The 40 amps would be "Worst Case", IE you had every hob on it's max settings
(some probably even on boost), to hit the 40 amps.

As A "Practical matter", most of the time my induction hobs are turned less that half way up , typically 3 to 5 on a scale to 10 (Including boost). Usually I just have 1 or 2 hobs going, very rarely 3, and I have never had all 4 going.

Induction is more than twice as efficient as far as the "Energy" that is consumed going into the pot or pan, Gas is generally quoted as about 38% of the energy generated going into pot/pan where induction is usually quoted at about 84%.

We went from regular electric burners (coil) then to a smooth electric cook top, radiant, and last but not least , induction. Even thou electric rates have risen tremendously here in S. Calif our electric bill still has not, (IE less than $60/month for a 2800 sqft 2 story house. I credit that to the induction as well as replacing most of the lights with LED's.

Gary

As weissman says, the difference in cost is negligible unless you're cooking for hours every day. I probably put in an average of just under an hour a day on our cooktop and noticed no difference in our utility bills when we switched from gas to induction.

I can see not wanting to put a cooktop on a generator. It's a big power draw so even if you're using it for a short time, you could exceed the limit on the generator. Personally I wouldn't want our cooktop on a generator, I'd use our gas grill for immediate cooking needs.

Cheryl

I second the cost is negligible.

Even though induction is mechanically much more efficient gas is sooooo much cheaper.

It is probably less to run.

Again the differences are probably less than a dollar per month even if you do a lot of cooking.

I asked this question several months ago and the answer was something like "negligible - especially compared to other cooking-related expenses such as cost of refrigeration of ingredients and cooked food/leftovers".

It was sufficient for me to stop *worrying* about it. :-)

I used a friends high end gas range and forgot how much waste occurs with gas cooking. The heat around the pan was amazing and it took forever to boil the pasta water.
I am not an energy expert but the increased efficiency coupled with increased safety was enough to take the plunge.
No going back for me.
Wow - $60 per month- impressive. Our electricity went down last summer- I attributed it all to the new AC but maybe induction played a part in the decrease (we had a coil unit). We still pay more than $60 but ours is combined with the gas bill.

In CT here.... I went from an electric coil to induction, but my 28 yr old coil cooktop was already wired with the higher amps so no additional installation charges. Hubby and I went back and forth on gas vs induction for a few years. Last year, spending a week at my mom's and doing extensive cooking on her gas stove made up my mind; induction! The heat given off by gas made up my mind; I don't need any additional heat sources in the kitchen in the summer.

So we have had our induction for more than 6 months now. I absolutely love it! I have not noticed any increase in my insanely high electric bill (CT rates are horridly high). Things cook so much quicker, I think it may negate any higher electrical usage. I have a 30" cooktop and have never had more than 3 hobs going at a time, even around Christmas.

Over Spring Break, we spent a week in a house with gas and I missed my induction so much! Water takes forever to boil, stuff cooked so slowly, I did not enjoy the heat generated by gas at all. We made the right choice for us.

Regardless which is more efficient Gas is always going to be cheaper to operate unless you are using propane.

In the summer time the only thing that uses gas in our house is the stove.
So I get a good idea of exactly what it uses.
We use between $3 to $6 per month is all it cost to run the stove.
Any electric stove would be at least triple that.
Which is still only $9-$12 maybe a little more so not a huge difference in actual cost.

I also much prefer gas because when the electricity goes out I can till use it.

biz brings up a salient point. Even if it costs you double gas' cost to run your induction top - is $100/year going to create a hardship ?

If so, better drop your remodeling plans all together.

The xtra up front costs, and their financing costs if you're not paying cash are far going to outweigh that xtra $5-$10 month in electricity.

Most people will need a larger electrical circuit for induction: + $500 or more. The cooktops themselves are more expensive like for like: + $500- $1000. Some people are going to nee new or all new cookware because induction doesn't work with your favorite corningware or calphalon: + $ ???

Bottom line , if you want it and can afford it - go for it. The energy use of one product vs. the next is not going to magically make one newly affordable.

Thank you all so much. This has been very helpful.

