Your stove is perhaps the hardest-working kitchen appliance in your home, and the type of stove you choose will play a role in how efficiently you can cook, your monthly utility bills, and even your indoor air quality. Before you decide which type of cooktop is right for your kitchen, you should understand the different options and the pros and cons of each.
Quick Takeaways
Gas stoves tend to be a desirable option due to their precise temperature control and the instant heat they provide, but they can have adverse health effects.
Electric stoves are the most budget-friendly option, and the installation cost is especially affordable if you don’t already have a gas hookup.
Consider the cost of installing and running your stove in addition to the sticker price of the appliance to budget accurately.
1. Gas Stove
Gas stoves are generally considered the most high-end type of stove, and they’re about tied in terms of popularity with electric stoves. Gas stoves burn natural gas or propane to provide heat for cooking and baking, which means you need a gas hookup in your kitchen to use one.
Gas ranges are desirable because they provide instant and constant heat, giving you precise control over your cooking. You don’t need to wait for electrical elements to heat up, and the heat from the burners doesn’t cycle on and off as it would with an electric stove. Most home chefs and professional chefs prefer gas stoves for this reason.
However, studies have shown that gas stoves can emit harmful pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide, benzene, and carbon monoxide, into your home. This could impact your family’s health in various ways, including causing childhood asthma.
A gas stove costs an average of $900, but you could pay anywhere from $300 to $1,500, depending on the size, brand, and quality. In addition to being more expensive than an electric stove for the appliance alone, you may face higher installation costs. If your home isn’t already fitted with natural gas — meaning you don’t have a gas line or outdoor propane tanks supplying gas for your boiler and other appliances — you’ll pay an additional $800 to $5,000 to run a gas line to your home.
2. Electric Stove
Electric stoves have become more and more popular over the past few decades because they’re more affordable than gas stoves, and they don’t require a gas hookup. Whether you live in a place where gas isn’t widely available or off the grid in a remote location, electric cooktops are an option, provided you have electricity.
The appliance itself is more affordable than a gas stove, averaging $650 and ranging from $300 to $1,000. You also don’t need to pay for a gas hookup — you just need a 240-volt outlet, which costs $150 to $300.
Electric stovetops come with some drawbacks, though. You get less precise temperature control since you have to wait for the heating elements to get hot, as well as less consistent heat because they cycle on and off. They’ll also be unusable during power outages.
There are two main types of electric stoves to choose from:
Coil Electric Stove: Coil electric stoves have electric coils that sit above the surface. These are considered outdated by today’s standards, but they’re the more affordable option.
Radiant Electric Stove: Radiant electric stoves, also known as glass-top stoves, have heating elements under a protective layer of smooth ceramic glass. The flat surface makes it sleeker than coil electric stoves, with cooking surfaces that sit level with your countertop.
3. Induction Stove
Induction stoves also use electricity as their power source, but they use electromagnetic induction to heat your pots and pans rather than passing heat through a coil or glass surface.
They’re the most energy-efficient stoves you can buy because you don’t lose heat to the surrounding air. They also don’t actually generate heat, so as soon as you take your cookware off, the stovetop will be cool to the touch. This can make it a safer option for homes with children and pets.
Since they rely on electricity, they’ll be unusable during a power outage. However, they provide more precise temperature control than standard electric stoves, so you get a blend of the benefits of a gas cooktop and an electric stove.
Induction stoves are expensive, averaging $1,750 for the appliance alone, more than double what you’d pay for a glass cooktop stove. You also can’t use standard cookware, so you should consider the cost of upgrading your pots and pans to those compatible with an induction cooktop.
4. Dual-Fuel Stove
Dual-fuel stoves use multiple fuel sources for heat, usually with natural gas or propane for the cooktop and electricity for the oven below for baking. This gives you more versatility and the benefits of precise temperature control for baking and allows for more even temperatures inside your oven for baking.
Dual-fuel ranges may be convenient, but they’re some of the most expensive options out there. You’ll pay an average of $3,000 for the appliance alone, and if you don’t already have the necessary connections in place, you could pay an additional $150 to $300 to add a 240-volt outlet or $800 to run the necessary gas line.
5. Downdraft Stove
Downdraft stoves have a built-in ventilation system that draws the air above your cooktop down through the appliance and routes it to a vent outside. They provide the benefits of a standard cooktop paired with a range vent hood, but you can save space above the range for upper cabinets for additional storage. As such, downdraft stoves are excellent options for smaller kitchens and those with minimal cabinet space.
Downdraft stoves also improve your indoor air quality because they remove smoke, steam, and grease from the air without the need for an overhead range hood.
Unfortunately, downdraft stoves are less widely available and more expensive than most other options. You’ll pay an average of around $3,500 for the appliance alone, excluding the cost of running vents under your cabinets and out of your home.
6. Smart Stove
Smart stoves are stoves that have the ability to connect to Wi-Fi, which gives you the ability to control it via a smartphone or tablet. You can preheat the oven and turn timers on and off remotely, which makes using them a little more convenient. Some smart stoves can also diagnose issues for you, which makes repairs simpler.
Smart stoves are electric, which means you get the benefit of better indoor air quality than a gas stove, but you also get less precise temperature control. They’re also more expensive than standard electric stoves, and they average around $2,500 for the appliance alone. You also have more components that could break down, so maintenance costs will be a bit higher than with a regular electric stove.
How to Choose the Right Type of Stove for Your Kitchen
Choosing from the different types of stovetops requires that you think about your lifestyle and cooking habits. If you’re a home chef or professional chef, a gas stove is likely the best option due to the precise temperature control you get on the cooktop. If you’re an avid baker, consider either an electric stove or a dual-fuel stove, both of which use electricity for the oven portion to provide more even baking temperatures.
If indoor air quality and efficiency are your priorities, go with an electric or induction stove. These are more than twice as efficient as a gas stove, and they don’t directly burn fossil fuels.
For affordability, an electric stove is the best option, as both the appliance and the necessary hookup are more affordable than other types. Consider the stove you already have, though, as using the same connection — either a 240-volt outlet or a natural gas line — will save you money on conversion and cooktop installation costs.
FAQ: Types of Stoves
Most home chefs and professional chefs prefer gas stovetops because they provide the most precise temperature control and the best cooking experience. However, induction cooktops are an increasingly popular option because they provide a similar level of temperature control and have less of a negative impact on indoor air quality.
Induction stovetops are the safest type of stove. They carry no risk of gas leaks, don’t pollute your indoor air as much as gas stoves, and the actual stovetop never gets hot, so there’s less of a risk of burns. They also don’t use open flames, reducing the risk of fires.
A high-end stove brand will usually last the longest, so brands like Wolf, Sub-Zero, Thermador, and Miele will typically have the longest lifespan. These are commercial-style stoves, though, which are expensive. For more affordable options, brands like GE, Whirlpool, Bosch, and Kenmore all make long-lasting stoves with good warranty coverage.