Which type of hob?

[Nicketisa]

Hi everyone, our kitchen needs replacing and am looking for the cheapest option to cook our food. Which type of hob is most cost effective? Gas, halogen or induction? What are the pros and cons of each one? Many thanks in advance.

[Laughton]

Can't answer the "cheapest" question (presumably meaning purchase price plus running costs over time) but for our household Induction is a no-brainer.

It's super easy to keep clean, it's really really quick, it's very responsive (turn a "ring" down and the "heat" goes down pretty much immediately).

What you need to be aware of is that it only works with pots and pans that have magnetic bases. It can be quite expensive if you have to replace all your saucepans and frying pans so definitely worth checking what you already have with a magnet before making final decision.

[Dod101]

If the op has any thought for the future I am not sure that the cheapest option is necessarily going to be the most satisfactory. I have had an induction hob for the last 16 years or so and find it excellent, fast, easy to clean and as far as I can tell does not use too much electricity. One problem of course with an induction hob is that it needs to be fitted into a work top but looks great. A gas hob is more difficult to clean and I think takes up more space. I cannot imagine many buying a halogen hob these days. As has been said you need to ensure that you have the right pots and pans for an induction hob.

Dod

[pochisoldi]

An induction hob may require another 32A circuit - something to factor in. ("May" means some hobs are capable of being configured to restrict their max current draw to match the capacity of their feed).

Brand new kitchen (or spare 20A or 32A dedicated radial circuit) - induction hob, otherwise gas hob for me.

[UncleEbenezer]

Plenty of websites will tell you all you need to know. Without creating a new profile and posting to a forum like this.

[Urbandreamer]

Hi everyone, our kitchen needs replacing and am looking for the cheapest option to cook our food. Which type of hob is most cost effective? Gas, halogen or induction? What are the pros and cons of each one? Many thanks in advance.

It depends upon the price of your fuel. A wood stove will be cheaper if you have free wood!

Currently I believe that, if mains gas is available, that is cheaper than electricity.
However, that depends upon the price of gas. I expect it to become more and more expensive.

Induction hobs are more efficient than gas. The energy winds up in the pan, rather than much washing around the outside of the pan.
However you may need specific pans to work with induction. Most good modern pans work well, however they do have to contain steel or iron.
Halogen will work with aluminum frying pans in addition to ones containing iron.

I'm a fan of gas as being the most flexible.

Costs can be substantially reduced by changing cooking techniques. If possible always fit a lid. Add less water if instructions later tell you to boil to reduce. Consider hay box cookery (slow cooker without a plug). Don't boil rice or pasta. Add to boiling water, fit lid and turn off. Residual heat will cook it. Consider using a microwave for more. If you really feel a need to boil rice, then the microwave will heat the water, not the container.

[bluedonkey]

We had a monitor in the kitchen and the reading for PM2.5s really takes off when we had the gas cooker on.

[88V8]

Hi everyone, our kitchen needs replacing and am looking for the cheapest option to cook our food. Which type of hob is most cost effective? Gas, halogen or induction? What are the pros and cons of each one? Many thanks in advance.

Halogen is old hat.

We had gas for c30 years and were loath to lose it but when we moved in 2012 it was electric or nothing so we went to a four-ring Siemens induction.
Yes, we had to buy some new pots 'n pans and a new pressure cooker, but even if gas were available now we would not go back.
As said, induction is fast - faster than gas - very controllable, and easy to clean.

We did not need a new power feed, I just piggy-backed it onto the cooker circuit, so we have the hob and a built-under oven.

As regards low running costs, I mentioned the pressure cooker..... which along with induction is a marriage made in kitchen heaven.

V8 (I bet it's AI..)

[scotview]

Hi everyone, our kitchen needs replacing and am looking for the cheapest option to cook our food. Which type of hob is most cost effective? Gas, halogen or induction? What are the pros and cons of each one? Many thanks in advance.

In a power cut you can still cook/boil water on a gas hob.

[Nicketisa]

Plenty of websites will tell you all you need to know. Without creating a new profile and posting to a forum like this.

Hi UncleEbenezer, it isn't actually a new profile as I used to be an active member on the Motleyfool site which helped me tremendously. I then disappeared a few years being busy bringing up a family. As they have now flown the nest I have more time available to try to live below my means and have therefore come back to this forum under exactly the same username.

