Is it worth swapping an electric oven for gas?

vonsworld

Hi

I have a neighbour who likes to cook every night in his electric oven, he has limited means and so with rising energy prices this is becoming expensive.

However gas is about a quarter of the price of electricity. Also years ago he did have a gas cooker and the gas pipe is still present and capped off behind his existing cooker. Therefore swapping to a gas cooker would be straighforward.

In our area I expect a decent used gas cooker would be £100 and fitting would cost £50.

So my question, given ever rising energy prices, would it be worthwhile replacing his cooker?

(PS. I have suggested that he could simply change his cooking habits, use the oven less and maybe microwave instead, but he doesn't see that as a solution!)

Thanks

Robin

jimexbox

You have to work out the return on investment. 

Cost to run each appliance in kWh per hour. If it takes years, I wouldn't bother. 

Verdigris

I would suggest a Panasonic Combi oven. It can roast grill and microwave, separately, or together in some auto-cook routines. They use far less electricity than a conventional oven, being smaller. For example, it will cook fish and chips, from frozen, in 16 minutes, or less. A conventional oven would take that long to get up to temperature before it even started cooking the food.

Although the gas unit price is lower, the cost of getting the supply reinstated, plus the daily charge for the supply, would probably negate any "saving" for many years. A Panasonic Combi costs around £200 and just plugs into an ordinary socket. Mine's been going for the best part of 15 years and is used almost daily.

QrizB

vonsworld said:

I have a neighbour who likes to cook every night in his electric oven, he has limited means and so with rising energy prices this is becoming expensive.
In our area I expect a decent used gas cooker would be £100 and fitting would cost £50.
So my question, given ever rising energy prices, would it be worthwhile replacing his cooker?

Let's guess that his cooking uses 1kWh/day (this is just a guess, it could be less or more). On the April price cap, that would cost around 28p on electric or 7.5p on gas. Switching to gas would save 20.5p a day, £75/yr, and would pay back your estimated £150 cost in 2 years.

Verdigris

QrizB said:

vonsworld said:

I have a neighbour who likes to cook every night in his electric oven, he has limited means and so with rising energy prices this is becoming expensive.
In our area I expect a decent used gas cooker would be £100 and fitting would cost £50.
So my question, given ever rising energy prices, would it be worthwhile replacing his cooker?

Let's guess that his cooking uses 1kWh/day (this is just a guess, it could be less or more). On the April price cap, that would cost around 28p on electric or 7.5p on gas. Switching to gas would save 20.5p a day, £75/yr, and would pay back your estimated £150 cost in 2 years.

You've forgotten the 27p daily charge for gas, which isn't connected at the moment. Reinstating the supply won't come cheap. Just because the pipe is capped, it doesn't mean it will be deemed safe to use.

QrizB

Verdigris said:

QrizB said:

vonsworld said:

I have a neighbour who likes to cook every night in his electric oven, he has limited means and so with rising energy prices this is becoming expensive.
In our area I expect a decent used gas cooker would be £100 and fitting would cost £50.
So my question, given ever rising energy prices, would it be worthwhile replacing his cooker?

Let's guess that his cooking uses 1kWh/day (this is just a guess, it could be less or more). On the April price cap, that would cost around 28p on electric or 7.5p on gas. Switching to gas would save 20.5p a day, £75/yr, and would pay back your estimated £150 cost in 2 years.

You've forgotten the 27p daily charge for gas, which isn't connected at the moment. Reinstating the supply won't come cheap. Just because the pipe is capped, it doesn't mean it will be deemed safe to use.

My assumption (which, granted, might be wrong) is that the neighbour still has a live gas supply for heating and we're simply discussing a cooker replacement.

Verdigris

QrizB said:

Verdigris said:

QrizB said:

vonsworld said:

I have a neighbour who likes to cook every night in his electric oven, he has limited means and so with rising energy prices this is becoming expensive.
In our area I expect a decent used gas cooker would be £100 and fitting would cost £50.
So my question, given ever rising energy prices, would it be worthwhile replacing his cooker?

Let's guess that his cooking uses 1kWh/day (this is just a guess, it could be less or more). On the April price cap, that would cost around 28p on electric or 7.5p on gas. Switching to gas would save 20.5p a day, £75/yr, and would pay back your estimated £150 cost in 2 years.

You've forgotten the 27p daily charge for gas, which isn't connected at the moment. Reinstating the supply won't come cheap. Just because the pipe is capped, it doesn't mean it will be deemed safe to use.

My assumption (which, granted, might be wrong) is that the neighbour still has a live gas supply for heating and we're simply discussing a cooker replacement.

Ah, just re-read. I thought the whole supply was capped, but it looks like just the cooker outlet is capped. My bad.

EssexHebridean

We use gas only for cooking - and use the oven most days, and the hob daily. Currently it costs us in the region of £8.50 per month - I'm expecting that to increase to around £10.50 per month in April. If your neighbour already uses gas in the property then clearly the proportion of our cost that relates to the standing charge can be discounted for them - but either way that might help inform a decision.

An alternative plan which may be worth considering is if your neighbour is currently cooking on a cooker which has one single large oven, they could look at replacing THAT with a double-oven setup - and use the small one unless cooking sufficient items that the larger one is needed. 

Xbigman

If he is single then a mini oven would work out cheaper with a lot less up front cost than other options being suggested. Or how about an air fryer which despite its name is actually a small fan oven. 


Darren

Vesmari

I have similar dilemma, whether is worth investing in air fryer and to use it instead of the oven. Oven is 5.6-6.1kW, air fryers are about 2kW and do not need pre-heating and shorter cooking times, cost is about £150. I have started recording the oven use and since the beginning of March we average an hour per day.

i have some calculation based on hour use per day(even though it should be less for air fryer) and oven is £435 per year compared to £145 for fryer. need to consider limited kitchen space and whether i will use the oven for anything else but pizza. Any ideas?

ChaunceyGardiner

Vesmari said:

I have similar dilemma, whether is worth investing in air fryer and to use it instead of the oven. Oven is 5.6-6.1kW, air fryers are about 2kW and do not need pre-heating and shorter cooking times, cost is about £150. I have started recording the oven use and since the beginning of March we average an hour per day.

i have some calculation based on hour use per day(even though it should be less for air fryer) and oven is £435 per year compared to £145 for fryer. need to consider limited kitchen space and whether i will use the oven for anything else but pizza. Any ideas?

You can't go wrong with an air fryer, and you can get a decent one for £100.