New Cooker, Gas or Electric?

DullGreyGuy

Oh_Baubles said:

Gas. Far cheaper than lekkie and so easy to control. Plus you won't have to fork out for new pans like you would for induction. It is interesting to note that all the comparison sites compare an air fryer with an electric hob to prove it is cheaper. I have not managed to find one comparing it to a gas hob. No doubt because it would show gas to be far cheaper!

Hu? What am I doing wrong @oh_baubles? I moved to induction but didnt buy new pans?

I think you mean you MAY have to buy new pans... we had both very cheap and expensive pans and both work perfectly as they are steel (as did cast iron skillets). It was only a mid priced stockpot that didnt work because it was aluminium. 

Gas hob -v- Electric hob is always going to be a bit more subjective because of the difference in fuel. At present with Gas being less than half of Electricity then Gas will be cheaper even with its low level of efficiency. In the future if they start loading gas prices to get people to move then that could change whereas air frier -v- electric hob will stay the same. 

I dont think you can promote induction from an economic perspective but it has plenty of other benefits around safety, comfort, cleaning etc. 

FreeBear

DullGreyGuy said: I dont think you can promote induction from an economic perspective but it has plenty of other benefits around safety, comfort, cleaning etc. 

If you compare induction to traditional electric (halogen, ring, etc), it is much more efficient and responsive - You are not having to heat the ring before getting the pan hot.

With gas, quite a bit of heat is wasted going up the sides, where as induction, all the heat is generated within the base of the pans - A gain on efficiency there.

But induction is not for everyone. There will always be some that are stuck with the old ways and don't want to adopt new technology. Certainly, slow simmer is not something that my hob does well, nor is a wok particularly brilliant (still use one though).

DullGreyGuy

FreeBear said:

With gas, quite a bit of heat is wasted going up the sides, where as induction, all the heat is generated within the base of the pans - A gain on efficiency there.

But induction is not for everyone. There will always be some that are stuck with the old ways and don't want to adopt new technology. Certainly, slow simmer is not something that my hob does well, nor is a wok particularly brilliant (still use one though).

Yes a lot of gas heat is lost but gas is so much cheaper than electricity that it's still notably cheaper than induction would be. 

With some induction hobs lower temps are achieved by turning the heat source on and off rather than running it constantly at a lower level which can result in spikes of temps and hence problems with a constant low temp. One fix is to use things like cast iron which respond slower to temp changes and so will smooth it out or make sure it's one of your criteria when buying that its able to do low temps well. 

Silvertabby

Another vote for electric oven/gas hob.  Apart from preferring to cook on a gas hob, you aren't stuffed in the event of a prolonged power cut.

Woke up one Christmas morning a few years ago to a complete black out.  Annoying, but workable (we also have a gas living flame fire in the lounge) - boiled pans of water for hot drinks and Christmas dinner was a turkey stir fry.  

pcw12kcox

mark_cycling00 said:

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 

Actually gas is a lot cheaper. Efficiency of an induction hob - 84%, gas hob only 40% ( https://www.leafscore.com/eco-friendly-kitchen-products/which-is-more-energy-efficient-gas-electric-or-induction/ ) but cost per unit of electricity is approx 25.8p, and gas 6.4p.( https://www.britishgas.co.uk/energy/price-cap.html) That means gas is almost half the cost.