In general, gas is cheaper than electric for cooking, but there are several caveats:
- “Cheaper” is a relative term. The average typical savings for gas over electric cooking is only $18/yr.
- Electric could be cheaper where you live, or in the future. The cost of natural gas has skyrocketed recently. Gas used to be a much better deal than it is now. Also, gas could be more expensive than electric in your area right now.
- Running a gas line negates the savings. If you don’t have already have a gas line running to the kitchen, the cost of having one installed could easily be more than you’d save by switching to gas, even after several years.
- The monthly gas charge negates the savings. If you don’t already have gas service, getting gas service just to power a gas stove will likely wind up costing you way more than continuing to use an electric stove. That’s because you’ll have to pay ~$10/mo. or so as a “customer charge”, just for the privilege of being a gas customer.
- Gas has other drawbacks compared to electric. For starters, gas is dangerous because it’s combustible. Remember the Hindenberg? Imagine a similar explosion in your house. True, most people’s kitchens don’t blow up, but some of them certainly do. Next, breathing the products of gas combustion is decidedly unhealthy. Electricity doesn’t have that drawback. I choose electric over gas for that reason alone.
The problem with air pollution from gas ovens/stoves is so bad that I found this in a Whirlpool oven manual from 2003: “The health of some birds is extremely sensitive to the fumes given off [by the oven]. Exposure to the fumes may result in death to certain birds. Always move birds to another closed and well ventilated room.”
While the problem is more serious for birds it exists for people, too. A study commissioned by the Air Resources Board of California showed that gas ovens generate unhealthy levels of combustion byproducts like carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. (It also showed that the self-cleaning mode generated a lot of indoor air pollution, whether it was a gas or an electric oven.) If you do use gas, the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition has a list of ways to reduce gas pollution in your home.
Cost of gas vs. electric. The following table compares the cost of operating a gas vs. electric stove/oven.
| Gas | Electric | |
| Model | Kenmore 30″, #73052 | Kenmore 30″, #93052 |
| Price | $350 | $360 |
| Avg. fuel price | 0.00147¢/BTU ($1.47/therm) |
12¢/kWh |
| Burner | ||
| Energy use (1 hour) | 9,000 BTU | 2,500 watt-hours |
| Yearly cost (2 burners x 10 mins./day ea.) | $16.11 | $36.53 |
| Oven | ||
| Energy use (1 hour) | 18,000 BTU + 350 watt-hours |
2000 watt-hours |
| Yearly cost (2 hours/week) | $31.89 ($27.52 + $4.37) |
$24.96 |
| Burner + Oven together | ||
| Total YEARLY cost | $48.00 | $61.49 |
| Prices from Sears.com in July 2006. Fuel rates are U.S. national averages in August 2009; see more on electricity prices and gas prices. | ||
So gas is cheaper for stovetop, and electric is cheaper for oven baking. Part of the reason is that in modern gas ovens with electric igniters, the igniters stay on even after the oven is lit.
Microwave ovens are almost as cheap as running an electric burner. For baking, microwave ovens and crockpots are cheaper than both electric and gas ovens.
There’s also a new kind of stovetop cooking called induction cooking; to understand induction cooktops, follow the link.
To learn about the advantages for induction cooking, click on this link.
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