I had been trying to find this. It's a little old (2014) but an interesting read.
Gas vs Induction vs Electric coil. A quick read.
- Thread starter BMWTurboDzl
- Start date
Once again, not a minute's thought goes into how efficient the electric cooking system is when considering BTU consumed to make the electricity, vs, BTU that makes it into the food.
Because it's probably no better than 15 to 20%.
Try running a generator to run your electric cooktop to boil water. Then consider how many BTU worth of gas was consumed to do the job.
Oh, but a gasoline generator is inefficient you say. Sadly, a good gasoline generator mirrors today's fuel powered grid efficiency.
About 5800 BTU to boil a gal of water.
Because it's probably no better than 15 to 20%.
Try running a generator to run your electric cooktop to boil water. Then consider how many BTU worth of gas was consumed to do the job.
Oh, but a gasoline generator is inefficient you say. Sadly, a good gasoline generator mirrors today's fuel powered grid efficiency.
About 5800 BTU to boil a gal of water.
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gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
There are practical concerns, be it cost, preference or, for most, necessity.
Wouldn't the flipside to this be:
Trying using a nuclear plant, hydro plant, wind turbine, or solar panel to run your gas cooktop to boil water.
dnewton3
Staff member
I care far more about control and reliaibility than I do efficiency and cost.
"Control" is my ability to see the flame, and make very subtle adjustments very quickly. With electric coils, I cannot see an immediate change. Gas ignites "now" and changes instantly upon my inputs, whereas coils have to ramp their way up to some value I select on the dial. Induction is similar to electric coils; I have to move the pan off the surface to "see" what's happening, and because of the ramp up/down of the electric system, I cannot see that change immediately. But with gas (propane or natural), I can see the flame profile change in a split second, and my brain can say "yup - that was enough to get where I want to be". Electric coils and induction will NEVER offer than kind of nuance.
"Reliability" is my ability to have the heat source in all situations, especially when other means fail. My area loses electric power frequently, but in the 30 years I've lived with gas stoves, I have NEVER (not once) gone without fuel to cook with. When my power went out for 3.5 days in winter about a decade ago, all I had to do to eat was plop some stuff in a metal pan, light the stovetop with a match, and we were eating soon. If I had only electricity to cook with, I would have had no stove, no oven, no microwave, no crockpot, no hotplate ... hence - no hot food. Gas delivery is FAR more reliable in energy delivery; when the chips are down, it's drastically superior to electricty.
So, I don't give a hoot about the potential for childhood asthma or how much energy I might waste.
My preference is for infinite immediate control and superb reliability in delivery
Or, more simply put ... I want what I want when I want it.
"Control" is my ability to see the flame, and make very subtle adjustments very quickly. With electric coils, I cannot see an immediate change. Gas ignites "now" and changes instantly upon my inputs, whereas coils have to ramp their way up to some value I select on the dial. Induction is similar to electric coils; I have to move the pan off the surface to "see" what's happening, and because of the ramp up/down of the electric system, I cannot see that change immediately. But with gas (propane or natural), I can see the flame profile change in a split second, and my brain can say "yup - that was enough to get where I want to be". Electric coils and induction will NEVER offer than kind of nuance.
"Reliability" is my ability to have the heat source in all situations, especially when other means fail. My area loses electric power frequently, but in the 30 years I've lived with gas stoves, I have NEVER (not once) gone without fuel to cook with. When my power went out for 3.5 days in winter about a decade ago, all I had to do to eat was plop some stuff in a metal pan, light the stovetop with a match, and we were eating soon. If I had only electricity to cook with, I would have had no stove, no oven, no microwave, no crockpot, no hotplate ... hence - no hot food. Gas delivery is FAR more reliable in energy delivery; when the chips are down, it's drastically superior to electricty.
So, I don't give a hoot about the potential for childhood asthma or how much energy I might waste.
My preference is for infinite immediate control and superb reliability in delivery
Or, more simply put ... I want what I want when I want it.
Similar to electric vs gas car comparisons that ignore losses in electricity generation and delivery through the grid.
Lies, **** lies and statistics. If you torture the data enough, it will always confess whatever you want it to say.
The Control part of your post is not correct when it comes to induction cooktops. Maybe you can't see the flame, but the changes in temp ARE immediate since there is no insulating layer between the pan and the heating element. As far as control is concerned, induction iis even more immediate than gas. There are no "coils to heat up" on induction, and you have a number display to tell you exactly what you are doing. You want to lower the heat a half a number? Pretty simple. Even gas has latent heat in the support and the burner itself, so induction is even MORE immediate that that. Your brain will still handle the numbers on the dial just as easily as it does seeing the flame.
In fact, some advanced cooktops have an actual temperature reading of the bottom of the pan, so it would be pretty hard to get better control than that.
The "Reliability" portion of your post is just as easily solved. Just get a propane grill with a side burner. Done
You can perform a back of the envelope calculation based on the information in Table 3 by converting kWh into BTUs based on whatever energy generation source you want to use Coal, NatGas, Nuclear, Solar, etc.
