SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20200920-97E29-2147369702. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: GE GE JGBS66REK4SS (Gas range and oven combo Model GE JGBS66REK4SS). Incident: I have a new GE gas range, model JGBS66REK4SS. It is a gas stove top and gas oven combo. Home Depot and Amazon sell it. This appliance is a terrible safety hazard with the potential to burn the user or anyone standing in front of the range. The oven has a vent under the "backsplash" of range--where the controls are displayed. The vent is where the backsplash meets the perpendicular surface of the range. When you turn on the oven to, say, a standard baking temp of 350 degrees F, the heat from the vent channels under the griddle and pours out at the front of the range. This makes standing in front of the stove very hot and makes the stove knobs too warm to touch. The griddle also becomes hot to touch even WITHOUT the griddle burner ignited. This range is a horrible design. The venting heat could harm adults and children standing in front of the stove. The potential for burns is great. And this appliance can't be energy efficient with all that heat pouring out of the appliance. A repairman inspected it this week and told me that all gas ovens have vents but I should get a refund because this model is poorly designed. To my great frustration, the retailer and GE said they won't provide a refund or exchange of this model. This model is suspiciously similar in design to a GE Monogram range that the CPSC recalled in 2009. See this link: https://www.cpsc.gov/es/Recalls/2007/general-electric-recalls-gas-ranges-due-to-fire-hazard. Note: I bought this range in early February, but just installed it in a new kitchen in mid-August. Used the oven only once because of the terrible problem