We have just moved and our current kitchen is in a bit of a state. We originally thought of simply replacing the cabinet doors but have now discovered that the carcasses have been butchered (like the plumbing and the electricity). We are doing the house up in order of priority but am currently trying to gather information ahead of purchasing a new kitchen and of next year.

It is always more interesting to hear from people who have experience rather than relying on websites whose only interest is to sell you their stuff.

[UncleEbenezer]

Plenty of websites will tell you all you need to know. Without creating a new profile and posting to a forum like this.

Hi UncleEbenezer, it isn't actually a new profile as I used to be an active member on the Motleyfool site which helped me tremendously. I then disappeared a few years being busy bringing up a family. As they have now flown the nest I have more time available to try to live below my means and have therefore come back to this forum under exactly the same username.

We have just moved and our current kitchen is in a bit of a state. We originally thought of simply replacing the cabinet doors but have now discovered that the carcasses have been butchered (like the plumbing and the electricity). We are doing the house up in order of priority but am currently trying to gather information ahead of purchasing a new kitchen and of next year.

It is always more interesting to hear from people who have experience rather than relying on websites whose only interest is to sell you their stuff.

Sorry, I thought your post here looked like a bot. This second one reverses that impression.

There are of course websites who aren't vendors, though of course they or their writers might still have affiliations. This one looks worth a read, for example.

But anyway, my view:
- Currently I have gas, which was historically my favoured choice 'cos it's always responsive when you turn it on/off or adjust it.
- Among older technologies I could also live with radiant rings (also pretty responsive, but no longer available unless you find them secondhand), but I detest solid electric or ceramic. Very unresponsive - take forever to adjust the temperature when you turn the knob.
- Gas and radiant rings are a pain to keep clean.
- When I get my kitchen done, I'll be getting an induction hob. Best of all worlds: responsive, efficient, and easy to wipe clean. Or so I understand. I shall just try to avoid anything whose controls are "too clever" and are a pain to use.

[swill453]

- When I get my kitchen done, I'll be getting an induction hob. Best of all worlds: responsive, efficient, and easy to wipe clean. Or so I understand. I shall just try to avoid anything whose controls are "too clever" and are a pain to use.

We were looking for a cooker for my elderly parents, and didn't think they'd have a hope of being able to use the touchscreen-type button and slider ones.

Fortunately if you look for "induction hobs with knobs" there are a few to choose from for those with semi-luddite tendancies.

Scott.

[UncleEbenezer]

- When I get my kitchen done, I'll be getting an induction hob. Best of all worlds: responsive, efficient, and easy to wipe clean. Or so I understand. I shall just try to avoid anything whose controls are "too clever" and are a pain to use.

We were looking for a cooker for my elderly parents, and didn't think they'd have a hope of being able to use the touchscreen-type button and slider ones.

Fortunately if you look for "induction hobs with knobs" there are a few to choose from for those with semi-luddite tendancies.

Scott.

Bearing in mind that anything around a hob will occasionally get a bit spattered, I can see the point in not having knobs sticking up, especially if they're next to the cooking and on the same level. They're part of what makes cleaning a pain on the current gas hob.

I expect some flat/touchscreen controls are better-designed than others. I recently got caught out when my 25-year-old microwave died, and I replaced it with a Samsung combi which cooks nicely but whose controls are poorly designed.

[bungeejumper]

An induction hob may require another 32A circuit - something to factor in. ("May" means some hobs are capable of being configured to restrict their max current draw to match the capacity of their feed).

Brand new kitchen (or spare 20A or 32A dedicated radial circuit) - induction hob, otherwise gas hob for me.

It's important to know that there are two types of induction hob, and our friends bought the wrong one.

You'll find hobs advertised that can be plugged into a 13 amp socket, and others that need either (a) a 32 amp socket on the wall, or (b) a socket into the back of an induction oven. Do not buy the 13 amp socket type unless you're quite clear that it can't have more than two or three rings fully on at once, and that it's very unlikely to have a fast boil facility. As our friends found out.

