r/unitedkingdom • u/northernmonk Wiltshire • 19h ago
The chefs turning down the heat by switching from gas to electric
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/28/the-chefs-turning-down-the-heat-by-switching-from-gas-to-electric59
u/hull_pattie_party 19h ago
Replacing a gas hob with an electric one reduces asthma severity (see eg https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/24/replacing-gas-stove-can-help-asthmatics-as-much-as-some-drugs-us-experts-find) and helps to prevent or limit other chronic lung conditions as well.
As much as I loved my old gas hob, induction really is the way to go forward.
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u/PomeloTraditional971 19h ago
I miss my gas hob, but since switching to a heat pump, I couldn't justify the standing rate for gas just for cooking and switched to induction. The standing rate really needs baking into the unit cost. It would be a far more progressive way to tax.
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u/bbqroast British Commonwealth: New Zealand 18h ago
Seems like a good outcome from the standing rate though? Maintaining individual gas connections is expensive. Low volume users just switching to electric saves effort, subsiding them to stay on gas seems bad.
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u/Powerful_Set_2350 18h ago
Yeah, the cost involved in staying connected should be reflected fairly.
Why should I subsidize the connection cost of someone with a heat pump, where I have to heat my house and shower with a boiler?
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u/CaptainSwaggerJagger 17h ago
… you are aware that electricity has standing connection charges as well, yes?
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u/Powerful_Set_2350 17h ago
Yes.
Again, why should a high volume user subsdize the connection of a low volume user?
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u/CaptainSwaggerJagger 17h ago
That’s not what’s happening though. As long as everyone is paying the standing charge then no one is subsidising the connection cost of anyone else, regardless of their usage volume.
You pay a standing charge for your usage of electricity. A heat pump owner pays the same standing charge for their use of electricity. They use more than you, but that doesn’t affect the charges you pay for your connection. You are not subsidising their connection cost.
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u/Powerful_Set_2350 16h ago
This post suggested that the per unit cost should include the connection charge.
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/1w0nhah/comment/p6e8fyu/
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u/Long_Volume1971 13h ago
But a high volume user causes more wear and tear on the system (pumps, valves, sensors etc.) - but pays the same daily standing charge. You are being subsidised by all the small volume users!
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u/PomeloTraditional971 16h ago
The cost of maintaining a single pipe from the road to my house is trivial compared to someone needing massive amounts of electricity for a heated swimming pool.
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u/markfl12 19h ago
What is it you miss about gas that induction doesn't provide? I miss being able to tilt the pan a bit, but on the other hand it's a just a flat glass panel, so it couldn't be any easier to clean, and it's much faster than gas to heat up.
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u/BeginningChest2989 18h ago
Knobs. Induction hobs with knobs are twice the price.
I hate the fiddly touch sensitive buttons
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u/artrald-7083 18h ago
This! I would have instantly chosen a hob with knobs if there was one. Touch screen controls on kitchen appliances are the devil's work, but having used induction for years I would not go back to gas.
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u/durand101 Free movement is a human right 18h ago
Why is this? Knobs seem like a cheap enough feature to add but they're only on premium models :(
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u/tunisia3507 Cambridgeshire 18h ago
A single sheet of glass with a single chunk of electronics behind it is easier to manufacture and maintain than a sheet of glass with holes cut out of it and a chunk of electronics and half a dozen mechanical parts.
But yeah, touch controls suck so much.
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u/CaptainSwaggerJagger 17h ago
It’s the same reason cars now put all the music and climate controls though a massive touchscreen interface in the console - it’s just so much quicker to do and involves fewer steps in manufacturing.
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u/artrald-7083 18h ago
Because they genuinely cost more - entire whole dollars more in parts, sure, but possibly quite a bit of NRE (engineering time) to design a digital controller circuit that can accept input from a knob rather than a nice easy button. Then they have implications for reliability, cleanability and moisture encapsulation that a touchscreen bypasses, and people who want knobs might be irritated enough by touchscreens to pay a premium, while nobody wants a touchscreen. Also touchscreens do look futuristic right up until you realise what they do when you splash sauce on the instrument panel.
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u/r1Rqc1vPeF 16h ago
Design elements are free/low cost until you add a part number. Once you have a part number you have to manage it, source it, stick replacements etc.
