Stove Comparison: Electric, Induction and Gas Stoves – Which is Better?
Finding the perfect stove is both easier than ever before and a whole lot harder.
On the one hand, there are more stove options available today than at any other point in history. On top of that, there are more types of stoves available for sale – using all different kinds of heating technologies – that you shouldn’t have any trouble finding an option that best suits your budget and your needs.
On the other hand, though, with all of those options out there it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Sifting through your choices – all of which are promising to be better than any other out there – can feel like a bit of an uphill battle.
But that’s why we’ve put together this quick comparison guide.
By the time you are done with the details below you’ll have a much better idea of the type of stove you want to move forward with. Thanks to our years and years of experience in the appliance repair world (and as one of the most trusted appliance repair Ottawa services around) we’ve been able to pile up a bit of “inside information” that we share in this quick guide to help you land the perfect stove for you and your family.
Let’s jump right in!
Quick Electric Stove Overview
Electric stoves are incredibly popular for a couple of different reasons, not the least of which is that they are almost always the least expensive type of stove available – not only to purchase out right, but also to install and to operate.
Older electric stoves took advantage of electric coil technology that heated up a little inconsistently, but today’s more modern solutions usually feature electric heating elements underneath a glass ceramic surface. This creates a surface that is really easy to use and really easy to clean or maintain, especially if something goes wrong and you need to have a bit of appliance repair taking care of.
On the flip side of things, because of this extra layer of surface material between heating element and your cookware itself electric stoves just don’t have the same kind of efficiency that gas operated units or even induction units have.
Still, if your budget is particularly strapped and you still need a brand-new stove it’s hard to argue with the very affordable price points and ease of installation that electric stoves have to offer.
Pros
As highlighted above, one of the biggest advantages of electric stoves is that they are so easy to clean and to maintain (for the most part). You’ll want to scrub down the flat glass ceramic surface of electric stoves every time you use it to keep things nice and tidy.
The only trouble is if something goes wrong with the actual heating elements them else, elements that are buried beneath the surface of the stove. In those situations you’ll need to call in the help of experienced appliance repair Ottawa professionals like our own to help troubleshoot the problem.
Another huge advantage of electric stove tops and electric ranges is that they aren’t going to produce and unbearable amount of extra heat that fills up your kitchen. You won’t have to worry about melting away while cooking indoors during the hot summer months the way you might with a gas range, for example.
Finally, electric stoves aren’t going to break your bank account when it comes time to operate them. Electricity is (almost always) one of the more affordable fuel sources you can use for your stove, and most modern machines feature energy efficiency components that help you save even more money without compromising your ability to cook the way you want to.
Cons
On the flip side of things, any power outage is going to severely limit your ability to cook – something you won’t have to worry about with a gas stove, for example.
You’ll also have to worry about electric heating elements retaining high temperatures for longer durations of time, often needing anywhere between 20 minutes and 40 minutes to cool down completely and be safe enough to touch.
It doesn’t take a whole lot of extra effort to scratch or damage the glass ceramic surfaces of these kinds of ranges, either. The older, coil system electric stoves are even worse offenders when it comes to becoming damaged quite easily.
Lastly, the overall heating capabilities that you’ll get out of an electric stove is always going to be significantly diminished compared to induction or gas stove technology. The electric stoves – even the best ones out there today – just don’t have the same kind of even and consistent heating properties you’ll get from other options.
Quick Induction Stove Overview
Induction stove tops share a lot of similarities with electric stoves and ranges, with one major difference – the actual heating element induction technology is made up of magnetic coils buried inside of a glass ceramic surface, using the power of electromagnetism and induction to provide the heat you’ll used to cook.
These kinds of stoves are very modern and very “high-tech” compared to electric and gas stoves, but they are also quite a bit safer – especially since they do not use any direct heat source (no flames or direct electrical contacts) to cook with.
A lot of people with young kids in the home that want to get into cooking are choosing these kinds of stoves more often than not (provided that their budget can swing this kind of purchase) for these safety properties.
The only thing that is going to heat up on an induction stove is induction cookware (and the food that you are cooking, course), quite literally allowing you to place your hand on the “heating elements” even when they are turned up to the highest setting without having to worry about injuring burning yourself.
Pros
The biggest benefit of induction stoves (especially from our perspective as top appliance repair professionals in Ottawa) is the safety you’ll be able to enjoy when you use this cooking technology.
We made mention of this element a moment ago, but it really bears repeating just because of how safe you and your loved ones will be when you use this tech. You won’t have to worry about burners catching fire, electric coils or surfaces maintaining high temperatures, or any of the other headaches and hassles that traditional stoves inevitably bring into the mix.
Another thing that are stove repair and oven repair experts really like about induction tops is that they do not produce excess heat in your kitchen the way that electric or gas operated stoves might. Electric stoves do a good job at eliminating a lot of the excess heat you pump out into your kitchen, but induction cooktops pump out (quite literally) no extra heat whatsoever – simply because there is no direct heat source being used!
