How to work out which cooker is cheaper to run?

ChasingtheWelshdream

Hello,

I am buying a gas range cooker and have narrowed it down to 3 choices around the same price. I am stuck on one aspect which I hope someone could help me with please?

All have a main gas oven (approx 50-60 litres) with an additional tall electric fan oven (60-80 litres). One cooker has the ability to use a splitter on the electric oven, enabling it to be used as two smaller, independent fan ovens - making 3 ovens in total.

Now the gas oven is going to be cheaper to run for most things as the price per kWh is so much cheaper. 

But I do a lot of slow cooking (currently have an Aga). What I’m trying to work out is if it would be cheaper to heat the large gas oven, or use the splitter option and create a small electric oven on 100 degrees/slow cook setting.

I think the gas oven would still be cheaper even though it is a larger volume. Am I right?

(There is of course the option of a crock pot I know, but as it stands I’m interested in comparing the cookers themselves and whether it is worth paying a little extra for this feature).

Thanks as always.

Bendy_House

Blimey.
I imagine you can either get your calculator out and do some heavy sums, or you can look at this in terms of ballpark figures. Or perhaps each manufacturer can give you figures you can hopefully compare?
But, with the ballpark scenario, I THINK the following would apply;
1) The energy used to run a larger oven will NOT be significantly more than a smaller one, AFTER the oven has heated up. The larger one will likely use more/take longer to GET there, but - once 'there' - I'm guessing there won't be much to chose between them. So, over the duration of the cooking period, I doubt there would be a mile between them. So, a larger gas oven will be cheaper to run than a smaller leccy one. That is, of course, pure guesswork by me.
2) Will a gas oven actually maintain a slow-cooking temp? Can it keep an oven as low as, say, 60oC? Worth checking it can, I think.
3) Any other options for slow-cooking? Eg, if casseroles, then a purpose-made electric slow cooker could well be cheaper to run.
These are all thoughts and assumptions - I have no actual info... :-(

ChasingtheWelshdream

That’s great thanks, and ball park guess work is all I need. The whole point is to reduce the running costs against the Aga we are losing so yep, gas has gotta be the way.

Basically they are all around the same price and essentially the same features, except for this splitter option. Which is a little more expensive but not as ‘pretty’ - yes I am judging a cooker by looks! 

They all have a slow cook setting which is 100 degrees I think so I assume
it works).

Thanks!

GDB2222

We have a cheap electric cooker, and it also has a slow cook ‘feature'. All they have done is replace the 100C mark on the oven temperature dial with the letter S. That’s it.  So, don’t be fooled.

I also think the gas oven will be cheaper to run. 

To keep costs down, could you cook several dishes at once?  The Aga was always on, so popping something in the oven made no difference to your energy bills. 

With the new oven, it will pay you to alter the way you do things and cook several things at once. You’ll get used to the desserts absorbing the smell of chilli and garlic- in time!  

ChasingtheWelshdream

Thanks, I assume it is only 100 degrees or gas mark 1/4 (or whatever), that’s fine by me. And it’s good to know the gas will still be cheaper. So I will probably take that option out leaving me with two to choose from.

It is going to be a learning curve for cooking in general as I haven’t thought about oven temperatures for many years - its either hot or not as hot 

GDB2222

I do a lot of bread baking, and I get great results putting the bread into a cold oven - then switching it on, obviously! Nobody else recommends doing that, so you’ll have some options to experiment with that an Aga, good as it is, simply doesn’t have.

ChasingtheWelshdream

Ooh that’s interesting, I thought bread had to be hot from the outset. I am sad to lose the Aga, but also looking forward to having a proper hob. And the gas will still have the hotter/cooler zones I’m used to so hopefully I’ll make something edible. 

Yes, it will be a totally different lookout, you’re right. We don’t have a toaster or even a microwave as its just been easy to pop whatever we need into the beast as there is no need to consider whether its worth turning the oven on.


Which makes me wonder whether there is a difference in a toaster or just use the gas grill….

GDB2222

A gas grill takes a while to get to temperature. In the meantime, the electric toaster has made the toast and popped up. 

Le_Kirk

Your biggest problem is going to be with your slow cooking and the turndown ratio of the gas oven.  With electric if the oven temperature is creeping up, the control system just turns off the element and can then turn it on again when the temperature drops below set point.  With gas, the flame is not normally extinguished if the temperature climbs too high and the gas valve cannot turn down low enough.  There doesn't seem to be any info on the specs of the couple I looked at.

ChasingtheWelshdream

Ooh thank you!

In which case I think I have decided which cooker to go for. The main gas oven is larger and reviews at the electric oven is a bit narrow. But if the gas oven will be used 90% of the time for cost, it makes little sense to worry about that. And go for the bigger main oven as we are a large ish family.

GDB2222

I don’t know anyone with a gas oven. Many people have a gas hob and electric oven. Presumably, because the electric ones are more controllable? I really don’t know why this choice is so popular, but I suggest you find out before finalising your decision.

You might want to check how much energy a well insulated oven uses per hour at a relatively low temperature like 100C. If it’s quite a small amount, there’s not much saving to be made with gas, and if the results are less good is it worth it?