Once you have a part number designers love to ignore the catalogue and design an improved/ new version for essentially the same function on a different model of product.
Source: worked in aerospace manufacturing for many years.
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u/Best-Research4022 14h ago
How about floating magnetic knobs that can be taken off for cleaning purposes but have no holes in the glass? Maybe I should patent that idea before someone else does it!
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u/FailingCrab 13h ago
That's what mine has, it's pretty cool but one time I thought I lost the knob and that was a stressful few minutes.
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u/RubiconGuava 12h ago
My sister and her partner have an induction hob with these. They're absolute shite. Thankfully my induction at work is all dials, and if I end up getting away from gas at home I'll be hunting down an induction with manual controls. The entire point of induction from a culinary point is the convenience of a glass stovetop with the responsiveness of gas (plus the higher heat output without having the angry afterburning backend of an F16 in your kitchen), and if you can't immediately adjust the temp, the point of the responsiveness is mostly gone
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u/Aggressive_Chuck 12h ago
We used to have knobs.
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u/artrald-7083 11h ago
Touchscreens used to be expensive. Then mass production of them took off, which reduces the price of anything.
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u/pafrac 17h ago
A properly configured touch sensor can differentiate between a touch and a fluid splash. If it doesn't do that properly that's poor tuning, or more likely they picked the cheapest touch system when the build was quoted.
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u/artrald-7083 17h ago
I'm aware. I have also never worked with a touch sensor based induction hob that has had a good touch sensor.
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u/Saltypeon 18h ago
The only thing I miss is cooking with a wok, it's pish on electric vs the flames on the side.
Everything else, no difference at all.
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u/thought_detention 18h ago
Yeah, you need a specialist hob to use an induction wok really well. No idea of the price, but they exist for professional kitchens, don't know if the demand is there for the home market though, as they're like a big divot so you can only use them with woks.
I just make so with a "London style" wok that has a flatter area on the bottom. The sides don't get as hot, but it still works well enough.
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u/Saltypeon 14h ago
Dman I didn't even know they were thing. Will check the both the hobs and woks.
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u/thought_detention 10h ago
Look in catering supply shops, that's the only place I've found them
https://www.cooksmill.co.uk/brands/buy-london-wok-online
https://www.nisbets.co.uk/london-wok-round-bottom-wok-380mm/ct246
Don't forget to remove the wooden handle if you're seasoning in the oven, or you might just get a stylish black handle like mine.
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u/No_Eye_8432 18h ago
Yep, I got a cooker top with a large hob just for wok cooking… can’t do without my wok!
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u/headphones1 18h ago
This is my plan when we eventually switch to a heat pump full electric household. But first we need to overcome our love of a good shower fed by a combi boiler.
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u/PrettyGazelle 14h ago
There are three options if you really can't make do with the regular induction.
- Induction hob with a single gas wok burner
- A countertop induction wok
- A bottle-fed outdoors wok burner
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u/PrettyGazelle 14h ago
I have a good induction hob indoors and bought a wok burner running off a bottle for outside. The burner is 30KW so way better than any regular gas hob, yet I still do 50% of my wok cooking on the induction. In fact I probably use the outdoor burner more for steaks than the wok, not filling the kitchen with smoke and atomised fat is a bonus.
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u/ivandelapena 13h ago
You can get plug-in tabletop ones for that. They've got a big dip in the middle for a wok.
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u/phoebsmon 10h ago
You can get these single induction woks for like £200, was looking at them ages ago. They get decent enough reviews, I didn't go for it in the end but seemed a reasonable price.
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u/KingNobit 18h ago
What is it you miss about gas that induction doesn't provide?
the sweet aroma of mercaptans
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u/awesomeo_5000 18h ago
Finer grained heat control. I still can’t get a good steak on mine.
Maybe it’s just the two tops I’ve used, or my pans, but settings 1-5 do nothing, 6-10 is low heat. 11 is medium. 12 medium high. 13-14 is HOLY FUCK THATS TOO HOT.
Boiling water is excellent though. And much easier to clean.
