New Cooker, Gas or Electric?

WhoisDannie

I need a new cooker as my present gas cooker is old and all the markings have worn off the knobs and I can afford to replace it.

Should I get a new gas cooker or an electric cooker with radiant hobs or with induction hobs?

CliveOfIndia

It's personal preference, really (assuming you have both gas and electricity available).  My preference has always been an electric oven with a gas hob.  Professional kitchens always have gas hobs, so there must be a reason !

My current house has no gas, and the existing hob was an "ordinary" electric one.  Just a few months ago we replaced it with an induction hob, it's miles better than an ordinary radiant hob.  But given the choice I'd still go for a gas hob.

But it really is down to personal preference.  Sure, you can argue that gas is cheaper than electricity in terms of running costs, but I'd wager that the difference is negligible for a cooker (unlike a central heating system), and the convenience of what suits you best would far outweigh any consideration of running costs.

FreeBear

If you are used to cooking on gas, you'll find induction to be as good (if not better). Niece grew up with a gas range, and I got her an induction hob when she bought a house - She loves it, even although it meant having to be picky when buying pots & pans. Cheap aluminium, glass, and copper pans won't work, so you must choose ones that are clearly labelled as safe to use on induction hobs (it is all about the ferrous content in the base).

DullGreyGuy

WhoisDannie said:

I need a new cooker as my present gas cooker is old and all the markings have worn off the knobs and I can afford to replace it.

Should I get a new gas cooker or an electric cooker with radiant hobs or with induction hobs?

The hob should be gas or induction... having made the transition to the later myself a couple of years ago I'd say its probably overall equal to gas with some different pluses and minuses. Wouldn't consider any other form of electric hob. 

For the oven I've never had anything but an electric oven in 40 21 years of life, I know gas is better than it used to be in terms of now setting a temp rather than "gas mark 3" etc but not convinced its as versitile as electric. We have seperates rather than a cooker as prefer ovens higher but both now are electric.

Brie

first thing I'd do is get someone to check if the pipes available are up to current standards for the gas supply.  Replacing pipes might price you into going electric.  If you do go electric check to see if you are considering the type of hob that requires particular pots to be used.  Again an extra expense.  

I was raised using all electric for cooking so trying to cook with gas was completely bizarre when I start in my 30s.  I've never understand "mark 3" or whatever for ovens so was very happy to go back to electric with that asap.  Gas though for the hobs is great.  Instant and easy.  

DullGreyGuy

Brie said:
If you do go electric check to see if you are considering the type of hob that requires particular pots to be used.  Again an extra expense.  

Only induction requires "particular pots" and then its requirement is only that the base contains metals (eg iron) that react to magnets. You can easily tell if you pots will work or not by seeing if a fridge magnet will stick to it, if it does then you are good to go. If you really want to be belts and braces also make sure the base is flat, if they are heavily warped it can be a problem too. 

When we changed over our expensive pans (stainless steel) and some unbranded value pans the Mrs bought for a trip all work fine, as do the over 100 year old cast iron skillets. We had just one anodised aluminium stock pot that wouldn't work 

It is an extra expense but it doesn't have to be a big expense, as mentioned the £20 for 3 saucepans from Tesco work fine. The difference in the cost of repairing an induction hob -v- a gas hob on a long enough timeline is going to be much bigger difference. 

Albermarle

There is some evidence that the emissions from gas cookers and hobs, can raise the level of unwanted particles in the internal air in the kitchen/house. However I am not sure if this is significant in reality, or not.
I think if you go to an induction hob, you often have to uprate the Power supply to be able to use them to full effect. 

DullGreyGuy

Albermarle said:

I think if you go to an induction hob, you often have to uprate the Power supply to be able to use them to full effect. 

Depends on the hob and existing supply... ours is a more high powered but the supply for the previous dual fuel cooker was fine for it (was a double oven). There are induction hobs that run off a normal 13amp plug but I'd be concerned those ones are underpowered. 

Albermarle

WhoisDannie said:

I need a new cooker as my present gas cooker is old and all the markings have worn off the knobs and I can afford to replace it.

Should I get a new gas cooker or an electric cooker with radiant hobs or with induction hobs?

Probably worth noting that some electric ovens and hobs, can just be plugged into a normal plug socket.
However most need an electrician to wire them into a separate cooker circuit. Many houses already have this setup, so it is a quick job for an electrician to connect up, and probably if you pay the seller to install it they will do this.
However if you do not have this ( probably not if you have only ever had gas cookers/hobs) , then it will be more of a job to install cabling from your main supply, and this will need to be sorted in advance of any appliances being delivered.

CapricornLass

It's your personal choice at the end of the day.  I didn't go for gas because I burnt boiled water on it - I had been brought up in the country and the only choices available were solid fuel, calor gas and electric, and electric was what I was used to.  DS1, on the other hand had his gas hob changed to electric by his landlord, and he would go back to a gas hob tomorrow if he could.

I also have an induction hob on my stove.  It's my second induction stove in 12 years, and I had a ceramic hob before that.  Both are good, but induction is faster and uses less electric than a ceramic.  Its also fairly instant, whereas I could cook on residual heat with a ceramic stove.  All my electric stoves, regardless of what they were, had their own dedicated circuit. and most houses have one of these installed in the kitchen when they are built.  I think their amperage is a higher rating than the normal 13 amp.  Its worth having a quiet rootle in your kitchen to see if you have one, because if you do, then it means that a far greater choice of electric stove is available to you if you decide to go this route.

mark_cycling00

For me, induction hob felt a bit odd for a month or two but after a year, having to use a gas hob on holiday felt like going back to the dark ages. 

Induction is safe, quick, doesn't heat up the kitchen in summer, so easy to clean, perfect control. It's 99% efficient whereas gas is 50-60% tops. So these days it's probably cheaper 

Imagine being able to buy a Tesla for the same price as a petrol ford fiesta and having no range problems