Is it cheaper to boil water with gas or electricity?

[PureAppleJuice]

Just wondered really, at my grandparents atm and they use a kettle that you have to stick on the hob. Wondered if when using the same amount of water if it's cheaper to use gas over electricity?

 

[sam83uk]

gas

 

[Zefan]

gas

 

[KNiVES]

Cheaper with gas I think, you need a hefty amount of electricity to heat something up. Kettles are a good example of this (people probably remember the 'only boil the amount of water you need' adverts on TV some years ago).

 

[Tom0]

Gas! or the majority of boilers would be converted to electric.

Also need to burn gas to make electric, so you're paying hidden gas costs within the electric price.

 

[Dutch Guy]

Gas is much cheaper, the same can be said for house heating and bathroom boilers.

 

[PureAppleJuice]

Thought as much... Well that's that answered then

 

[lookitsjonno]

if you think about it, most power stations use steam to generate electricity... hence boiling a kettle using electric is so inefficient (hence expensive).

i wouldn't mind betting that boiling a kettle over the hob is over 90% cheaper.

 

[Samtheman1k]

However, a gas hob is farrrr less efficient than a gas powerstation. Gas normally costs around 3p per KwH of heating, compared to around 9p for Electric, but these figures are assuming a gas boiler efficiency of around 90%. A gas hob is probably only going to be maybe 30% efficient if you're lucky meaning that they will probably cost a similar amount, or could even be more depending on your tariffs...

 

[Minto]

make sure you don't do what my grandad did, and get a cordless electric kettle and put it on the hob. That made a mess of his cooker.

 

[kinetic747]

make sure you don't do what my grandad did, and get a cordless electric kettle and put it on the hob. That made a mess of his cooker.

Sound advice, thanks.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

if you think about it, most power stations use steam to generate electricity... hence boiling a kettle using electric is so inefficient (hence expensive).

i wouldn't mind betting that boiling a kettle over the hob is over 90% cheaper.

How so?

Water needs 4200J of engine to heat 1kg 1 degree celcius. That doesn't matter if the thermal energy comes from electric or gas heat. The beauty of the electricity is that the water is directly heated however it does cost more.

Probably easy enough to boil a large amount of water and see how much the electric and gas meters read then convert that to pence depending on the tarriff. Gas is around 1/4 of the cost per KWh

 

[dbmzk1]

Using gas takes a lot longer I know that much!

 

[Greenlizard0]

Using gas takes a lot longer I know that much!

In my first year we put an entire pan of water to on an electric hob. It took almost an hour to boil and we were gutted for the most part about this. :/

 

[HangTime]

It's true though, using a kettle is quicker than boiling in a pan because it is heating the water directly rather than via the middleman (saucepan). It's one reason why we often boil a kettle when cooking.

 

[Glaucus]

electric = cost more, but more energy efficient
Gas - cheaper, but more wasted energy.

 

[Anchundan]

In my first year we put an entire pan of water to on an electric hob. It took almost an hour to boil and we were gutted for the most part about this. :/

Were you watching it?

 

[kefkef]

My old fella (yes he is very sad!) worked out that if you were to boil a kettle 10 times in a day you would save 46p per day using gas over electric!

 

[Abraham]

Were you watching it?

 

[PsiFox]

Induction hobs are rated over 90% efficiency and the one I use can boil a saucepan of water in less than 3 minutes.