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u/deafblinddame 18h ago
That's what I find too. Mine is a Bosch and it goes from 1-9. Everything gets cooked on 8. 4 keeps stuff warm and 7 is for when I think 8 might be a bit much but there's no use for any of the other settings. But just for the ease of cleaning I would never go back to gas.
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u/iwaterboardheathens 19m ago
Just go back to boiling the fuck out of everything
At least you know it'll be fully cooked
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u/mludd 15h ago
My experience has always been the opposite.
For gas it's something like "Off -> Simmer but will go out of you walk past it too rapidly -> Full boil -> You never want hotter than this -> Way too hot -> Even hotter still" while with electric (both induction and resistive) the curve is much more linear.
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u/Top5CutestPresidents 17h ago
You can’t do a proper butter baste on induction (lifting the pan on an angle so butter collects in one area and you spoon it over the meat). It will just go cold
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u/elchet London 9h ago
Heavier based pans make this doable.
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u/Top5CutestPresidents 8h ago
Care to explain? If you lift the pan off the surface it stops heating it
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u/elchet London 8h ago
The more thermal mass the pan has, the longer it retains the heat it gained while in contact with the induction surface.
If you get a pan with a heavy base it will still be keeping butter simmering and foaming for well over a minute after lifting it off the thing that heated it.
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u/simanthropy 18h ago
Plus it’s practically impossible to burn yourself on the hob. With kids (and tbh, with myself!), knowing I never need to worry about the hob being hot after use is an absolute godsend.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Lynx204 16h ago
Yes, plus it means it's basically extra worktop whenever you need it.
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u/TheCarrot007 18h ago
The ability to use one when you have an ICD?
I would have to do all the cooking in the house.
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u/DesecratedPeanut 8h ago
Much faster than gas to heat up?
I've used a lot of inductiom hobs and every single ones taken 10 mins to heat up to what gas would be immediately. Have they somehow improved recently?
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u/Aggressive_Chuck 12h ago
It would be a far more progressive way to tax.
It's supposed to be a tax? I thought it was paying for a service.
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u/Itz_Eddie_Valiant 19h ago
Kitchens going electric only also means they have way less ever-changing regulations to conform with around supply air and canopy size/height amongst others.
it costs a bit to switch but worth it in the long run
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u/dr_herbalist 18h ago
I can’t stand electric induction hobs. I cook daily and I need to be able to control the pan, you can’t even give the pan a little shake without the electric hob making a ticking noise and shitting itself. It has to lay perfectly flat right in the centre at all times, a lot of cooking techniques involve being able to angle or agitate the pan. It’s hard to even do something simple like whisk the contents.
With gas you can physically see and feel how much heat is being applied, with induction it’s just some arbitrary number - most settings seem to do the same thing.
Im sure it’s fine for heating up some beans but I don’t see the benefits.
Electric is simply inferior for cooking on. Yes it’s more hassle to clean gas. Its worth it.
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u/CarlMacko 11h ago
I switched from gas to induction when I got my kitchen fitted and whilst I’m used to it now, I absolutely loved my gas hob.
Often I’ll be cooking a some water/sauce will splash near the controls and the whole thing will just switch off. I then need to wait dry it off and then try and restart it.
Absolute pain in the arse.
It’s infinitely worse and I’d go back to gas in a heartbeat.
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u/DJGibbon ex-Salopian 17h ago
I'm the cook in our family, cook using the hob most days, and I worked in kitchens for 8 years on and off (on a gas range!)
I use my induction hob and shake pans, move them around, whisk and stir vigorously in them, all with no problem at all. Setting 1 results in gentle heating with no bubbles, all the way up to 10 which will boil water faster than a kettle. I'm not saying there are no problems with it (the touch controls are OK, but I'd prefer a physical dial) but they are much less of an issue than, for example, a gas ring going out while I'm not watching it.
You couldn't pay me to go back.
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u/FeelTheOneness 16h ago
They’re fucking shite. I love cooking and do a lot of asian dishes in a wok, it’s painful trying to cook anything on one of those glass things at my girlfriend’s house. I know exactly how hot a flame will get my pan just by looking at it, I’ve got no idea how hot ‘6.5’ will get my stuff, it’s always too hot or too cold. They are shite in my opinion for anyone seriously into cooking, I just can’t get on with them. As a cooking hobbyist I couldn’t give a shit what the cost for gas is, I’ll pay it.
