Gas or electric? Cost and the environment

allankb

When things return to normal I am having a new kitchen fitted. I currently have a gas cooker but going forward I am wondering whether the cost of gas will become progressively more expensive as we try to meet environmental targets. Whilst gas is cheaper and I think better to cook with, for the sake of the environment and my pocket am I better switching to an Induction cooker now. I know all new flats have to be fitted with electric.

tim_p

Given the cost of a gas cooker now I’d get gas and worry about what happens if and when gas ramps up in price. Pop an induction hob in then. Maybe get a circuit put in for one now though. 

Gerry1

Electricity may have a lower carbon footprint, but per kWh it costs about five times as much as electricity.  Gas prices have recently been falling, so it's unlikely that you'll make any savings by switching to electricity any time soon.

Talldave

I'm with @tim_p. Put connections for both and fit gas for now. I currently have induction and whilst it's the best implementation of electric I've encountered it still can't match gas. The moment you lift a frying pan or wok just a fraction it loses the "connection". 

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

Not sure if there are figures available on this, but gas hobs are very wasteful of heat, while induction hobs are extremely efficient in their heat delivery.  Five times more efficient, though?  
On the other hand, induction hobs are more expensive and may well need replacing sooner.  Plus you might need to replace some or all of your pots and pans.  It's a complex picture!

brewerdave

avoidtheupsidedownbottles said:

Not sure if there are figures available on this, but gas hobs are very wasteful of heat, while induction hobs are extremely efficient in their heat delivery.  Five times more efficient, though?  
On the other hand, induction hobs are more expensive and may well need replacing sooner.  Plus you might need to replace some or all of your pots and pans.  It's a complex picture!

And you will need a new supply run to the kitchen which might cost as much as the hob itself!!

couriervanman

OP keep it simple........stick with gas it will be cheaper than electric for quite a while yet

matelodave

Over the years we've had all sorts, gas, halogen, ceramic and now induction. Our preferred choice would have been gas but we now live in an all electric house, however since having an induction hob for the past 10 years there's no way we'd ever go back to gas, even if it was available to us

It's far cleaner, just as controllable and even faster than gas. I doubt that it costs significantly more that a gas hob to run because all the heat is in the pan, not halfway up the sides and keeping the kitchen warm. TBH how much cooking do you really do to make that much of a difference to your total energy bill?

We don't get anywhere as much condensation in the kitchen as we did and it's so easy to clean. Nothing has ever burnt onto the hob so it takes just a wipe over with a cloth, which has kept it pristine for ten years. Even the pans still look as good as new. You can even wipe up splillages  as they occur, nothing actually burns onto the hob and there are no nooks and crannies to try and clean out, or orifices for it to disappear down.

You'll need to have induction compatible pans, ours came from Tesco & Sainsbury's. We've even got an induction compatible stainless steel Prestige pressure cooker.