CHAMBERS VINTAGE STOVES CHICAGO : August 2016

Thursday, August 25, 2016

PORTFOLIO

SEEING THE BEAUTIFUL KITCHEN SETTINGS many of my clients build around their Chambers is one thing I love about my job. Often I will yank a stove in the middle of demolition, with dust and mayhem swirling around my lungs and mind as I'm driving away with the stove on the way to the shop. Man I wish that I'd been photographing those demos… They can be so gawd-awful, and so entirely different to the scene I return to with the repaired or restored stove.

Here are photos of a few of those stoves and owners in some of the more beautiful settings, some redone, others original:

White Chambers Stove highback in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Most of the settings I install Chambers in are vintage, and most of them are visually busy. That's why I like the stark contrast here, in my client's small cottage in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Compare this with her brother's place below.

White Chambers stove Model C highback in retro kitchen with steel cabinets, Chicago, Illinois

A modest and elegant setting, brilliantly remodeled with vintage steel Geneva cabinets in a Chicago two-flat.

A couple of Chambers stove owners in retro kitchen, Chicago

Tom and Nancy are both fantastic artists. They own a nice Model C low back in their funky Chicago bungalow. The stove shot is nice but heck with it, I love this shot so much better.

Owner of Chambers stove Model C low back in retro kitchen, Elmhurst, Illinois

Joe with his pride and joy Model C, in a great original vintage "sunrise" kitchen in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Vintage Chambers stove repair, model C highback set in retro kitchen, Glen Ellyn, Illiinois

This gorgeous space - in a similarly gorgeous Arts and Crafts home in Glen Ellyn, Illinois - was created by my friends Jim and Deb. Does it surprise you that they are designers?

Beautiful white farm sink in vintage white retro kitchen in Lombard, Illinois

The place that inspired this post: I was working on Mark and Michelle's Chambers in Lombard, Illinois while big guys were ripping out the floor and wall around their wonderful farm sink. On returning, I found the sink surrounded by clean symmetry, facing their model B blacktop shown below.

Vintage Chambers stove model B blacktop in corner of retro kitchen with vintage plates and bowls, Lombard, Illinois

The presence of the yellow drapes, bowls, plates and tea kettle is so slight, yet so awesome, it totally knocks me dead. Mommy, I WANT THIS KITCHEN!!!

Vintage Chambers Model BZ stove in modern white kitchen in Mequon, Wisconsin near Milwaukee

To the right is another Model B with black porcelain top and handles. Ironically, this was the cheapest version of the model, yet the black top and handles create such great accents in white kitchens, this one so very nicely done in Mequon, Wisconsin.

Vintage blue Chambers model C high back set in modest kitchen in Millbrook, New York

On a slim budget? Here's an instance of how a Chambers can BE the rehab in an existing, non-vintage kitchen. My friends Eric and Emma simply dropped in Baby Blue (which Eric helped me restore), then cleaned the cabinets, painted the walls, and added furniture and dishes that riff off of the stove. In my humble opinion, they got themselves the best dang kitchen in upstate New York, Millbrook, specifically.

Vintage restored stainless steel Chambers cooktop in modern kitchen near Chicago, Illinois

I couldn't put two more starkly different photos together than the one above and to the right. My Munster, Indiana client loved her Chambers Cooktop but needed to do a total rehab for her elderly mom's kitchen. Normally I prefer color but I gotta say that this contemporary monochrome treatment incorporating the vintage Cooktop is quite attractive.

Vintage restored green Chambers stove model BZ in funky kitchen in Three Oaks, Michigan near New Buffalo

Photo provided by client

Finally, check out this gorgeous mint green Model BZ in a quaint cabin in Three Oaks, Michigan, near New Buffalo. First time I've ever seen a BZ in other than white or yellow plumage. Next to that brick chimney with that yellow faux lure… Mmmm mmm! That's a-nice!

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Vintage? Yes. Outdated? Hardly!

Looking for a super-efficient, beautiful range? A fully restored Chambers "fireless" range could decrease the environmental impact of your purchase by over 500%.

How is that possible?