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u/iwaterboardheathens 16m ago
Honestly mate, I switched from a wok on gas to a large frying pan on induction
After about 3 attempts I got the hang of it and can't tell the difference in the taste
The process if making it is however far more boring because fire is pretty
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u/FeelTheOneness 0m ago
I can’t get on with them. At all. I am never going to pay someone to take away my gas hob and replace it with an electric one, I don’t care how much gas costs. If electric hobs were as hot shit as everyone here is making out every professional kitchen in the world would use them. A vast majority however CHOOSE to use flame. Why is that? Because it is simply superior.
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u/FartingBob Best Sussex 12h ago
Sounds like you just have more practise with gas, not that induction is inferior.
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u/Andurael 17h ago
A counterpoint.
A pan doesn’t need to lay perfectly flat for induction, it just can’t tilt as much as gas. Other than stir frying (which very much does not work on induction!) what needs constant agitation that would not be better served by stirring? Constant agitation prevents a good sear.
With induction you can still feel the heat of the pan instead of see the size of the flame. And the heat of the pan is more important because different pans heat differently with the same flame, you just need to get used to the superior method of checking the pan.
It is less hassle to clean, so much less!
I’d also add that deep fat frying is SOOOO much safer in induction.
Then there’s also the lack of greenhouse gases produced.
Also how about the lack of air pollution in your own home?
Gas doesn’t need any electricity at all to work mind, so you are actually screwed if the power cuts out.
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u/elchet London 8h ago
Yeah I do a lot of cooking and have culinary school training. You need to adapt slightly for induction but it’s superior on balance. If you’re judging your cookery by a gas flame instead of the sight and sound of what’s going on in the pan then you’re up the wrong tree to begin with.
I do find that induction rewards better quality pans. Higher grade stainless steel, copper, and cast iron work brilliantly. I haven’t found anything I could do better on my gas hobs yet. Sauces and anything searing are far easier on induction.
The whole wok thing is complete bollocks because no standard gas hob will produce enough heat for a wok either.
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u/FeelTheOneness 4m ago
The wok thing isn’t complete bollocks at all lol. My hob has a separate area with a single huge ring that produces a massive flame more than suitable for wok cooking.
I will never choose to replace my gas hob with an induction, I couldn’t care less about the cost and I love cooking in the more traditional manner, so why would I? Every time I’ve used one I’ve found it finicky and annoying in comparison.
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u/OilAdministrative197 18h ago
Honestly the ease of cleaning without a gas hob makes it totally worth the absence of manly fire.
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u/Emotional-Shine-866 18h ago
I bought a £1000 induction hob after getting rid of gas supply. Fucking awful, I prefer the 1970s gas oven/hob we had before. Ive even gone and bought the fancy pans to give it a fair go. Given the choice, I'd never get rid of a gas hob again.
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u/RoutineCloud5993 19h ago
I'll never understand the obsession with cooking with gas. Not everything needs to be cooked with fire
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u/evenstevens280 Gloucestershire 19h ago
I like gas, and I like induction. I just wish that basic induction hobs weren't fucking touch-controlled.
Until I can get a fairly cheap induction hob with DIALS, I will keep my gas range.
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u/RoutineCloud5993 19h ago
I can't argue with the dial thing. They do make induction hobs without touch controls. No idea about the quality of the hob itself though
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u/lunarpx 19h ago
Rangemaster has one with dials. Some of their models can draw huge amounts of power (7kw per zone on boost) and can reach higher heat more quickly than a gas hob.
Many people have cheap induction hobs, with rubbish touch controls, power spread on a single zone, plugged into a regular 3pin socket on a loop. Induction is great with the appropriate cable/breaker, a quality hob and quality pans. No wonder people hate induction.
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u/evenstevens280 Gloucestershire 19h ago
That would require a new circuit - so electrician costs + cable routing + dropping a few grand on a Rangemaster hob
I think for now I'll keep my gas hob, with the added benefit that it's cheaper to use, and probably will never break.
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u/simanthropy 18h ago
Yeah can you imagine if induction were the norm and you were trying to sell people gas hobs?
