Converting Electric Hobs to gas in kitchen

Mr_AVB

Good morning,

A couple of kitchen related questions here if you don't mind. Not sure if I should have put them here or the gas section, so apologies if I'm in the wrong area!

I am in the house buying process, and am interested in a particular property. The kitchen requires (in my opinion) two things to make it better; a gas hob (pretty essential) and a update of the units and maybe work surface.

In likelihood, there's no point throwing too much money at the kitchen as it wouldn't improve the value of the property that much (the property is always going to be a small flat)

So my questions are as follows;

1. The flat has gas central heating. Would it therefore be possible to put a gas hob in without too much bother? In terms of details, the flat is a 3rd (of 4 floor) building as a joint freeholder, and the boiler is currently situated in the bedroom. Is there any reason a) a gas hob couldn't be installed? Also any rough cost estimates (I know this is finger in the air really) would be really useful.


2. In terms of updating units and worktops, what would be a rough budget. I'd be looking low budget here really due to the comments above.

If it helps, here is a picture of the kitchen.

Thank you for any help

Edit: Can't post a link to the picture as a new user but if you http:// this and .JPG it at the end it will come up;

media.rightmove.co.uk/4k/3694/38037577/3694_3884A_3884_IMG_04_0000_max_620x414.

thegasmon

the gas hob is going to be dependant on the way your gas pipework is situated. You may be lucky and find when they built/installed the gas pipework they may have put a gas supply to the kitchen cooker space. If not then you will have to run a gas pipe to the hob position which can open allsorts of questions that can only be answerd by taking a look. Questions like pipe route? pipe sizes? building construction?

one other issue is ventilation, gass appliances require fresh air, if the kitchen is quite small you may also need to fit a vent to outside.

best to get a couple of quotes from local engineers.

Mr_AVB

Thanks for your reply.

If it helps, there is a functioning radiator very close to the kitchen by the open plan living room wall.

Also, as its a 3rd floor flat, would there be any problems in investigating where the gas line is?

Worst case scenario, if it needed a lot of repiping, what sort of cost would you think?

Completely agree on the ventilation point, its another of my thoughts with the kitchen. There is a window quite close to the kitchen (by the radiator again) but I think some for of extrac fan at least would be good.

Apologies for the 21 questions, I'm not a DIY expert by any means as you can tell. (Not that I would attempt to do any of this myself!!) :eek:

CKdesigner

Hi

There is a bit more to add to the response from thegasmon.

There are different regulations for the 'combustible free zone' above a hob from gas to electric. Basically the likelihood is that you would also need to raise the height of extractor and move wall units further away, but if you are replacing the kitchen anyway it shouldn't be an issue. But if you don't want to replace the kitchen I wouldn't bother going to the expense of doing all the work to fit a gas hob, because these days gas is not the thing to have. You could, I should think easily replace what you have with an induction hob, which will easily out perform any gas hob, be much easier to keep clean, be more economical with energy and you will not be burning a fossil fuel in the home!

Yes an induction hob does cost considerably more to purchase but overall I'm sure would be cheaper as you wouldn't have the considerable gas installation costs.

Good luck

CK

Mr_AVB

Thanks CK, that's a really useful answer and something I hadn't even considered. Agree that could be the way to go, and from my quick read up on induction hobs they tend to be more reactive to temperature change than electric (this is my main gripe)

Final question, in terms of replacing the units themselves, what would be a rough cost estimate. As mentioned above, I'd be looking to a cheap aesthetic renovation as opposed to anything too high quality. I've also seen mentioned on some sites 'door / cupboard changes' whereby they replace the doors and it looks more modern on the same unit, would that be possible here?

Thanks

bryanb

If you go the induction hob route, don't forget you'll probably need to replace all your pans

mysk_girl

We have just installed an induction hob and are thrilled with it, it is easily as responsive as gas and has a number of handy features like a child lock and overflow sensor (turns the hob off if a pan overflows). It was expensive, but worth it! Many pans do work on induction hobs, they just have to have either steel or cast iron bases.

greyteam1959

An induction hob works just like gas but without the gas !!
Dead easy to clean & cheap enough to buy.
Most of the only require a 13 amp socket to plug into.
So no special wiring needed.