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> Gas is the "high end" option Few years ago I moved from a little apartment with an electric range to an SFH with gas everything. "Good for you," my gas-enth

> Gas is the "high end" option Few years ago I moved from a little apartment with an electric range to an SFH with gas everything. "Good for you," my gas-enthusiast family said, "now you have a REAL stove" It still takes forever to boil water in a pot. The food tastes the same. I wonder why furnaces have these fancy high-efficiency heat exchangers and stoves don't? Cost? I wouldn't mind going back to electric. I just assumed it cost more, but maybe cooking isn't significant compared to running a furnace.

PurpleFoxy 6y ago
You can get some really high power induction stoves now. This one we have goes up to 12KW at full power. Boils a pot of water real fast.
amatecha 6y ago
It does take a while to boil water (although not nearly as long in my experience), and food tastes the same, but there's essentially zero time waiting for the heating element to heat up. For me that's the big difference -- near-instant control over the amount of heat being applied.
- amatecha 5y ago
  Why would someone downvote that? Pretty lame. I'm sharing my personal, relevant experience. Make a comment if you somehow disagree or thing I missed the mark... Like.. what?
exmadscientist 6y ago
> I wonder why furnaces have these fancy high-efficiency heat exchangers and stoves don't? Cost? I don't see how a design like that would work for a range. The purpose of a range is to heat small, movable objects (pots) to high temperatures (~500°F) with good responsiveness (= short time constants). The purpose of a furnace or water heater is to heat fluids contained in large spaces or tanks to modest temperatures (~100°F) with very limited responsiveness (= long time constants). The heat exchanger really helps the case of heating a stream of fluid, as that's where the exchange is most useful. The physical and thermal mass of the heat exchanger and flue condenser are both considerable. I'm not seeing how to make a gas rangetop significantly more thermally responsive without making it no longer practical. For people who can't abide gas for whatever reason, induction units are supposedly excellent these days. (I've never tried one. They can't possibly be worse than an electric smoothtop range, though!)
pasabagi 6y ago
I think the point is control. Induction stoves are pretty good for dumping watts into water. However, it's very hard to get a good mid-range temperature. Gas makes it really straightforward to get something cooking at exactly the heat you want.
- pilsetnieks 6y ago
  Most electric stoves are non-induction.
  - pasabagi 6y ago
    I imagine this will change, though. I would have thought induction hobs are cheaper to produce, since it's just a copper coil and a bunch of power mosfets.
- wikibob 6y ago
  Strongly disagree. Induction is AMAZING and has wonderful midrange temperature control. Many professional kitchens have switched. Are you sure you’ve used an induction stove and not just a regular electric stove? Glass flat top electric stoves are not usually not induction stoves though they look the same.
  - pasabagi 6y ago
    Maybe just the models I've used? I think I have tried 5 different models in the last few years, from the very cheap, to the relatively pricey, and all were relatively lacking when it came to fine control. I don't think there's any real reason why they shouldn't have fine temperature control - presumably the temperature is controlled by the switching speed of the mosfets in the coils?
fossuser 6y ago
I think it used to boil faster? My grandma replaced her stove and noticed it took forever to boil. The service guy said regulations around the volume of gas have increased the time it takes to boil water. No idea if that's true or not, but I'd believe it.

PurpleFoxy 6y ago

You can get some really high power induction stoves now. This one we have goes up to 12KW at full power. Boils a pot of water real fast.

amatecha 6y ago

It does take a while to boil water (although not nearly as long in my experience), and food tastes the same, but there's essentially zero time waiting for the heating element to heat up. For me that's the big difference -- near-instant control over the amount of heat being applied.

amatecha 5y ago
Why would someone downvote that? Pretty lame. I'm sharing my personal, relevant experience. Make a comment if you somehow disagree or thing I missed the mark... Like.. what?

exmadscientist 6y ago

> I wonder why furnaces have these fancy high-efficiency heat exchangers and stoves don't? Cost? I don't see how a design like that would work for a range. The purpose of a range is to heat small, movable objects (pots) to high temperatures (~500°F) with good responsiveness (= short time constants). The purpose of a furnace or water heater is to heat fluids contained in large spaces or tanks to modest temperatures (~100°F) with very limited responsiveness (= long time constants). The heat exchanger really helps the case of heating a stream of fluid, as that's where the exchange is most useful. The physical and thermal mass of the heat exchanger and flue condenser are both considerable. I'm not seeing how to make a gas rangetop significantly more thermally responsive without making it no longer practical. For people who can't abide gas for whatever reason, induction units are supposedly excellent these days. (I've never tried one. They can't possibly be worse than an electric smoothtop range, though!)

pasabagi 6y ago

I think the point is control. Induction stoves are pretty good for dumping watts into water. However, it's very hard to get a good mid-range temperature. Gas makes it really straightforward to get something cooking at exactly the heat you want.

pilsetnieks 6y ago
Most electric stoves are non-induction.
- pasabagi 6y ago
  I imagine this will change, though. I would have thought induction hobs are cheaper to produce, since it's just a copper coil and a bunch of power mosfets.
wikibob 6y ago
Strongly disagree. Induction is AMAZING and has wonderful midrange temperature control. Many professional kitchens have switched. Are you sure you’ve used an induction stove and not just a regular electric stove? Glass flat top electric stoves are not usually not induction stoves though they look the same.
- pasabagi 6y ago
  Maybe just the models I've used? I think I have tried 5 different models in the last few years, from the very cheap, to the relatively pricey, and all were relatively lacking when it came to fine control. I don't think there's any real reason why they shouldn't have fine temperature control - presumably the temperature is controlled by the switching speed of the mosfets in the coils?

fossuser 6y ago

I think it used to boil faster? My grandma replaced her stove and noticed it took forever to boil. The service guy said regulations around the volume of gas have increased the time it takes to boil water. No idea if that's true or not, but I'd believe it.