Hi all,
I was thinking of switching from my ceramic cooktop to an induction one but unsure if it's a good investment and especially how much it would save for my monthly electric bill 😂
Hope to have you guys' thoughts on this.
Cheer,
Induction vs ceramic cooktop
Lthomasb on 25/09/2023 - 20:45
Comments
I agree - it would be surprising if you noticed the difference in power use (you'd have to be into commercial quantities of cooking I would have thought).
Also agree it beats other electric options due to it being faster on and off - not as good as gas, but that's not a simple switch to make.
Induction every time. Fastest cooking there is. You will be amazed. Yes, faster than gas even. As a bonus I wasn't aware of there is a huge safety benefit. I can bring something to the boil, take the pot off the stove, then place my hand directly on the cooktop where I removed the pot. It's hot, but not enough to burn you, and cools from there really rapidly. Great if you have kids or older people. Because it's cooler the surface stays clean as well. Mine has been 2 years and you don't get that awful discoloration you do with ceramic. The surface still looks like new.
If you have an older house like us it MIGHT mean upgrading your wiring or fuse/circuit breaker. To handle the peak power demand an induction cooktop asks for.
What I thought would be a simple job of putting in a new stove turned into a complete house rewire for us. But we did have old rubber insulated wires and those ceramic/wire wrap fuses.
"I can bring something to the boil, take the pot off the stove, then place my hand directly on the cooktop where I removed the pot. It's hot, but not enough to burn you"………..
Yeah that's the heat transferred to the stove top from the pot. The stove top itself does not heat up.
Just one thing to be aware of - DO NOT buy one of these if you have a pacemaker.
I wish we had induction instead of gas, my wife wanted gas. At the time there was very limited options in terms of combination gas induction units.
You will potentially need new wiring for higher amp circuit to the cooktop.
You may need to replace some of your pots and pans if they are not induction compatible.
I would be surprised if you save money on power, because of the added cost to purchase and install.
IMHO it's not a money saving decision, it's comfort/luxury decision. I doubt you'll save any money at all overall. I upgraded to induction as part of a whole house rewire. The only recommendation I have is to make sure that the controls are simple and quick to use. Some induction hobs I've used require multiple taps to do something easy. I prefer the ones where you can tap once to select the required power/"heat", rather than pushing +/- multiple times.
We had ceramic cooktip at out old place, when we built, we put in induction. Induction is way nicer. No idea on power usage.
Induction all the way.
Love how fast it heats up but yet still is cool once the pot is removed and the element turns off - great safety feature.It's just how induction works. The element doesn't heat up - it heats the pot/pan etc only.
It may not save money on power but does have a number of benefits that make it worthwhile for me. Firstly, since the stove itself doesn't get hot, only from heat transfer from the hot pan, the surface of induction tops is much easier to clean. Not only is it cool enough to wipe with a wet sponge immediately after cooking, oil or grease doesn't end up baked onto the element like it does on ceramic. The second benefit to the elements not getting hot is that this seems to have less wear-and-tear on the stove than electric options (including ceramic). Every electric cook top I've used, the thermostat eventually stops working and get stuck on max heat, which we usually just end up putting up with cause it's not cheap to fix. I've never had that issue with induction. Third is safety, with both pets and children at home, I'm always paranoid someone will press a button or turn a dial and accidentally burn themselves, or worse, the whole house. Induction won't heat at all if there's no metal or compatible pan on the element, doesn't easily overheat even if there is.
My parents ceramic cook top has broken thermostats on their large elements and it does my damn head in any time I use it, burn everything so easily.
It will be slightly more efficient, but not enough that you would notice the difference in your power bills I would have thought? Induction is great for cooking though, much better/faster temp control than ceramic.