To not change from a gas hob to conduction

[TangerineDr3am]

Potentially having a new kitchen and currently have gas. An induction hob would be more expensive, involve the added expense of a new fuse box and potentially be trickier to use but would be cleaner. Will we regret not changing to conduction further down the line?

I had induction and found it annoying- if something boils over you have to throughly dry it before you can use it and if your fingers are greasy etc it can't switch it on, you can't use small saucepans because they have to totally cover the area. When I had a new kitchen went back to gas and was much happier with it. Would only go for induction if you have small children or cats as the safety aspect probably outlays the annoyance of it.

I was initially like this but our house idnt have gas when we moved it. Tbh I love my induction hob. Much easier to clean and just as good as gas for response (we paid to get a decent one). I hate going to my parents to clean the gas hob after cooking.

@TangerineDr3am We have a 2cm worktop with drawer underneath, and it's absolutely fine. I'm another one that previously loved gas but was converted to induction when it was in our last rental. We just redid our kitchen in our new house, and I never even considered gas. Did go for an 80cm hob which is great if you cook a lot/ need 4 rings.

Op I did loads of research about 3 years ago when we had our done. I'm thrilled we decided to ditch gas I don't miss it at all.

The induction is brilliant, safe, easier for dc to cook and cleaner air.
But apparently you do need to stand back because of radiation risk??
So easy to clean and ours was a cheap ikea one to try to see if we liked it

@TangerineDr3am

are you going any other renovations? I needed a new consumer unit (fuse box) when I had a new shower fitted.

it was an expense I hadn't planned on, but I don't remember it being a huge expense. If it's going to play a part in whether you feel gas or get induction you need to get an actual cost ang if you're going bathrooms you might need it anyway.

i don't like induction. I'm a 'pan fiddler' & I hate the way they go on/off BUT that's just a 'me' thing, I can't abide cars that turn themselves off either. I always struggle with the controls too.

However when I replace my kitchen I'll be getting one, because I hate gas even more! (And everything else is so dated)

I don't own any le Crusset so no idea about that, but it sounds like you just need to check out each brand.

i really don't understand it all very well, but i know that when i come to need one, ill be looking at getting a high powered one as I know a few people didn't and are limited on how many parts (old term rings) will work at any one time.

What can't YOU cook on induction that you could on gas?

I loved gas but moved in to a house with induction. There was a learning curve, and we had to buy all new pans, but now I love it. It's just as responsive as gas. I'd say it's less good if you do a lot of wok cooking as the pans need a fairly big flat bottom on ours.

I raved about it to my Mum, who decided to get one too, but she hates it. She got a smaller one than me and she can't fit all her pans on it in the way she likes. I think, like everything, some are better than others.

I read a thing about the cost of running different hobs. I expected induction to be cheaper as it's efficient, but it actually wasn't because of electricity costing more than gas.

If I was getting a new kitchen now I would be happy with induction or gas.

"Can't use Le Creuset" - Bollocks

"Can't plug into 13A socket" - Bollocks (in many cases)

"Need new saucepans" - Potentially bollocks. All our older and newer ones were fine, with the exception of a crepe panand a very old egg poacher. No new saucepans needed to be bought.

"Glass surface will crack". Yep, drop the Le Creuset on it from a height and I suppose it will. Under normal use, no way.

"I'll need a new fuse box". Pardon? Your fuse box holds the circuit breakers (unlikely actual fuses), which will almost certainly include 45A for a cooker circuit. The fuse box has plenty of "power" but may not have enough spare slots, so it could need upgrading, but more likely If you need a new supply for a high powered hob then yes, you need a new circuit breaker in the "fuse box" but the new work is really to put in new wiring from the box to the hob. If you want to use four burners at full power that's what you're going to have to do. So the terminology is wrong but there is potentially quite a bit of work to be done. However, the plug in hobs use a 13A supply which is ample to have four pots boiling. What you can't do it have four pots on "turbo" at once. We haven't found it to be a problem, at all. A family of four or more might.

That's my take on it, but I think most of the objections are from people who have made their mind up regardless of actually using them.

@Annabella92

Do you know which brand yours is??

Like you I yearned for an induction hob - I was relocating the hob so needed to dig the concrete floor up anyway for wiring.

However the electrician refused to connect it to my existing fuse box and even replacing the fuse box it was going to be days of ££ work digging the floor up through half the house to get there (or a fugly cable round the outside of the hose).