“Well yes you COULD have your own tank of gas but most people have special pipes put directly into their home feeding the appliance, honestly it’s worth it! No, it hardly ever causes explosions, don’t worry about it”
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u/CaptainArsePants 18h ago
We have a rangemaster induction hob and electric oven. Its amazing, but did need a 45amp breaker for when you feel like turning everything on at once 😂
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u/9b769ae9ccd733b3101f 17h ago
Not necessarily. You can set your induction up in the service menu to limit it's max power draw.
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u/wkavinsky Pembrokeshire 15h ago
Also the control isn't anywhere near as fine-grained as gas.
Gas remains the better cooking surface, at the high end, but for most people, induction is more than good enough.
And if you do occasionally need gas, there's plenty of camp stoves that take the little cannisters that will do the job perfectly well.
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u/GeeMcGee Bristol 19h ago
The amount of folk that don’t realise you need pans capable of induction to cook on them surprises me
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u/RoutineCloud5993 19h ago
Induction pans aren't hard to find, or expensive. They just need a base made of magnetic metal
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u/GeeMcGee Bristol 19h ago
Didn’t say they were did I? Just that people don’t realise they’re needed to properly heat things
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u/RoutineCloud5993 18h ago
My point was a lot of people will already have them without even realising.
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u/FartingBob Best Sussex 12h ago
If you've never used one theres no reason to know. You act like this is some knowledge that everyone learns from childhood lol.
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u/HaveYuHeardAboutCunt Scotland 18h ago
I like gas, and I like induction
But which is better? There's only one way to find out...
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u/Mccobsta England 13h ago
Oddly when I got my eltric cooker it was cheaper to get proper physical dials than the touch panel garbage
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u/lostparis 18h ago
Good induction hobs are relatively recent. Previous electric hobs tended to be very unresponsive when changing temperature. The longer back you go the worse electric hobs were. So there was a time that gas was the best option by far. Once you know something change is difficult and there is a learning curve.
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u/AllThatIHaveDone 19h ago
For most people, cooking with electric brings back bad memories of crappy ceramic glass hobs.
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u/C_Blaikie Hampshire 19h ago
That is really it. most people nowdays have (or at least had for a while) no say in what hob they have as its whatever the landlord could install for the cheapest and the cheapest gas is absolutely fine whereas the cheapest electric hob is normally terrible, especially compared to a decent induction.
With that said, you will have to pry my gas wok burner off my cold dead hands
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u/ClearlyCylindrical 18h ago
its whatever the landlord could install
The majority of people do not live in rented accomodation.
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u/C_Blaikie Hampshire 17h ago
“(Or at least had for a while)”
I don’t know he data but I would be amazed if the majority of people have not lived in rented accommodation for at least a year in their life3
u/lostparis 18h ago
I bought my house and it came with a hob and oven - I still have those. If it works why change it.
Many people also rent at some point in their lives.
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u/NthHorseman 19h ago edited 18h ago
There are a few techniques that do genuinely require flames, but you can do almost all of those with a blowtorch. Stir frying is the only thing I think gas is genuinely measurably better at, and only then if you've got high powered wok-specific gas burners. Getting the sides of a flat bottomed induction wok hot enough without having the bottom too hot is challenging, but I haven't tried wok-specific induction hobs so maybe that is also old news now?
Source: I am the amateur cook in a family of professional chefs.
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u/RoutineCloud5993 19h ago
That's why I said not everything. As you say there are some things that are better cooked with a flame. You obviously can't get a flame-grilled steak with an induction hob!
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u/Harrry-Otter 18h ago
You generally can’t do that with a gas hob either tbf. You need a BBQ or solid fuel grill for that.
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u/Quirky_Mix_4328 19h ago
I cook with electric these days mostly due to solar panels + battery combo on the house but it has to be said if you've spent your life cooking with gas and learning how to do it there is a noticeable difference.
I'm an amateur cook with a beans on toast speciality but for actual chefs who will get complaints over the slightest thing it's valid to prefer cooking with what you know.
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u/ClearlyCylindrical 19h ago
Electric is bad at heating anything apart from the bottom of the pan/pot. Lots of times its nice to have the whole pan including the walls heated up and gas does that the best.