Of course it'll be more difficult if your grid has multiple and differing sources of power generation.
Avg power plant efficiency is 36 percent and distribution losses are on average 5-5.6 percent SOURCE
This work?
Electric range: annual consumption 128 kWh converts to 436,754 Btu / .41 = 1,065,253 Btu
Induction: annual consumption 71 kWh converts to 242,262 Btu / .41 = 590,882 Btu
Gas range with annual consumption of 720 kBtu or 720,000 Btu.
.41 - Avg thermal plant efficiency plus transmission losses
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dnewton3
Staff member
Not "done". Maybe in FL that's an easy fix. In Indiana, when it was -17 degF outsite (actual temp; not windchil) and we were without power for 3.5 days, cooking outside on a propane grill would not be practical or easily "done". Whereas, cooking indoors with my gas stovetop was as easy as striking a match. Further, when I was out on duty and my wife was at home with the kids, she's going to balk at going outside in negative temps to fire up the grill.
The issues boils down to this ...
It's how some people see their solution fitting perfectly into my life. Where they are fine with their choices, they want to remove my options for choices. As if because it's good for them, it's good for everyone. I don't object to folks having their electric stoves, or EVs. Why do they insist on altering my lifestyle to fit their perceptions?
Gas cooking may be inefficient contrasted to electric, but gas is CHEAPER for me, because REMC is stupidly high in cost. REMC electricty for me is unreliable, and very expensive. So I use gas for my stove, clothes dryer, water heater and furnace. The reliability and cost benefits of gas FAR outweigh using electricity for these tasks in my situation.
If "they" want me to use electricty for high-energy appliances in my home, then "they" need to provide:
- abundant, cheap power (ie ... investments in nuclealear energy)
- reliable, consistently delivered power (ie ... upgrade the high-tension grid AND run power underground at service points, making interruptions less frequent)
Until those two things happen, it's gas all the way for my rural life-style choices!
I am in total agreement.
Adding to your post, if one has an old school gas water heater that has a pilot light, you also have hot water.
I have noticed a trend among the go-green electric crowd to flat-out lie about the comparative cost of operating natural gas vs electric appliances.
When it comes to heating appliances, nowhere in the US are you going to save money on energy costs by going fully electric. Period! The following is proof...
Est. natural gas savings over electricity in heating appliances (taking natural gases roughly 20% lower heating efficiency vs electricity into account).
State, Gas price in $/MMBTU, Electricity price in $/MMBTU, percentage savings
U.S. 11.781 40.071 -70.60%
Alabama 15.053 36.855 -59.16%
Alaska 10.520 66.153 -84.10%
Arizona 14.937 35.974 -58.48%
Arkansas 11.819 30.505 -61.26%
California 13.609 58.150 -76.60%
Colorado 8.845 36.221 -75.58%
Connecticut 15.457 64.032 -75.86%
Delaware 12.647 36.394 -65.25%
District of Columbia 13.888 34.543 -59.79%
Florida 20.577 33.028 -37.70%
Georgia 16.400 35.217 -53.43%
Hawaii 45.226 88.753 -49.04%
Idaho 6.747 29.158 -76.86%
Illinois 7.642 37.231 -79.47%
Indiana 8.268 37.591 -78.01%
Iowa 9.808 36.515 -73.14%
Kansas 10.500 37.671 -72.13%
Kentucky 10.722 31.850 -66.34%
Louisiana 11.694 28.335 -58.73%
Maine 14.321 48.143 -70.25%
Maryland 12.579 37.033 -66.03%
Massachusetts 15.371 60.693 -74.68%
Michigan 8.807 47.657 -81.52%
Minnesota 7.738 38.600 -79.95%
Mississippi 11.078 32.746 -66.17%
Missouri 10.481 32.893 -68.14%
Montana 8.527 32.950 -74.12%
Nebraska 7.738 31.643 -75.55%
Nevada 9.355 33.273 -71.88%
New Hampshire 15.698 54.218 -71.05%
New Jersey 9.933 46.722 -78.74%
New Mexico 6.776 37.914 -82.13%
New York 12.320 52.280 -76.44%
North Carolina 13.648 33.350 -59.08%
North Dakota 6.564 30.587 -78.54%
Ohio 9.172 35.877 -74.43%
Oklahoma 9.962 29.647 -66.40%
Oregon 10.500 32.729 -67.92%
Pennsylvania 11.434 37.790 -69.74%
Rhode 15.573 63.759 -75.58%
South Carolina 12.984 37.469 -65.35%
South Dakota 9.471 34.425 -72.49%
Tennessee 8.633 31.532 -72.62%
Texas 11.203 34.331 -67.37%
Utah 8.653 30.587 -71.71%
Vermont 13.484 57.255 -76.45%
Virginia 12.243 35.248 -65.27%
Washington 10.558 28.938 -63.51%
West Virginia 9.731 34.595 -71.87%
Wisconsin 7.238 41.971 -82.76%
Wyoming 9.663 32.564 -70.33%
MMBtu = One million British Thermal Units
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