Electric hob or gas hob?

[cpmcclay]

We have recently refurbished our kitchen and only have the cooker to replace. We have a freestanding electric cooker at the moment but we wish to replace this with a built-in oven and hob. We purchased an electric oven and hob thinking we could use the existing socket for the oven and add a new one for the hob. However we have been told conflicting advice about this.

A Currys installer said it would be fine but a friend of a friend said we would need to run a new line from the main fuse box (I am no electrician and have no idea). I would be very grateful for help.

Would it be less costly to exchange the electric hob and buy a gas one and get that installed as we have a capped gas pipe very close to where the oven and hob will be?

Thanks,

Chris.

 

[Agile]

A gas hob is always better to cook with.

The maximum load on a single plug is 3 kW and most hobs would exceed this but you could check the rating.

Tony

 

[John M]

Halogen Hobs are good (Heat controllability wise) for electric cooking, but they are mighty expensive for "Fully" halogen (All burners) ...... Dead easy to clean too as long as you keep on top of them & use the chems correctly.......
Other than that I'd get gas...... Be careful with the finish on the Stainless steel ones tho, SS doesn't stay looking pretty for very long, when somone has rubbed it to death with a brillo pad.

As far as the connections go ..... Ummmmm RTFM

 

[Symptoms]

Chris - the big question, as Tony has said, is the rating of the equipment. If it's a big double-oven you may have to have a 45amp radial circuit (10mm cable) run from a separate way in the consumer unit to a cooker control unit next to the oven. Just re-read your posting to see you've already had a freestanding lecky cooker, so chances are this radial circuit should already be there.

The rest of your question boils down to personal choice, either you like cooking with lecky or aren't that bothered. My own view is electric oven AND gas hob. This is the combination we put in about 90% of our kitchens. As you've got the gas supply in the kitchen why not use it? You'll also discover that this is the combination that'll be more attractive to prospective purchasers when you decide to move.

Stainless steel finish. Yes, you have to be careful NOT to use abrasives on them, only ever use liquids (there are plenty of proprietary liquid SS cleaners available) and if the unit is wiped over after each use then there's no need to use the brillo.

 

[giblets]

The other point to bear in mind is that there are specific clearances relating to gas hobs which do not apply to electric hobs.