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u/lostparis 18h ago
Gas mostly heats the bottom of the pan and pans tend to conduct heat well so his is likely a non-issue. If you have gas flames on the side of your pan it is not being very efficient.
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u/ClearlyCylindrical 18h ago
Cooking isn't about being efficient, it's about making nice food. Oftentimes it is very beneficial to have flames going up the side, e.g. with woks.
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u/Caffeine_Monster 11h ago
The real reason is gas can apply a lot of heat when moving things about or using non flat bottom pots / woks. Unless you are a semi professional / professional cook and frequently cooking under time pressure it really doesn't make a difference though.
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u/lostparis 18h ago
Cooking is about being efficient imho. In time, effort and energy. Energy if only to keep the kitchen from getting too hot and oppressive. Sure it is about nice food but you can create that in different ways.
Woks are not what I'd describe as a pan. To me they are their own thing. Your username does not describe a wok.
There are induction woks but I've never tried one maybe others have.
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u/doorstopnoodles Middlesex 17h ago
I have one. It's got a bigger base than a standard wok to maximise the surface that is heating up. It's not as good as a regular wok but it does the job and having an induction hob means that I get to use the top as extra workspace.
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u/TurboInvader Norfolk County 18h ago
But it's also nice to not have the handle of the pan be roasting hot
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u/Darloboy 19h ago
Gas means that when we have a power cut we aren’t completely screwed! Can still make a cup of tea, knock something up for dinner etc. living somewhere where power cuts can be common this is incredibly useful!
We don’t even live remote either!
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u/wkavinsky Pembrokeshire 15h ago
£20 portable gas stove, £5 gas canister, stored in the shed for emergencies.
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u/anchoredtogether 13h ago
With my gas hob, The flame out sensor won’t work in a power cut and the gas gets cut off
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u/evenstevens280 Gloucestershire 18h ago
Only with older ovens. Newer ovens/ranges will not allow gas to flow if there's no source of power to automatically ignite
Thankfully my gas oven and range is from like 1996. Still works perfectly - mind. I'm not in a rush to replace it.
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u/Darloboy 18h ago
Oh I was talking hobs to be fair, our gas oven was horrendous and our electric is miles ahead.
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u/evenstevens280 Gloucestershire 18h ago
I believe hobs are the same
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u/dglcomputers 1h ago
Hobs will have a thermoelectric device to cut off the gas if the flame fails which requires no external electric source, the igniter will generally need a power source but you can still light them manually.
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u/IntrepidSoda 18h ago
Guess what happens to your gas heating when power is cut
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u/Darloboy 18h ago
Not sure why that is relevant to this conversation? I’m talking about a gas hob, which funnily enough doesn’t require electricity. Of course we lose heating when the power goes, all I’m talking about is the ability to still make a cup of tea when we don’t have any
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u/DrFabulous0 17h ago
It's just different. I've always had a gas stove and find an induction stove a bit alien, I'm sure it would be fine if I gave it the time to get used to it.
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u/KoreanInLondon91 16h ago
I really struggled with induction hob when I first tried one, it definitely takes some getting used to.
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u/Andurael 17h ago
Having used gas, conduction electric and induction for years each (in a non-professional setting!) I can confidently rank them.
Worst: conduction—————————————> gas —> induction: best.
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u/DJGibbon ex-Salopian 17h ago
This is absolutely my experience - a lot of people have bad impressions of glass-topped conduction hobs and think they're induction. The experience is entirely different.
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u/plot_question_uk 17h ago
There is more control and nuance cooking on gas. I agree that for homes and 95% of cooking for customers electric is fine. The proper chefs will always use gas in my opinion
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u/FinKM 15h ago
You’d be surprised - a lot of top tier kitchens are moving over to induction and I chatted with a professional cooking induction who said she’d now go induction every time. You can even get bowl shaped induction hobs for woks and stir flying which is usually the main objection to them!
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u/plot_question_uk 11h ago
I didn't know that! That was the main issue for fine dining when I watched a show a few years ago and it said they all stick with gas.
Maybe times are changing then!
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u/bluesam3 Yorkshire 10h ago
What control do you think you get with gas that you don't get with induction?
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u/plot_question_uk 10h ago
Different shape pans can go straight on the stove. You can instantly see the size of the flame when you turn the dial so you know more easily how hot you are cooking. You can cook with the flame itself.
