One of the first things real estate agents learn during home inspections is that all stoves (gas and electric) should have an anti-tip device.
Actually, when you buy a stove, it comes with the anti-tip device. Unfortunately, most people don’t use it and instead toss it in a drawer with the product manual.
Why Use a Stove Anti-Tip?
Every year, there are injuries and deaths due to stoves tipping over because they weren’t securely attached to the wall or floor.
The anti-tip device limits how far your stove can tip forward, preventing injuries.
What Makes a Stove Tip Forward?
Here are a few situations that can easily cause a stove to tip over on top of a person.
- Children (and sometimes adults) use the open door as a ladder to climb onto the counter
- Adults lose their balance and fall onto the open door
- Cooks set the turkey or other heavy dishes onto the open door prior to lifting it up to the counter
Think about it. If the oven door is open, and a child climbed on it or you lost your balance and fell on it, the stove could come toppling over on you or that small child. Even if it didn’t completely crash down on you, you could get severe burns if the hot contents on the cooktop or in the oven spilled all over you.
Is Your Anti-Tip Device Installed?
The solution to this problem is really simple. Every stove comes with a small metal bracket called an anti-tip device. The device is usually attached to the floor or wall, and one of the rear metal feet on the stove is slid into the bracket. If the stove starts to tip forward, the bracket holds the foot in place preventing it from moving more than a few inches. If your stove doesn’t have an anti-tip installed, you can pick one up at a hardware store or online.
Since this is one of the most common problems that comes up when a home is sold and is so easily fixed, every homeowner should check to confirm their stove is properly secured so it won’t tip over.
Test Your Stove TODAY!
The next time you are in your kitchen check to see if you have an anti-tip device. While the oven is turned off and cool, remove any items on top or inside the stove. Then close the door and pull on the back of the stove. If you can tip it toward you over 6 inches and nothing stops you, then you do NOT have an anti-tip on your stove.
If you can only pull it a little before it stops, then you DO have an anti-tip installed.
If you aren’t handy enough to put one on yourself, any handyman will be able to do it for you. If you live in the St. Louis area and don’t have a handyman, call me and I can suggest someone who can come to your home and fix this for you.
