An Induction Cooktop and a gas stove are common and essential kitchen appliances, that you will find in almost every kitchen. Let us see which is better.
An Induction cooktop is economical and safer to use for cooking than a gas stove. But what should be your primary appliance for cooking will depend? A 3-4 burner gas stove over an induction cooktop should be your primary appliance for cooking.
Both of them are smarter appliances. Both have some additional costs for it. What you will choose will depend on your requirements.
I have written in all possible aspects of this matter. This will help you to choose. So, keep on reading. 🙂
Induction cooktop
An Induction cooker is a kitchen appliance to cook food. It runs on electricity. There is a copper coil below the surface.
When electricity is passed through the coil, an electromagnetic field is generated. This field heats the pan which seats on the surface of the induction cooktop.
The surface of the induction cooktop is made of ceramic glass. This has a low heat coefficient. This means that the surface will not be hot even when the cooktop is on.
You will need vessels that are made of cast iron or stainless steel. There are many vessels in the market especially for cooking on an induction cooker. These vessels have small circles on their bottom. They contain this stainless steel or cast iron metals. These metals capture the heat and concentrate it.
In this way, you cook food on an induction cooktop.
Gas stove
A gas stove is a kitchen appliance where the fuel is a combustible gas. The gas stove has one burner or multiple burners. You put a cooking vessel on the burner.
You light up your burner. The gas coming out from numerous pores in the burner is flammable. Now this fire will help you to cook food
To know more regarding gas stoves read this article from Wikipedia. Â The gas acts as fuel to the fire.
In India, the cooking gas that is used is LPG. LPG means Liquid Petroleum gas. LPG is a combination of flammable hydrocarbons, mainly Propane and Butane. If you are interested to read more about LPG then you can read this article from Wikipedia.
The stove has a connection to a gas cylinder. The gas cylinder contains the gas. When you use it you just switch it on. All of us know how this system works because we have all seen it at some point in our lives.
Of course, you have to buy a cylinder. Apart from buying the gas stove. Other details will be discussed below.
I use both a gas stove and induction cooktop. This presents me with a unique opportunity to compare them. I have seen multiple comments, especially in Quora. All of them sounded reasonable. The answers were to only a question” which one among Induction cooktop and gas stove, Is more economical?”
But all of them barring one has mentioned anything about time. “Time is money.” You have heard this before. Even if you do not agree with this, you will recognize the fact that Time is very important.
You save some time and do what you like doing the most. So, I will be comparing both these kitchen appliance in detail. Inspecting each aspect. So, keep on reading.
Differences Between Gas Stove and Induction Cooktop
Both these appliances are cooking appliances. This is the only similarity. Apart from this everything is different.
Dimensions
The dimensions of an induction cooker and a gas stove are different. Dimensions are important. This is because you will need to place them in your kitchen. So, depending on how much space you can afford for that appliance.
It is needless to say that the induction cooktop will occupy less space than the gas stove.
But still, the devil lies in detail. It is worth mentioning that gas stoves can have a single burner, double burner, and triple burner. So, their dimensions will change accordingly.
Dimension is measured in (Length x breadth x height). These dimensions are approximate. The dimensions vary from brand to brand. A more sophisticated looking appliance will take more or less space according to its design.
But you can have a basic understanding of the space it will occupy.
| Appliance | Dimension |
| Induction Cooker | (11 x14 x 2.5) Inches |
| Single burner | (16 x 14 x 5) Inches |
| Double burner | (24 x 14 x 5)Inches |
| Triple burner | (26 x 14 x 5) Inches |
| Four burner | (20 x 18 x 4) Inches |
Positional Necessities
What does it mean? I know sometimes the headings can sound different. If only I had a better word. Well, what I meant is. The most necessary requirement for the functioning of the appliance. So, where ever you want to place the appliance you will require it.
An induction cooktop runs on electricity. So you will need a socket to put the cable.
A gas stove will need a small hole in the kitchen slab, from which the gas pipe can pass and attach to the cylinder. If you do not have a whole the protruding pipe will not look good.