Most significant is that a restored Chambers uses a tiny percentage of the resources needed to manufacture a new appliance. Second, a Chambers was built to last a lifetime: a reconditioned Chambers has already lasted about 50 years, and will easily last another half century. The average life of a new range: only 10 years! No appliance that must be discarded so soon should be allowed to be labeled “efficient”. Third: Chambers stoves are unique among all other stoves: their ovens and deep wells are super-insulated with rock wool, allowing them to use less than one-third of the gas required by most recipes. A Chambers stove actually “Cooks with the gas turned off!”

Exemplary of American ingenuity, craftsmanship, design, and durability, a Chambers is safe, easy and fun to use, beautiful to look at, incredibly efficient, and cooks food so much better than any modern stove. In both concept and execution, a Chambers is forgotten perfection.

Since first restoring a Chambers in 2002, I've cleaned, repaired and restored hundreds of Chambers stoves for owners throughout Chicago, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. Please, NEVER, EVER throw out a Chambers stove. If it needs service or you can't figure out how to use it, I can show you how it works and why it is better than anything new. If it simply must go, don't throw it away! Someone out there would love to give it a proper home. Need to buy, move, service or restore a Chambers? Contact me and we can discuss your needs.

The Ultra Eco-Stove

Think your stove is efficient? Pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes, throw in a 3 lb. roasting chicken, then turn off the gas after 15 minutes. After 60 more minutes, check to see if you want to feed that lukewarm animal flesh to your family. In a Chambers, however, the skin will be crispy golden brown, and the breast meat will be the juiciest, most tender you have ever tasted. A perfect roast chicken with no basting and a total of 25 minutes of gas.

It seems ironic, in these days of "carbon-consciousness," high fuel bills, and Energy Star-rated appliances, that a fuel conservation technology perfected in the late 1800's seems to have been all but forgotten. "Retained Heat Cooking" was widely employed in American kitchens for decades, in the form of super-insulated boxes called "Fireless Cookers". But only one major manufacturer integrated this technology into a practical stove. The Chambers Range Company, with the sales pitch "Cooks With The Gas Turned Off!", exploited Retained Heat Cooking as its' primary selling point. But with cheap natural gas prices, soaring incomes, and frugality no longer a virtue, after more than 70 years of producing retained-heat ranges, the Chambers company folded in the 1980's.

And the world continues to change: now vintage stoves have become a hot item among eco-conscious homeowners: just think of the environmental value in saving any appliance from the scrap heap. But Chambers ranges, with unique and timeless design combined with super-efficiency, stand out among all the rest. Don't worry, we're not just talking good-looking and practical here: Chambers ranges offer fun features that modern manufacturers seem to have forgotten, like a full-size griddle and pop-up broiler on the stove-top. Made in a wide variety of colors and constructed with commercial grade components, Chambers stoves not only look great, they work great too!

How to Find and Buy a Chambers

These forgotten treasures are easily found in the Chicago area, residing as second use (or "Italian Kitchen") stoves in the basements or garages of pre-1970 homes, and commonly featured at garage and estate sales. Practically every week, a different Chambers appears in the Chicago area Craig's List or on EBay. Asking prices are all over the map, from $100 to $3000 and up.

From experience as a restorer of Chambers stoves, I can tell you to be patient and pay the least possible price. It may be currently working, but no matter how well it has been maintained, a 65 year old stove needs attention. Someone, either you or a professional restorer, will need to put in significant time and effort. An un-restored Chambers can require more than 80 hours to bring it up to “Like New” condition. And while you may not care to return it to showroom appearance, cleaning 65 years of interior dirt and grime and doing the minimum required work to make it safe and easy to use can take 20 to 40 hours.

I honestly know of only one certified Rocket Scientist who has restored his (and many other) Chambers stoves. He would be the first to say that it doesn't take one of his ilk to take apart and put together something that was designed and produced when there were more horses tilling farms than tractors. Most owners find the restoration process to be a fun and interesting challenge, not to mention a huge savings in the cost of labor. Excellent assistance for "Doing It Yourself" is available here and on online Chambers communities.