I did go for gas in the end and don't regret it at all. I even chose a super snazzy minimalist job as I'd really been keen on the slimline-ness of the induction hob - was pricier than the bog standard gas hobs but WAAAAAAY cheaper than replacing the fuse box and digging half the ground floors up

Switched to induction when we had the kitchen done a couple of months ago. Will never go back to gas. Had to have a new consumer unit put in, cost £900.

Its faster, cheaper, cleaner and no chance of accidentally leaving it on, which we’ve done far too many times with gas.

There is another choice with an even stove surface; a ceramic glass surface (ceran) stove. I don't know how popular they are, though.
It looks similar to induction from the outside. Ceran-type stoves can heat up quickly, too.
as @DataPup, I experienced induction hobs on holidays and the whirring sound was very annoying. Ceran stoves are silent.
Depending on brand, there is still the option to have the controls outside of the cooking surface, so that they won't get hot from the plate nearby or get spills. Most types of pots will work with them, but you can check beforehand from the manufacturer.

So much easier to clean

Induction is definitely better

Just make sure your pans work on it

Ikea - just a bog standard 3 hob one, but it really does get extremely hot, nothing I cook needs that temp as stuff would just burn.

Switched from gas to induction last year when I got a new kitchen. Would not go back to gas.

You can get gas on glass hobs which are easier to clean than traditionally fitted gas hobs. We live rurally, with not infrequent power cuts and my gas hob means I can still make a cup of tea.

Oh need to add, do not store any glass jars and anything heavy above the induction hob. I did smash one once when a jar of something fell out of the little storage part of the extractor fan. I would still choose induction without hesitation.

I'm getting a new kitchen next year and can't decide on gas or induction. Many years ago I had a ceramic hob (can't remember the brand but it was around 2006) and it was brilliant, it looked like an induction hob but didn't need induction pans. I never used a wok on it but was great at making pancakes/crepes with crispy edges. Moved house a few times (all with gas hobs which worked with our pans) then to another house with a ceramic hob which was also great for crispy edges pancakes, and also stir frys in a wok. Then I dropped something on the ceramic hob and cracked it, and as it was a rented place we had to replace it so my husband bought an AEG induction hob. We had to replace all our pans, but the pancakes were never the same and the stir frys in the wok weren't as good!
Moved again a couple of years ago and we have a gas hob. Pancakes are good and stir frys are good!! Not replaced our stupid induction pans that a very heavy though.

We are going to re do our kitchen next year and after writing this I'm hoping there's some kind of hybrid! Would love an induction or a ceramic electric hob because of how easy they to clean, induction is meant to be safer but my children are all teens so not fussed about that. If I could have an induction hob with a one gas space that would be fab.

I also would like to go somewhere to test them all out. Anyone know if there is a place?

I do miss gas for being able to char peppers

Air fryer does a decent job of that (but if you have a garden, chuck them on the barbie for best results of all).

Our 10 year old induction hob is fast and responsive, I can heat a large pot of cold water to boiling quicker than a full kettle. When I used to cook for my mum at her house, after being used to my induction, I can remember being impatient about how slow the gas was.

We use our denby cast iron on it regularly.

Worth it for the ease of cleaning.

Much safer than open flames.

The only thing you can't do on it is fling a wok about on it, but I haven't messed about with a wok for probably 30 years anyway - big awkward to store things! Stir fries in a frying pan are really not that different.

You need to get decent heavy solid based pans to get the real advantage and speed of inductio, none of the tefal crap with the metal insert on the bottom which is much slower as it doesn't conduct as well, we had one where the metal bit at the bottom even fell off.

I char things quite a bit so am very reluctant to switch to an induction - peppers, aubergines, chapatis and other flat breads all go on the open flame. A cook's blowtorch just doesn't do the same job.

If you're redoing your kitchen then regardless of the hob choice my number one recommendation is to upgrade your electrics anyway so you can fit a self-cleaning pyrolytic oven. I love mine with all my heart.

Thank you 😃

I changed from gas to induction when I got a new kitchen five years ago but had to replace the induction job for a new one after two years as I bashed it with a plate and it cracked and broke at the side 🥹
So it's easily cracked if your not careful but that said I much prefer an induction hib

Bloody auto correct..induction hob!!