So, this parameter should also decide what you want to use.
User Friendliness
Both the induction cooktop and a gas stove are user-friendly. Both of them are easy to use. Some practices will make you a master.
Now a day you have auto ignition facilities in gas stove. I love this feature. Gone are the days where you will have to buy a lighter or keep match sticks. You don’t have to worry about burning your figures while trying to ignite a stove.
This has made using gas stove easier.
"A gas stove is easy to use than an induction cooktop."
Time
Time is one of the most important things. When I mention time, I mean time to cook food. In general, an induction cooktop will be faster to cook food. The reason being, it heats up the vessel fast. You can also adjust the temperature accordingly and the time to cook food as per your wish.
Gas stoves take more time to cook in comparison to an induction cooktop.
But, it is not that we prepare a single dish. Most of us eat multiple dishes. Here lies my point. If I have 2-3 burners. I can cook food simultaneously. This does save a lot of time. Within half an hour or one hour. Our food will be prepared and served.
This is not the case with the induction cooktop. Because you will have to cook your favorite dish one after another. An induction cooktop or hob with multiple cooking are not so common in India.
Till then,
"A gas stove cooking is much more time-saving."
Variety of cooking
You can cook varieties of food in a gas stove. You can use any vessels to cook food. With the induction cooktop, there will be some restrictions. You need a flat bottomed vessel with metals like cast iron or stainless steel.
This will restrict the variations of dishes you can prepare. A common example is Kadhai. A kadhai cannot be used on an induction cooktop. So if you want to cook Kadhai chicken or Kadhai Paneer or anything on your Kadhai, you will not be able to do so.
"A gas stove will help you cook vareties of food on dirrent type of cookware."
Power consumption
A gas stove does not consume power. But an induction cooker does. With improved technologies, induction cookers have become smarter appliances. I must admit that the newer models are much more power-efficient.
Also, the vessels are heated fast. This decreases the cooking time.
But this also depends on which part of the country you live in and what is the rate of power in your state.
LPG Pricing
LPG pricing is done by OMC Oil manufacturing countries. In India, an IPP (Import parity price) formula is used to decide the price. India does import half of the LPG that we require. Also, the government gives subsidies. I do not want to go deep in the economics and politics of it.
So, like electricity, we do not decide the price of LPG.
Economical
Well, this is a broad topic. This includes the amount of money you need to spend while buying the equipment. The accessories you need. The maintenance cost. And of course, the efficiency which is the time it takes to cook food and how easy it is to cook food.
Buying cost
It includes the buying of the appliance and the accessories which it needs to run the cooking. Here, I have mentioned an average buying cost of the induction cooker and its accessories.
The accessories include special frying pans, a tawa, and pressure cooker
| Appliance | Approximate costs |
| Induction Cooktop | 2500 |
| Accessories | 2500 |
| Total | 5000 |
The next chart shows the approximate costs of buying a gas stove with 3 burners. The accessories include a gas pipe, a gas regulator and a gaslighter.
| Appliance | Approximate price. |
| Gas stove | 2500 |
| Accessories | 600 |
| Total | 3100 |
The prices will vary from brand to brand. If you want to buy smarter equipment. It will cost you more. But this chart will help you understand the basic difference between buying an Induction Cooktop and a gas stove.
"So buying a gas stove system will be cost-effective."
Maintenance and running cost
This is also important. So let us take a quick look.
You will need an electric connection to run an induction cooker. You will have an electric point already in your home or kitchen to do that stuff. So, no added costs required.
But in case you are using a gas stove, you will need to get the connection first. When you are applying for the gas cylinders there will be added costs.
There are two types of cylinders a 5 kg and 14.2 kg. Now I am not going into which one is for you.
But both of them has some cost. It also depends on which part of the country you are living in. But just for understanding, I will make a quick table for your understanding.
The cost will include security deposit, professional fees and others. These costs do vary from city to city. I had this experience from 4 cities, where I had lived and two states. So yes they do differ, but the difference is not that huge.
