Ovens - Gas vs. Electric

C22DTJ

Hello all,

My partner and I have just bought our first place and are beginning to do a bit of online window shopping.

One thing we need is an oven. The one in the place we've bought is a built-in gas oven, and according to the current owner, it's not particularly good, and to be honest, looks like a pretty cheap one.

The hob is fine, and gas, which is my preference, but having never used a gas oven, I don't know what they're like.

My understanding is that if we were to get an electric oven, we'd need to have the gas capped-off by a plumber, and also have an electrician install a unique circuit for the electric oven right?

That sounds expensive, and is leaving me considering just going with a decent quality gas oven. Budget is around £400, so it looks like I may be able to find a reasonable one.

However, as I said, I know nothing about gas ovens and how good/bad they are. So my question is are they ok? Any problems to be aware of?

Ultimately, is it worth the extra cash to get an electric one installed or would I be fine just sticking with gas?

I should note that we're by no means chefs, but we do do the majority of our cooking in the oven and occasionally some baking too.

Thanks

Ben84

Well, if it's safe to use, do try the current gas oven. You might like it.

Anyway, I prefer cooking with gas. It's fast to heat up, cheaper than electric and in most areas where electric is made from fossil fuels (including a lot of dirty ones like coal and oil) it's better for the environment. Electricity is not an efficient way to deliver energy for heating things.

One warning however, there's a few types of gas oven with very different styles of cooking I find. It's subjective, but I do not like gas fan ovens (they're not like electric fan ovens which I quite like) or gas ovens with the flames under a metal sheet in the bottom of the oven. They tend to hardly brown anything on the top and burn the underside of everything. Not to mention any spills burning horrible on the oven floor as the flame is right below it. Someone probably does like these ones, but I frankly wonder why they were ever made. I like the traditional gas ovens where the flame is in a slot at the back of the oven. These ones tend to have quite a browning difference depending on which shelf you use, but it does mean you have a lot of control as you set the gas mark with the dial and then how much/how fast you want it to brown with the shelf. Mine gives me more control over conditions than any other type of oven I've used.

Edit to mention grills. Gas grills are good, and fast too! However, check for ones you can adjust, as some have just the one setting, which is less useful really. Having a decent range of height adjustments for the grill pan helps too, both for fitting in large items/dishes and to control the cooking speed.

ed110220

A friend of mine tells me that some foods cook better in an electric oven and some better in a gas oven because the former is a dry heat and the latter is a damp one. I must say I'm probably not enough of a gourmet in the kitchen to notice

C22DTJ

Thanks both.

Ok good points to note. I think I am leaning towards the gas option simply because of the fact the existing one is gas.

Good suggestion to try the one that's in there too, it may be ok I suppose.

C22DTJ

After looking into some options, it looks like the gas ovens say '13 amp power supply required'... does that mean it has to be wired in anyway?

Maybe the existing one is wired?

Really not an expert on this stuff!

Jaynne

There are ovens that can work off an existing ring main but they must be under 3kW (ie can be fitted to a 13A fuse) - we've got a nice Smeg one that was in that price range and so far we've been very happy with it.

stevemcol

Needs to be wired for the ignitors and clock if it has one. My perfect combination is electric fan oven, gas hob.

C22DTJ

Ah right I see, I guess the fan in gas ovens would suggest it needs connecting too.

So it looks like gas ovens are a little sparse in selection than electric equivalents, also more expensive.

If we did go electric, and there wasn't a circuit in for the oven, would that fall outside of a normal installation for most of the big name stores (Currys etc)? Our circuit breaker board is actually on the other side of the same wall as the oven.

Jaynne

If that's the case it's a lot easier for an electrician to install it - do you have any spare spaces in the breaker to add a new circuit since a new circuit gives you the option of any oven and an induction hob if you like (and even if you don't if you're getting a new circuit you might as well put in provision for one as its a very minor cost to add one at the same time).

C22DTJ

Thanks Jaynne. Yeah it's a Smeg one I've just been looking at. The gas equivalent is almost £200 more!

It does say 13-amp, but as you say, it may be worth getting it done properly. There is indeed space on the breaker so I think that's the route I'll go.

Thanks again

Jaynne

C22DTJ wrote: »

Thanks Jaynne. Yeah it's a Smeg one I've just been looking at. The gas equivalent is almost £200 more!

It does say 13-amp, but as you say, it may be worth getting it done properly. There is indeed space on the breaker so I think that's the route I'll go.

Thanks again

An electrician might correct me but when we were looking to put ours in they said it would be much simpler if there was space on the fusebox as they only need to test the circuit they put in not the whole house which would be necessary if you replace the fusebox. In the case of the fusebox being the other side of the wall it should only take two hours max to drill the wall and fit the new circuit.

If its possible stick in that extra point for an induction hob at the same time as they are becoming a very popular alternative to gas now and its almost certainly very little extra work.