break, are relatively inexpensive.

            * The racks can start to warp. Your CHAMBERS racks haven't, and never will. They may be bent, but that was caused by abuse, not by faulty design or materials. Besides, they can be repaired.

            * The modern "thing" just flat wears out - the gas valves don't turn like they should and many can't be re-greased (like a CHAMBERS can), so you've got to get ANOTHER one. Again you're back to the "replacement experts" - few are bona fide REPAIRMEN anymore.

            NOW - after no more than 10 years (if you're REALLY fortunate), you're going to have to replace it - and, allowing for inflation, you're probably going to spend somewhere between $1,000 and $4,000 to replace the unit that you bought to replace your CHAMBERS, while the lucky person who got YOUR Chambers, unless they've died, will still be using it!

            Of course, this process will occur more rapidly the second time around, because, by then, NO ONE will be making gas ranges in the USA, so your then-new Chinese or Slobbovian-made range will probably only last 2 to 5 years, at best, rather than 10 years the ones today get to, if they're lucky!

            SO - over the next 25 years, you're going to spend AT LEAST $4,000 for gas ranges, not including repairs, which is MORE than it would cost to have your CHAMBERS totally restored by a professional today, AND you'll keep using your CHAMBERS for the next FIFTY years!

    Incidentally, the oven IS capable of doing large meals, you just have to know how. We cook 25-pound turkeys in ours all the time...it will cook up to 40 pounds of ribs, etc. - how much bigger does it need to be, anyway?

    Thusfar, I've answered all typical complaints/concenrs about keeping and using a vintage CHAMBERS range -

    * The CHAMBERS is built better than modern ranges (they warranteed their porcelain for 25 years! Look and see how long modern range manufacturers warrant THEIR products!).
    * The cost of replacing the CHAMBERS is more than it would take to repair what you have.
    * I've demonstrated the the longevity and SAVINGS keeping your CHAMBERS will bring to you.
    * It has features you can't get today, and it does what a modern range will do faster, more efficiently, and more economically.


    There's nothing wrong with it that cannot be fixed at a reasonable price, PLUS you get the FINEST range ever built for the home!

    Are you SURE you REALLY want to cook on an inferior product after all these years of cooking on a CHAMBERS with the gas turned off?

    Think about it...that's all I ask.

                                                                    - Todd W. White