What is more efficient, electric hob vs gas?

ProTofik

Hi,

Within next few weeks I will be connecting my house to natural gas network, and converting my oil heating + electric water heating + electric shower to combi gas boiler.

This will leave me with electric oven and electric hob (not induction).

I currently pay 14.99p for kWh of electricity. Gas will cost me 6.029p for first 2,000kWh, and 4.131p for everything over 2,000kWh.
I measured how much electricity my kitchen use, and I know that one hob point uses 2000W of electricity, whereas oven running at 180C uses something around 800W.

Question 1: Can 1kW of gas be directly compared to 1Kw of gas?
Question 2: If answer to above question is yes, then gas is definitely cheaper. However, I read somewhere that gas hobs are only 40% efficient whereas electric hobs are 70% efficient, and induction 80% efficient at transferring heat to the pot. My question here is simple, what is cheaper to run, electric hob or gas hob, and by what margin? 

When it comes to which one is actually nicer to use, it doesn't matter. I used both gas and electric hobs and I don't mind either, what I am looking for is purely which one is cheaper to run and by what margin. 

FreeBear

Gas and induction are quicker to heat a pan. No wasted energy heating up the ring before the pan gets hot. Gas & induction also react quicker when you need to turn things down.

A decent gas hob will be cheaper to buy than a good induction. Gas is currently cheaper than electricity which may affect your decision. Personally, I would go for induction as it is much easier to clean, and I don't need a qualified Gas Safe engineer to install it.

ProTofik

That's another good point. Installing gas means paying the installer extra to run the pipes to the kitchen, more pipes on the outside wall of the house, having to buy gas hob, co2 detector, and then service the thing once a year. Even if it's cheaper to run, I'm afraid it will take many years to recoup this cost.

I am leaning towards the option of just keeping it as it is for now, and if my electric hob breaks at some point in the future, just replace it with induction. 

fenwick458

unless you are cooking on the hob 3 times a day I don't think theres going to be much in it. how much will it cost you to convert to gas? gas costs slightly less to run but you'd have to use it an awful lot to get back the cost of converting

I'd upgrade to an Induction hob personally, best of both worlds as they are quick to respond and easy to clean, and slightly more efficient than a traditional electric hob 

molerat

It is generally stated that an induction hob uses 57% less energy than a gas hob but electric costs 3 times the price of gas.  So for the work done by 1kWh of gas costing 4.131p you would use .43kWh of electric costing 6.44p

ProTofik

molerat said:

It is generally stated that an induction hob uses 57% less energy than a gas hob but electric costs 3 times the price of gas.  So for the work done by 1kWh of gas costing 4.131p you would use .43kWh of electric costing 6.44p

By this maths I think it is reasonable to assume it's not worth converting the hob to gas. I have no idea how much it would cost, but to save 2p per kWh it definitely wouldn't be worth the cost. 

FaceHead

The difference can only be a couple of tens of pounds a year in either direction. It's sensitive to a whole host of factors, such as the relative prices of gas and electricity, inclusions of other costs, and how you use them. 

The fact that you're clearly reasonably clued up and need to ask shows that there isn't much in it. If you're motivated by the couple of tens of pounds, you'd be better off roaming around the house finding tat to sell, or browsing the 'boost your income' board, rather than focusing on this. 

PS. Have energy companies brought back tiered tariffs?? I haven't been following the energy industry for a while, but last time I was working for an energy company, the regulator banned tiered tariffs in 2014.

Swasterix

I switched from gas to induction a couple of years ago. I haven’t really scrutinised, but anecdotally I haven’t noticed a difference in my bills. 

I personally would not go back to gas. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you are it is just as responsive as a gas hob, with the added benefit of being a breeze to clean. Quick wipe with a micro fibre cloth and it’s done. Looks as good as the day it was installed. 

ProTofik

FaceHead said:

The difference can only be a couple of tens of pounds a year in either direction. It's sensitive to a whole host of factors, such as the relative prices of gas and electricity, inclusions of other costs, and how you use them. 

The fact that you're clearly reasonably clued up and need to ask shows that there isn't much in it. If you're motivated by the couple of tens of pounds, you'd be better off roaming around the house finding tat to sell, or browsing the 'boost your income' board, rather than focusing on this. 

PS. Have energy companies brought back tiered tariffs?? I haven't been following the energy industry for a while, but last time I was working for an energy company, the regulator banned tiered tariffs in 2014.

That's what I thought, since I couldn't figure it out myself I assumed the main difference must be in the price of unit, not cost of running.

As for the energy price, I am in Northern Ireland. We only have 2 gas providers here, and I am in an area that is only served by 1 company so I have no choice but to accept whatever tariff they have.

As for the electricity, we have 6 or 7 providers and its not tiered, so plenty to choose from. 

FreeBear

ProTofik said: having to buy gas hob, co2 detector,

A CO2 meter is not worth having. What you need is a Carbon Monoxide alarm (that is CO, no 2).

TELLIT01

Also worth bearing in mind that not all pans work on induction hobs.  Replacing a complete set of cooking pans can be expensive.