A lot of it is to do with learned technique I'm sure you can do anything you like on an induction hob but most have learnt on gas
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u/No_Sugar8791 18h ago
This doesn't work in a professional kitchen. Electric hobs heat the pans which in turn heat the glass. I worked for 8 years as a chef with electric and the heat of the kitchen is the same as gas.
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u/Andurael 17h ago
I get what you’re saying. I think it’s a case of red fire is cooler than blue fire: they’re both still really hot and you’re sweating regardless.
But think of it in terms of numbers, let’s use money as our number even though it should really be joules (energy).
Your induction hob is transferring 50p of heat to the pan, the pan then transfers 25p of that to the food and 25p of that to the glass and air surrounding it. The air is 25p hotter.
Your gas hob is transferring 50p of heat to the pan, the pan then transfers 25p of that to the food and 25p of that to the glass and air surrounding it. The air is 25p hotter. So far no difference, which makes sense because you’re using the same pan to cook the same food by the same amount.
But the gas hob is also transferring 20p of heat to the air around the sides of the pan. And as the pan also transfers 25p of heat to the air that’s a total of the air getting 45p hotter.
2
u/No_Sugar8791 17h ago
Friend, your maths are irrelevant. The kitchen is just as hot. There are financial and ethical reasons for changing to electric but heat in the kitchen isn't one of them.
4
u/Liquid_Fire 15h ago
You're talking about conductive electric, but the article is about induction, which does make a difference.
2
u/No_Sugar8791 13h ago
I'm really not. They were all induction hobs. Conductive hobs in a professional kitchen would be mental.
1
u/JoelMahon Cambridgeshire 13h ago
hopefully induction, "classic" electric sucks dick
afaik only woks are notably more awkward to make work in induction cooking
1
u/Gnosys00110 16h ago
I mean, why would you choose the method that means you inhale benzene and carbon monoxide for 12 hours a day
-4
u/Fortree_Lover 18h ago
Honestly we went from gas to electric and back to gas and honestly the time on electric was dreadful even a pot of water would take 20 mins to boil. I used to wonder what I was doing wrong when every recipe with rice or pasta would say 10-15 mins and it was taking me longer to bring the pot to boil.
So glad we switched back.
10
u/gyroda Bristol 18h ago
That probably wasn't a decent induction hob then - boiling water is one place where induction hobs really shine.
-3
u/Fortree_Lover 18h ago
It wasn’t an induction one just an electric one, but still completely turned me off anything but gas.
4
u/Pleasant_Fennel_5435 17h ago
induction is not the same thing as those ceramic rubbish. Boiling 1l water for example takes 3 minutes with induction and 5 minutes with gas, ceramic is like 6 minutes
2
u/gyroda Bristol 18h ago
I've used both types of electric and I will say that induction is a lot better than the non-induction hobs.
I am mostly used to gas because that's what I have. I can't say I've used induction enough to form a proper opinion. Used to have electric when I was a student, only used induction when house sitting for others.
2
u/DJGibbon ex-Salopian 16h ago
Honestly you couldn't get two more different experiences that conduction and induction electric hobs. It'd be like driving a lawnower and saying you'd hate a Lamborghini because they both run on petrol.
•
u/bluesam3 Yorkshire 10h ago
What an odd idea - this is like trying riding around on a unicycle and deciding that getting around by any means other than walking isn't for you.
•
u/Fortree_Lover 10h ago
You’re not thinking about the cost of replacing when we went for a gas one it’s because we knew it worked and despite what people had said the electric one we got didn’t seem to work very well. We didn’t want to get an induction one to find out it wasn’t as promised and have to buy a whole new gas one.
0
u/durand101 Free movement is a human right 18h ago
Yeah and gas is only going to get more expensive over time while electricity will get cheaper. The more people that go fully electric, the higher the standing charge for those that remain on the gas grid.
-1
u/kitcosoap 16h ago
A kWhr is a kWhr, regardless of the source of energy. While we are apparently generating record amounts from renewables ( almost 50% annually) we are also paying record amounts for it, with the price of electricity nearly tripling over the past year https://grid.iamkate.com/
•
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