"The heat given off by gas made up my mind; I don't need any additional heat sources in the kitchen in the summer."
I agree. That and the heavy grates to clean are some of the reasons I by-passed gas cooktop.

If your area is prone to frequent and/or regular power outages from snow or storms or whatever, then gas would be the better choice.

Yep, the extra upfront cost of induction ixnayed that for us.

At the time, which was over 2 years ago you couldn't even think about an induction range for anything less than $3000+ and then would have to spend about $500 to do something to our electric panel.
Then add in that it is not uncommon for us to have prolonged power outages in hurricane season etc and that brought the Induction idea down to a big fat zero.

We also have been on a quest to get our electric bills down in the past 4+ years.
We have replaced, AC/Heater, Water Heater, Fridge, Washer Dryer and Range.
We also replaced ALL of our incandescent lights with all LED.

The AC saved us HUGE, the water heater surprisingly saved us quite a bit also.
We had an old electric coil range that sucked electricity like some comic book villain, so going with gas saved a decent amount also, about $20+ a month more than the Gas cost us but that was a 28 year old coil top.

4+ years ago our electric bills in the Summer have reached OVER $450.
Today with all new appliances and AC etc our electric bill
last summer never went over $234.00 and that was during the hottest summer on record here AND higher rates from the electric company.
So we are saving WAY over $200 per summer month and about $80+ per month on average the rest of the year.
So around $1300-$1500 per year savings.

We are hoping to move to Oregon soon and if possible will set up a solar panel system with a small rooftop wind turbine which should lower our electric bills to zero.
I am definately going with gas again in the new home.

This post was edited by Nunyabiz1 on Mon, Apr 29, 13 at 13:26

>>>" have read pretty much everything I can find on this forum about this issue, including a very detailed post from JWVideo (thank you for all the incredible information you share!) from last December full of BTU's and conversions and I still don't feel like I have a clue.

I did see the link someone posted to the michaelbluejay.com website with the calculator, which sort of helps, but it's kind of comparing apples to oranges, since it asks you to plug in how much time you spend running your hobs and at what power, but I assume that even if I cook all the same things, I'll run induction for less time than gas because of the increased speed. "Mea culpa. I not only recited the formulas for comparing btu-hr to kWh, but I also sent you to Michael Blue Jay a/k/a "Mr. Electricity."

So, first off, don't worry about the btu/kWh stuff when trying to figure operating costs and efficiency. That's really more about horsepower than mileage.

Think of induction as a higher mileage car. Doesn't get you there any faster but it costs you less to make the trip. (Okay, induction can get you there faster when you want to bring water to a boil. Otherwise induction is basically just higher mileage.)

For using the Blue Jay calculator, he says to calculate induction costs by first using the electrical rates and then knocking 30% off the calculated cost. (There's a note about induction part way down his page that explains this and raves about induction.)

I'm also one of the people who has said the operating cost differences are negligible. I do a lot of cooking, both on the stovetop and in the oven. I do home canning. I make cured meats and sausages. I bake bread every few days. I have people over to dinner once a week. I make stuff for events. I live in an area where we produce natural gas and our electricity is 11.5 cents/kWh.

What did I find? An induction stove might cost me $10 to $15 more to operate per year than a gas stove. That's what I call negligible.

Obviously, this can vary greatly because utility rates vary. My rancher friends get their electricity from a rural co-op that has been socked by deregulation and the rates have been around 35 to 45 cents per kWh. No induction for them. Nor electric water heaters nor electric clothes dryers.

Have we cleared up some things for you now?

Here is a link that might be useful: Mr. Electricty Calculator for Costing gas vs electric

This post was edited by JWVideo on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 13:38

JWV, you don't have to be rural to get high electricity rates. Here in San Jose, once you get 30% past "baseline" it costs over 30 cents/kwhr; next tier up is over 34 cents/kwhr. More than 3x the top rate in some other locations. Plus tax.

Yes, things are much clearer. Thank you all so much.

I also want to add - the cost of using the induction will be less when you include the cost of cooling the kitchen. I was going to put in a dual fuel range but went with induction cooktop and wall ovens. How things change