Connect gas to kitchen or stick to induction?

[Evergreen101]

Bought a new house where the kitchen extension does not have a gas connection because the boiler/gas hub is on the other side of the property and the previous owners had an electric range cooker.

I know there is a long debate over induction vs. gas stoves, but personally I have always much preferred gas over induction. If money/time/effort were no object, I would 100% do what it took to get a gas cooker. But alas, money/time/effort are objects indeed.

So the options I'm seeing are:

Option A: Get the gas plumbed through, either the outside of the property along the walls or through the internal walls somehow (I don't want to rip up floorboards and the kitchen counter). I'm getting more quotes from gas specialists but the one I have so far says it's probably £3000-4000 of cost. Downside is of course the aesthetic and challenges with going through walls etc.

Option B: Suck it up and get an electric range cooker. This would be ~£5000 more than the range cooker I already have. The issue is that the gap in the kitchen is 120 cm and I can't find a cheaper induction range cooker than Bertazzoni or Mercury (cheapest model is £5500). I've scoured ebay and gumtree and can't find any used either. If you know of any cheaper brands that do a 120 cm electric range cooker, let me know!

What would you do? Are there other options I'm not seeing here?

May I ask which hob you have? I'm planning to go to an induction hob. We're presently trying a single plug-in one from IKEA, and DH doesn't much like it- the control increments (done by digital number) are just wrong for things like simmer. So I'm looking for one with a continuous variable control, not a digital one with coarse jumps in power. I was wondering about Neff because we got a Neff hood and I'm very happy with it- in fact, I was hoping to get a Neff oven to go with the hob, as they are the only manufacturer that does exactly the size and type of oven I want.

I’ve actually been in your position.
We also moved into a property with gas but with only electric hob ( cheap induction, loathed it) . We extended the gas supply from the boiler into the kitchen, I ran the pipe along the outside wall and it comes in through the wall at the hob position. 2019, cost about £500 for a five metre run. It took about three hours, no problem going through the reconstructed stone walls, they have large gauge drills.

Worth every Penny for us, we have several treasured pans which are not induction , and we like being able to cook or make a drink if the electric goes off.

We looked at the calor gas option, we had cooked on it for years when we lived in France. LikePP, the canisters lived outside ( hole in wall) so did not take up cupboard space. We also had two with a switching valve so we were not left without gas. The delivery company should bring them round,,you don’t have too. You could consider getting a tank so you wouldn’t have to have the canisters.

I rather liked this idea, but the mains gas was an easier and cheaper option for us. But it is good not to be dependent on services being supplied by central hubs IMHO.

I would go for the gas if possible.
I have a gas hob and am very grateful for it when the electricity goes off.

Not sure what you mean by "the ring goes dark" as induction hobs don't emit any light, they work using magnets.
Sounds like you have an old ceramic hob which is basically just a hot ring under some glass. They are indeed awful.
Induction is brilliant, would never go back to gas now.

I had (still have) a single induction 'burner' before I got the full Monty. The temperature control is completely different. It takes no time at all to figure out which temp is best for whatever you're cooking.

DH tells me he cannot find any setting at all which will simmer properly on the IKEA one, and he's now been using it for months. One setting is too low, the very next setting up is too high.

It's actually worse than that, basically the increments are too coarse at one end of the scale and closer together than they need to be at the other.

That's why I want a continuously variable control.

DH thinks he knows why the IKEA one may be like it is (he knows about electronics and control systems) but whatever the cause definitely doesn't want a hob that's like that. He suspects is may be the way it is because it's cheaper to design/make that way, and that a better one might not have the same problem. Hence my question about the poster's Neff one.

We had gas canisters in our previous house, they worked fine and hardly any bother. The best situation is to have 2 so that you have a spare. We found that they lasted 6-9 months so it was a very occasional job to replace them. The main downside is the look of them outside, but depending on your layout you might be able to have them somewhere more discreet than ours.

You can buy portable plug in induction hobs from IKEA. Single or double. Single only around £50.

Ah, okay. My full induction hob is an Ariston and it's brilliant. The highest setting is 9 (I think, never used it), but I usually go no higher than 8 to boil water then quickly reduce to 6 or 7. Simmer is 3 and it works very well.

@EmmaGrundyForPM It is possible to get induction hobs that have a 13amp plug on. We needed to change from a gas hob so got a Neff induction with plug. Brilliant to use and so easy to keep clean

Sadly our kitchen is at maximum load. I so miss my induction hob.