It's a matter of how much current you've got available. A 13 amp socket can't give you more than 3 kilowatts of power at once, which is not enough to run much more than two rings at full chat. If you turn on a fourth ring, or maybe even just a third ring, one of your rings won't heat up until you've turned something else off. (Or perhaps down.) As Pochisoldi has described, the hob contains special circuitry that defends you from accidentally overloading your 13 amp supply. But you won't always appreciate that while your spuds are refusing to boil!

A "proper" induction hob, on the other hand, is capable of supplying more than seven kilowatts, including fast boil on at least one ring at any time. That's enough to do most things you're ever likely to want, but you'll need a 32 amp connection. If the hob is designed to be fitted into the back of an induction oven, the oven itself will do all the clever computing and will balance the needs of the hob and the oven. Ours is an AEG, and we like it a lot, but it's actually a Zanussi with a few extra options to bump up the price.

Confused? Buy a gas hob. Simpler and in some ways more versatile.

BJ

[Nicketisa]

An induction hob may require another 32A circuit - something to factor in. ("May" means some hobs are capable of being configured to restrict their max current draw to match the capacity of their feed).

Brand new kitchen (or spare 20A or 32A dedicated radial circuit) - induction hob, otherwise gas hob for me.

It's important to know that there are two types of induction hob, and our friends bought the wrong one.

You'll find hobs advertised that can be plugged into a 13 amp socket, and others that need either (a) a 32 amp socket on the wall, or (b) a socket into the back of an induction oven. Do not buy the 13 amp socket type unless you're quite clear that it can't have more than two or three rings fully on at once, and that it's very unlikely to have a fast boil facility. As our friends found out.

It's a matter of how much current you've got available. A 13 amp socket can't give you more than 3 kilowatts of power at once, which is not enough to run much more than two rings at full chat. If you turn on a fourth ring, or maybe even just a third ring, one of your rings won't heat up until you've turned something else off. (Or perhaps down.) As Pochisoldi has described, the hob contains special circuitry that defends you from accidentally overloading your 13 amp supply. But you won't always appreciate that while your spuds are refusing to boil!

A "proper" induction hob, on the other hand, is capable of supplying more than seven kilowatts, including fast boil on at least one ring at any time. That's enough to do most things you're ever likely to want, but you'll need a 32 amp connection. If the hob is designed to be fitted into the back of an induction oven, the oven itself will do all the clever computing and will balance the needs of the hob and the oven. Ours is an AEG, and we like it a lot, but it's actually a Zanussi with a few extra options to bump up the price.

Confused? Buy a gas hob. Simpler and in some ways more versatile.

BJ

Thank you ever so much for the information. I will refer back to this post when the time comes.

[Nicketisa]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply.

I certainly received some invaluable information.

Happy New Year to you all.

[Nimrod103]

Another vote for induction. We bought a cheap Logik one (Curry's own brand) about 12 years ago. It is still going strong. It is clean, immediate response, and cheap to run. By far the best option.

[88V8]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply.
I certainly received some invaluable information.
Happy New Year to you all.

And to you.
And welcome back to The Fool

This btw, is our hob, a Siemens EH645.
It has touch controls which I find a bit of a faff compared to just twiddling a knob, but my wife gets along with them, and the model has been in production a long time so they should have worked the bugs out of it.
Decisions, decisions.

V8

[Dod101]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply.
I certainly received some invaluable information.
Happy New Year to you all.

And to you.
And welcome back to The Fool

This btw, is our hob, a Siemens EH645.
It has touch controls which I find a bit of a faff compared to just twiddling a knob, but my wife gets along with them, and the model has been in production a long time so they should have worked the bugs out of it.
Decisions, decisions.

V8

That hob looks like any number of induction hobs and touch controls are similar to my Neff one. I like the touch controls because they allow for a flat clear surface which makes for easy cleaning. I would not have anything else.

Dod

[Gerry557]

When we installed our kitchen we had gas hob fitted. I like cooking on gas. It described it as easy clean but in fact it's a bit of a pain in the bum.

I didn't see it before buying ordered off the tinternet. I thought it was flat glass but it has raised points for the burners and the knobs are quite close together so can be difficult to clean in between.

Now I would go induction next time. Gas is probably going to disappear one way or another. Induction is easier to clean and controlable.

Probably not the cheapest but probably the best these days. If you are going to do your kitchen anyway it would seem false economy not to have the power installed.

Cheapest I'd probably a second hand thing probably get one free from someone like me upgrading.