Finally, it’s important that we highlight the extreme efficiency you’ll enjoy you choose to use an induction cooktop.
The magnetic induction heating components between your stove and your induction cookware is as efficient as it gets, with no wasted energy and no wasted heat. It really doesn’t get much better than that!
Cons
Unfortunately, even though induction cooktops can feel like they are space-age solutions and appliances from the future they suffer from a lot of the same problems that traditional electric stove tops suffer from, too.
The biggest issue here is that any power outage is going to render your induction cooktop technology completely useless. You won’t be able to power it via any other means, and you’ll have to find some other way to cook your meals until power can be restored.
Secondly, induction cooktop technology is still cutting-edge and will cost a pretty penny to purchase and have installed. There are a lot of affordable induction options available to pick and choose from (more than ever before), but it’s not at all unusual for induction cooktops to be even more expensive than gas stoves – and significantly more expensive than electric stoves and ranges.
Lastly, you are going to need to use very specific and special cookware on your induction stove for it to work at all.
This may mean that you have to buy all brand-new cookware, taking advantage of “flat bottomed, magnetic” solutions that are specifically designed to work with your induction system. Some of your older pots and pans may work, but on the other hand you might find yourself throwing out all of your old (loved) cookware and replacing it with more expensive cookware options just because you’ve made this switch.
Quick Gas Stove Overview
Gas stoves are incredibly popular for a couple of different reasons, not the least of which is the speed in which they heat up or the controllability you have over the temperatures that your stoves are putting out.
There’s a reason why commercial kitchens in some of the best restaurants around the world are exclusively run off of gas stove configurations.
Gas ranges take advantage of individually sealed, gas-fired burners that run off of natural gas or propane, giving you direct access to the flames that are created by these heating elements that you have total control over.
Gas stoves also give you higher temperature possibilities than you might have gotten out of electric and induction technology, perfect for frying up your favorite foods, doing a bit of stirfry on the stovetop, or knocking other recipes out of the park at higher temperatures that other stovetop solutions wouldn’t have been able to pull off as effectively.
Pros
The precise control you have over the heating elements in gas stoves makes them really special, and it’s one of the features that people tell our appliance repair Ottawa business that they like most about these kinds of appliances.
You not only get to control the flame itself with the knobs that dictate how each burner runs, but you also get to see how that flame reacts (and how the temperature adjusts as you adjust the flame) with the food that you are cooking.
The lightning fast ignition that you will be able to get out of gas stoves is another huge benefit you won’t want to overlook. It doesn’t take very long at all for the stoves to reach temperature, getting there much faster than electric and induction technology can.
Lastly, you don’t have to worry about a power outage knocking out your ability to actually cook your favorite meals. You won’t need electricity to fire these gas stoves up.
Cons
Of course, gas stoves are not without their downsides or drawbacks.
For starters, these kinds of stoves can be very difficult to clean especially when you are making foods that are a little bit on the messy side of things. You have to pull grill grates off, you have to scrub everything down, and then you have to do all of that all over again the next time that you cook something a little messy.
Gas stoves are also going to put out quite a bit of heat into your kitchen space. This can be a nice benefit in the fall or during the winter months, but in the summer cooking for extended amounts of times on a gas stove can make things almost intolerable.
Gas stoves can also be expensive to operate and are almost always more expensive to operate over the long haul than electric stoves or induction stoves. You’ll have to balance this extra expense with the benefits that gas stoves offer – benefits that are pretty obvious and readily apparent, especially if you are serious about cooking.
Choosing the Right Stove for You
At the end of the day, we always tell our appliance repair customers that there are a couple of different things you have to consider when purchasing a new stove.
For starters, you’ll need to consider the size of the stove that you will be purchasing and whether or not it is going to fit in the space that you have allocated for that stove to begin with.
Most people shopping for a new stove are looking for a “drag and drop” kind of solution that isn’t going to involve them ripping out their cabinets and countertops and completely renovating their kitchen space.
Thankfully though, most stoves today are available in a whole bunch of different sizes and configurations to fit pretty much every application imaginable.
The next thing you’ll need to think about the budget that you are bringing to this purchase.
Electric stoves are the least expensive options on the market right now with gas and induction cooktops and stoves a little bit more expensive than that. Again, though, there are plenty of options available at pretty much every budget conceivable to help you find a quality stove that isn’t going to break your bank account into tiny little pieces.
Finally, you’ll want to think about how you’re going to be using this stove moving forward.
Folks that aren’t going to be cooking all that often in the kitchen can probably get away with a relatively minimalist electric cooktop that just won’t see a lot of use. Those that are going to be cooking up a storm every single day, though, are going to want something like a gas stove or a top-quality induction range – and then of course there are plenty of people that fit somewhere in the middle.
Think about how you plan on using this stove most often in the future and it’ll help you settle on the perfect choice for your needs and your budget.
Remember this, too – If you have any trouble with your new purchase in the future please consider taking advantage of our stove repair and oven repair services going forward!