Some cities do take caution money for a 5 kg gas cylinder. Some do not take it. So, let us see.
| Gas cylinders | New connection Cost (Extra) |
| 5 kg cylinder | Rs 0-800 |
| 14 kg cylinder | Rs 2000- 2500 |
Apart from this, you will have to fill that cylinder. The gas cost does vary. The latest cost as per Feb 2020 is in a table below.
Gas cost
| City | LPG Cost (14 kg) Un-subsidised | LPG Cost (14 kg) Subsidised |
| Mumbai | 795.00 | 482.00 |
| Delhi | 820.00 | 48300 |
| Chennai | 838.50 | 470.00 |
| Kolkata | 849.00 | 485.00 |
The electricity cost depends and varies from state to state. But better and smarter induction cook top will definitely decrease your electric consumption.
Furthermore, you won’t be paying electric bills daily. I pay for 3 months then it comes after another 3 months. But most of the home and kitchen appliances run on electricity. So it is very hard to differentiate.
So anything which decreases it will be good.
Also, you won’t be changing gas cylinders in every month. You will use it as per your needs. I remember I had to change a 5 kg cylinder after 6 months of daily usage twice a day along with occasional cooking of tea.
And the 14 kg cylinder is like enough and we ran it for a year. But my mom changes her cylinders in 5-6 months. She cooks for 4-5 persons sometimes including us. We cook for two occasionally for 4-5.
So, it depends.
In my opinion, An Induction cooktop looks more economical. Since most of us are leaving Gas subsidies.
Portability
An induction cooktop is a smaller dimension in comparison to a gas stove. That is why it is portable. You can easily fit it in your luggage and take it where you want to take it.
Safety
The gas cylinder looks unsafe. But trust me both the induction cooktop and gas stove are safe. You need to know how to use them.
But for the sake of comparison, I will say an induction cooktop is safer to use and less complex than a gas stove.
Gift purpose
Increasing the kitchen and home appliances are trending as gifts. Mainly in marriages. Well, the induction cooktop is more common than a gas stove. I think it because of its dimensions.
Experience
I can talk about our experience. Me and wife. We both had chosen Gas stove over an Induction cooktop. We both like our Induction cooker but we both agree that due to multiple burners, we can cook multiple dishes simultaneously.
We use an Induction cooktop for emergency purposes.
Who needs what?
What you will require will depend upon your needs. How many family members you have? and other situations will definitely change your priorities.
So let us see how it might vary.
Single person
You might be single, living in a hostel or living separately for work. In this case, an Induction Cooktop will be good. It can be your main cooking appliance. But if you like to cook food. And a 5 kg gas cylinder is also available. Then I think you can also take a gas stove.
I have seen a single person using either of them.
But I think an Induction cooker will be a better option for a single person. Since you will have to carry the cylinders to get it refilled.
A couple
An Induction cooktop will be enough. For the reasons above mentioned. You will have two mouths to feed and occasional cooking for parties. So, I think an Induction cooktop will be better.
More Family members
In this case, you will need more burners to cook food. That as of now, you will only get in a gas stove. In this case, hands down you should go for Gas stove for the primary cooking appliance.
You can always have both.
The Future.
While I was researching this topic, I saw many people recommending an Induction cooktop is the future. And that is good for the environment. Well, I don’t believe it.
Yes, an Induction cooktop is energy efficient and uses only electricity to run. But we do burn coal for the electricity.
We as a country want to run electric vehicles, we want to run public transport on electricity also. So, we need to produce more electricity and that too from more renewable sources with less carbon footprint.
So, going for all-out electric cooking is not going to happen in the near future.
Also we import half of our LPG requirements. So it is also not the future.
You have hard the future and that is a supply of cooking gas from pipes. This is not exactly LPG. This is called Town gas. Well, this article is getting too long. I will do research and come back with a different article on this topic.
Conclusion
An Induction cooktop sounds more economical and safe. In my opinion, time matters more. I will pick the gas stove with 3-4 burners above the induction cooktop for a primary cooking appliance. The reason is it saves time while cooking simultaneous foods.
I hope this article will help you to reach a conclusion. Let me know which one you will prefer.