Anyone know about gas/electric oven and stove appliances?

[Jurrasic]

Every time my parents move, our house has a gas stove/oven with gas burners, never electric, do very many houses have electric? What is more common, which is more modern and which is more expensive? Gas vs. Electric ?

 

[tiny-tim]

Hi Jurrasic!

In Britain, gas is substantially cheaper than electricity (for the same power). So many people prefer gas central heating and gas cookers.

Here's a neat trick:

next time someone's TV goes wrong, say "oh I know all about TVs, I'll fix it!", then go and stare intelligently at the back of the TV for a bit, and then ask "erm … is this electric or gas?" ​

 

[RacinReaver]

A lot of it depends on the area the house is built in and the time the house was built. I know in my area it's been about 50/50 when I looked at places.

Gas heat is really convenient because it heats up faster (almost instantly for stovetops), can get hotter, and can be cheaper depending on prices/where you live.

 

[I like Serena]

Every time my parents move, our house has a gas stove/oven with gas burners, never electric, do very many houses have electric? What is more common, which is more modern and which is more expensive? Gas vs. Electric ?

Most modern would be the microwave.

And btw, for cooking there's now "induction".
This works only with iron pans and is similar to a microwave (magnetic instead of electric).
It heats up about as fast as a gas stove.

Advantage is that there is no open fire, but I prefer a gas stove, because it gives you better feedback about what you're doing (you can see and feel the heat).

 

[AlephZero]

In the UK, it also depends on the age of the building. There are more safety regulations about gas installations (for example they must be installed by a registered gas engineer) but you can install your own electric cookers. Therefore gas stoves tend to be more "permanent" than electric, and they can last a very long time without any faults developing (e.g. 30 or 40 years).

On the other hand in modern blocks of flats, gas installations in the individual flats may not be allowed at all for safety reasons, though the central heating system for the whole block of flats will usually use gas rather than electricity.

I prefer a gas stove, because it gives you better feedback about what you're doing (you can see and feel the heat.

That's true, and gas gives you "instant heat", but electric stoves give you more stable control. If I want something to simmier for an hour I know I can put my electric stove on a particular setting depending on the size of the pan and the volume of water, and then forget about it. When I used to cook on gas I would have to check every few minutes if the heat was too high or too low.

I think the "best" one is the one you are most familiar with.