Dual fuel range vs gas range vs electric range cooker

[korekorekorerisu]

I have been using a nice Smeg dual-fuel range cooker for 10 years. It came with the house when I bought and moved into it, so it is very old, and I need to upgrade it to a new one now.

The old oven used to have a dedicated electricity circuit before we had extension work, but the building work changed the circuit situation, and now it is plugged into a regular socket. It has been working fine, so I only found out this might be a problem when I started looking for a new oven cooker.

At first, I thought electric oven cookers were the only type I couldn't install because of the rack of the dedicated electricity circuit. But someone told me I would still need a dedicated electricity circuit even for a dual-fuel range cooker.

If so, the only option I have would be a gas range cooker. But I have never had one, and I hear lots of negative reviews about them...

So... my questions are;

1. Not only electric range cookers but also dual-fuel range cookers require a dedicated electricity circuit? I'm using it without a problem for 10 years now, but am I just being lucky? My current one is 90 cm wide, so it is not a small oven cooker.
2. Is a gas cooker that bad...?
3. A dedicated electricity circuit can be installed, then I can choose electric/dual-fuel, whatever, but the work alone would cost me more than £1k (I have quotations). Is it worthwhile? Are gas range cookers that bad?

I would appreciate hearing the pros and cons of dual-fuel, gas, and electric ones. Please help.

We have always had a gas range and when we recently upgraded, I wanted the Smeg induction range, but upgrading our electrics would have cost over £5k! So we have gone with a gas top/electric bottom and it's been great. I wasn't sure about an electric oven, having never had one, but it's so much better for baking etc, although I'm finding it's more expensive than the purely gas range, to run. However, I've always only ever had gas, so can't really comment on whether you'd find it weird, sorry!

A gas top on electric oven is fine but are you sure you wouldn’t need to still upgrade the electrics. Regulations have changed and they should be on their own supply 30 or 45 amp depending on cooker load. For example we have a Smeg Induction top range and it needs a 45 amp supply with its own isolation switch on its own fuse on the consumer board. Another single oven we have is on a 30 amp switched supply.

Panicmode1
You mean you upgraded from all gas (top/bottom) to dual-fuel (a gas top/electric bottom), and you are saying baking is much nicer with dual-fuel? If you have a dual-fuel range oven cooker now, does it have an independent electric line (usually it has a red switch) or a regular socket (which means it shares the electricity circuit with other stuff)? The reason why I am asking this is because I have two opinions given from so-called experts - one is saying I need to have upgraded electricity even for a dual-fuel one, and the other is saying upgrading electricity is only necessary if I go for all-electric (top and bottom) range.

Ilovemyshed
A gas top on electric oven is fine but are you sure you wouldn’t need to still upgrade the electrics.

I am not sure, hence I am confused. I had an induction range cooker delivered the other day, thinking the socket we are using for our current dual-fuel range cooker would be usable. But the guy who delivered told me an independent line dedicated to the oven cooker would be required for the induction range cooker, and our current regular socket would be able to take only an all-gas or dual-fuel range cooker. So I decided to go for a dual-fuel range cooker. But someone else told me that a dedicated line would be required even for a dual-fuel range cooker, so I am so so confused now.

Anyway, an engineer is coming to check our kitchen this Sunday. I need to prepare myself for being told that I couldn't have a dual-fuel range cooker unless I upgrade the electricity. Then my choices would be either going for all gas or paying £££ to upgrade the electricity....

To avoid paying the extra £££, I want to love a gas range cooker. I want to own it happily. But everyone around me tells me only annoying things about gas oven cookers, especially for baking....

We did have to upgrade our electrics, yes. The cooker has to be on its own fuse/circuit or something.

I see... This sounds like our only choice would be to go for all-gas... I like baking so it doesn't feel fun to have a gas range oven cooker...