As for professionally restored units, if you are in the Chicago area, I have numerous styles and colors available, including counter-top units and wall ovens. Prices run from $3000 on up. That's quite a bit of money, to be sure. But for that kind of dough, what would you rather have: a comparably priced range that often requires repair before it's one year old and doesn't even begin to offer the unique looks, craftsmanship, features, and quality a Chambers delivers, or an authentic, reconditioned Chambers that will last your lifetime?

When buying a major home appliance, it's not often that the eco-minded consumer has such a fun and interesting way to improve their home's carbon footprint. When you consider that a Chambers looks so great, works so fine, and prevents significant impact on the environment, nothing out there, new or "recycled", even comes close.

Chambers History and Technology

In the early 1900's, previous to Chambers ranges, “Fireless Cookers” were a separate small cabinet kept near a cook stove burning wood, coal or gas. A pot of soup would be put on a range, and the contents brought to a boil. Then a tight fitting lid was put on, and the pot would be removed from the stove and placed in a form-fitted cavity in the Fireless Cooker. The Fireless Cooker was insulated with packed “Excelsior” (finely shaved wood) or, ultimately, Mineral Wool (spun molten rock, with the consistency of densely packed sheep's wool).

The Chambers range negated the need for a separate Fireless Cooker, by super-insulating both the oven and a “deep-well” on the cook-top. So, a roast placed in a Chambers ThermoOven is brought up to a high temperature for a certain amount of time (dependant on weight). Then, the gas is simply turned off, and the roast remains in the oven and “cooks with the gas turned off” for another weight-determined period. The deep well (ThermoWell) functions in the same way.

Although Chambers ranges were sold on the basis of economical cooking, they weren't cheap. Quite the opposite: with commercial-grade components and cutting-edge features, a Chambers was a pricey appliance. This was back in a time when “paying more now to pay less in the long run” appealed to pre and post-Depression sensibilities, and Chambers salesmen went to great lengths to demonstrate to customers how a few years worth of fireless cooking saved enough money to not only compensate for its' higher price, but end up cheaper than any other range. Through home dinner demonstrations, salesmen also emphasized the performance, quality, beauty, and features unique to Chambers. Despite stiff competition from many other range manufacturers, the Chambers brand sold well throughout the United States.

The most popular Chambers models are the B, BZ, and C, manufactured from the late 30's to the early 60's. The B and BZ came in many configurations and a few colors. The C offered expanded color choices, but only two configurations: Highback and Lowback. While the B and BZ have a bit more “character”, the C is esthetically more “modern” looking, and possesses a more efficient ThermoWell that enables it to function as a mini-oven.

At first glance, there are a few things about a Chambers that may seem strange to present day consumers. First, the oven seems quite small, compared with the cavernous ovens of modern stoves. Also, the appearance of only 3 burners on the surface of the cook top may seem limiting. In reality, the oven can fit a 40 lb. turkey roaster, and I have no problem cooking 4 pies at once. The 4th cook top burner does exist, though it sits at the bottom of the ThermoWell, which simply requires a fitted pot and a little getting used-to. Otherwise, a Chambers is totally adequate for a family of four or more, and can be much more fun and satisfying to own and operate than a modern stove.

How Choosing a Chambers Can Save the Planet!

Ecologically, the Chambers shines in three regards, not the least of which is simply saving it from the scrap heap. This may seem trite at first, but it represents a huge savings in carbon output: resources to manufacture a Chambers were consumed a half century ago, and in not buying a new stove, no new resources are consumed or carbon emitted.

Secondly, Chambers ranges, unique among all other vintage stoves, incorporate a largely forgotten method of cooking meant to conserve energy and resources, a method perfected at the turn of the 19th century and called “Retained Heat (or Fireless) Cooking”. Simply put, this method brings food to a certain temperature, and then places it in a super-insulated container, where it continues to “cook” with little or no additional use of fuel.

And lastly, Chambers and other vintage stoves were made to last a lifetime, which they obviously did quite well, and then some! Unlike new appliances, which often cannot be fixed when broken, practically anything on a Chambers can be easily fixed. And a restored Chambers will last at least another 50 years, yet another lifetime. Compared to the average expected modern appliance ownership period of only 10 years or less, the use of a Chambers over its' next lifetime will prevent 5 stoves worth of consumed resources and generated carbon.

LINKS

Thursday, August 25, 2016

PORTFOLIO