New kitchen - gas vs electric hob & oven. Also stone vs wood worksurface.

Jamp

Hi All

My cheap and nasty kitchen is past its best as are the hand-me-down appliances so all need renewing. The old kitchen units and worksurfaces will be reused as a workshop however, and appliances freecycled for anyone in desperate need of a just-about-working fridge or cooker.

I was at the Centre of Alternative Technology recently and they were saying that gas cooking is greener than electric, but didn't provide details on their calculations to arrive at this conclusion. I realise that at the hob then obviously gas is more efficient due to the inefficiency of electric production, but this doesn't account for the transfer efficiency into my pans and food. A colleague of mine used to work for a hob manufacturer and reckoned that a good ceramic electric hob will actually be more efficient than gas since most of its energy will be transferred to the pan, whereas much of the heat from a gas flame will go around the sides of a pan. He was especially singing the praises of induction hobs since these have very high transfer efficiency, but these are pricey.

Electric ovens seem more popular than gas. Which is best to use and which is most efficient?

Further, what do you reckon to my work top choice from an environmentally friendlyness perspective? I am considering onyx or granite (B&Q's 15mm thickness with a 40mm front to fake 40mm thickness - looks better than it sounds and much lighter for carrying up to a 2nd floor flat!) Obviously the mining and shipment of this is going to be energy intensive, but is it better than (FSC) maple wood? I wonder if any nasty chemicals etc are used in the processing of the onyx/granite that may sway things?

I am also considering replacing my combi boiler with a newer model that can be placed better for integrating into a built in kitchen. A bonus of this is that the new one could be 95%+ efficient whereas the current one is from 1989 and the service technician estimates 80% efficient. He says the current one is doing well for its age but that he would change it for a new one whilst installing a new kitchen to save hassle at a later date. I am not a believer in replacing working appliances in the name of environmetally friendlyness as this ignores the vast environmental cost of manufacture, but what do you think of my dilema given that I'm replacing the kitchen?

Cheers..

red

I am not sure about this but I think I read that granite is expensive ecologically to produce so I suspect your worktop would be better off being wood.

shelly

I have a ceramic electric hob and would swap it for a gas hob any day of the week! Gas is much easier to control and the heat doesn't go round the edges of the pan if you set the flame right.

Magentasue

In my old house, we had a new kitchen fitted and I went for electric - liked the idea of easy to clean ceramic hob and got a good deal on one with two induction rings. Can't remember why electric oven. Probably the programability - not that I use that much at all.

In present house, there is no kitchen as such, just a room with sink and gas cooker point. There was a gas cooker here but that was condemned by the CORGI fitter when CH was put in. Rather than have a cooker circuit put in, we've stuck with gas. Because I now prefer it. Years back I had gas and changed when we moved to an all electric house. I remember how awkward it was changing, then I got used to it.

I find gas much quicker, cakes etc come out better and it's costing us less, energy wise.

[Deleted User]

I have a portable induction hob and also an ELF meter. The induction hob gives out a dangerously high emf and I will only use mine for pressure cooking on a timer now, when I can move away from the source. I work my gas hob very efficiently by using good tri ply stainless steel pans and standing them on a much smaller ring. I have had my gas hob 3 years now and it is still sparkling and just needs a wipe with an eco cloth

Ken68

Hi Jamp...I went over to individual appliances years ago. Thought gas cooking was dangerous and when Corgi fitter wanted to charge me an extra £35 on top of boiler certificate that was it.
So steamer and slow cooker and toaster and microwave prevail. Miss the pressure cooker tho. Latest gadget is the Remoska. Being small the pre-heating costs are minimal.

Sledge_2

I'd recommend an induction hob, they are amazingly efficient and fast. They produce the heat in the base of the pan, so there is no wasted heat lapping up the sides like a gas hob. I've been using one fo a while now, and find it amazing (even though I'm a Physicist) how quickly they work; you can put a pan of water on it and it'll be boiling in less time than it takes to warm up a normal electric ring.

As for Kittie's comments, I wouldn't worry too much about the stray fields, I've also conducted a few little experiments, and although the hob would deflect a compass at 5 cm, it didn't seem to have any effect further away, and in theory, most of the magnetic field is used in the pan itself.

Personally I'd always prefer gas hobs, but then you can't lean over an induction hob and set light to your sleeve!

Magentasue

Yes, induction hob is much faster and safer - especially as you don't have that residual heat you get with other electric hobs. But, I'm sure I read that, given the prices of gas and electricity, cooking by gas still works out cheaper than an induction hob.

A_fiend_for_life

You haven't mentioned money saving in your post so I am going to assume your more concerned about the green side of things.

Gas is certainly cheaper. Electricity can always come from a renewable source. A slow cooker and other energy saving appliances keep the bills down too. Many folk swear by a Remoska though I am not sure how much energy they save compared to an oven. A bread maker also saves a lot of energy compared to a conventional oven. It's a tricky one as on the one hand you might want to conserve energy on the other there are a number of gadgets that do a more efficient job for particular tasks.

As ken68 says individual appliances are feasible and as they are especially geared towards the task might be the way to go.

Wood is of course a renewable resource. It may well need maintenance every so often but with due care should be fine. It might be worth doing a search on maintaining wooden work tops end especially stain removal such as beetroot. Or are you happy to have the 'patina' of a used work top?. I suspect buying the thickest you can afford might be advisable to give a longer life after the occasional maintenance. Which depending on your view is good fun and a pleasure seeing the finished job too.

I would imagine a marble work top would have more embedded energy. Not sure about chemicals or what they are coated with.

I agree with you on the combi though. I forget the name of the plumbing site but have you tried a search for the 'energy efficiency rating' for the make and model?

[Deleted User]

ah sledge, another physicist. I am also a physicist.

Electromagnetic fields have the potential for adverse health effects over long term exposure. I have therefore decided to use caution re use of my induction hob. I took my readings with a scientific gauss meter and as physicists, we know that the field effects reduce with distance. The safe use area (<0.2 micro teslas) was in fact 50 cm away from the centre of the pan.

I am not prepared to compromise my health just for speed of cooking. In addition, I believe that a gas ring, used properly with energy efficient pans is a much cheaper form of cooking

Sledge_2

Ahh Kittie,

Standing on the shoulders of Giants.

Ain't Physics brilliant !