Are You Cooking With Gas Or Electric?

If you are considering buying a new range and oven, you can expect to live with your purchase for the next 20 years. The choice you make in the store can save you a little or a lot of money over the next two decades.

Today, about 58 percent of American households cook with electricity, but gas cooking is making a steady comeback, for good reason. A gas stove costs less than half as much to operate as an electric one, provided it is equipped with electronic ignition instead of a pilot light. The electronic pilotless ignitions reduce gas usage by about 30 percent over a constantly burning pilot light. These are also more convenient, eliminating the need to restart a standing pilot light.

Consider the new Convection ovens. These are new designs that continually circulate heated air around the food being cooked. (Think of an oven with a built-in fan.) Convection ovens distribute heat more evenly than ordinary ovens, so cooking time and cooking temperatures can be reduced, cutting energy use by about a third, on average.

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This table from the Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings compares the cost of cooking a casserole in several ways. It assumes the cost of gas is $.60 a therm, and electricity is $.08 a kWh.