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When buying household appliances, many housewives have to make a rather difficult choice and understand which is better — an electric or gas oven. In order for the comparison to be correct, we will conduct an assessment, highlighting several main parameters: connection, functionality, cost, efficiency and safety of operation.
Connection Features
Often the choice of the type of oven is limited by the possibility of its connection. For example, if the house is not gasified, then the dilemma of which gas or electric oven to choose disappears by itself. Some gas ovens can be operated from a cylinder filled with liquefied gas, but this operation option is only possible for private houses. It is strictly forbidden to use a gas cylinder in apartment buildings, even if it is installed on a balcony.
There are important features when connecting an electric oven. It should be understood that the oven is a very energy-intensive electrical appliance, its power ranges from 2 to 4 kW, while the load on the wire is long-term. Intra-house wiring of houses built from the times of the USSR may not withstand such a significant load. This can cause both short circuits and network failure, as well as its excessive heating, which can lead to a fire.
Another point — for each apartment / house, the energy company allocates a certain amount of available electrical power. Before buying and connecting an electric oven, you need to clarify the size of the allowable power and make an approximate calculation. For example, in apartment buildings designed before 2006 (when installing a gas stove), the allowable power is 3 kW per apartment, when installing electric stoves — 7 kW. Will this be enough to provide all the electrical appliances connected at the same time — with the current number of electrical appliances, the allocated power may not be enough. Especially if the apartment has air conditioning, plus a refrigerator, computer and other electrical appliances. So you have to write a letter to the power supply company with a request to increase the allowable power limit. I would like to warn you right away that this procedure is costly — both in terms of financial and time, because you will have to develop and agree on a new power supply project, obtain permission, conduct tests, etc. The process of obtaining permission itself can last from 2 to 6 months.
The best solution for installing an electric oven is to run a separate cable, the cross section of which will be selected taking into account the power of the oven. And be sure to provide good reliable grounding.
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Heating uniformity
Cooking in the oven occurs due to the fact that the air transfers heat from the heating element to the dish being prepared. Therefore, the uniformity of heating of the entire volume of the oven directly affects the quality of cooking. Due to uneven heating, the dish will have to be rearranged or rotated to avoid burning it.
As a heating element in a gas oven, gas pipes located at the bottom are used. The heat generated during the combustion of gas rises. The uniformity of heating of the oven is also affected by the geometric shape of the gas tube and how it is located — as a result, some areas may heat up more intensively, while others receive less heat. Therefore, even despite the relatively small size and volume of the oven, due to unidirectional heating, temperature differences can be quite significant. The difference between the bottom and top of the oven can be 20-30 degrees. The uneven heating becomes more pronounced even when installing only one baking sheet, and when cooking on two, they will have to be periodically swapped.
In electric ovens, heating elements (tubular electric heaters) are used as a heating element. In the vast majority of cases, they are installed at the top and bottom. That is why any electric oven in terms of uniformity of heat distribution is superior to gas. In premium models, in order to achieve the most uniform heat distribution, additional heating elements can also be installed on the side walls.
Modern models of ovens are equipped with a convection function. This function, which allows you to ensure uniform distribution of heat throughout the oven. The fan creates an air flow that mixes warm and cold air throughout the volume — thus solving the problem of cooking dishes on two baking sheets at once. Convection is less efficient in gas ovens as they are not sealed to allow combustion products to escape. Therefore, it will be quite problematic to achieve a uniform distribution of heat even with the use of convection.
Functionality
In this parameter, models of modern electric ovens are significantly superior to gas counterparts. First of all, the variability of the heat supply should be noted — an electric oven allows you to combine the top and bottom heat supply, only the top or only the bottom, a combination of heating and grilling.
Despite the fact that both electric and gas ovens have temperature controllers, this function is more effective in electric ovens — it allows you to set and maintain the required value much more accurately. Plus — a larger temperature range is available in electric ovens. In addition, the electric oven has a set of different thermal modes:
- fast heating;
- gentle defrosting, as an option — automated programs for defrosting products, in which the temperature changes at different stages of the process;
- fermentation;
- languor;
- maintaining the set temperature of the finished dish.
Other features to note:
- convection — allows you to ensure the uniformity of the temperature even when installing several baking sheets. This feature is especially in demand among lovers of baking;
- timers — allow you to both turn off and turn on the oven at a user-specified time;
- temperature probes — the ability to check the readiness of a dish by measuring the temperature inside it. This is important when preparing large (voluminous) meat or fish dishes;
- programs for cooking — when you select a specific dish, the oven automatically controls the temperature and cooking time;
- self-cleaning function — depending on the model, it can be pyrolytic, catalytic or hydrolytic cleaning of the oven, they greatly simplify the cleaning process after cooking;
- grill — an additional heater, usually installed at the top of the oven, allows you to get a very high temperature for the formation of a crisp. The grill can be supplied with a spit (manual or automatic).
In some electric ovens, the possibility of steam cooking is implemented, in some models they have the functions of microwave ovens. But at the same time, it is worth remembering that a significant minus of a large number of functions is a significant increase in the cost of the oven. At the same time, as experience shows, some functions may be very rarely used. So when choosing which oven is better gas or electric in terms of functionality, you should decide whether you need to overpay for the little-demanded features of an electric oven.
Safety
It is traditionally accepted that gas ovens are more dangerous than electric ovens due to the use of natural gas and open flames. In fact, modern models of gas ovens have a multifactorial security system that reduces the likelihood of a fire to zero. Gas supply sensors very carefully control the flow of gas, automatically shutting it off when the fire goes out. Another important aspect is good ventilation, which should ensure the removal of combustion products.
The safety of operating an electric oven is directly related to its correct connection — the correct choice of cable section and grounding, as mentioned above. Despite the high temperature, the ovens are thermally insulated, so that the risk of getting burned by touching the outer surface of the oven is minimal. However, when buying a built-in model of an electrical cabinet, you should make sure that the furniture can withstand elevated temperatures. In fact, the level of safety of ovens — both electric and gas — is the same.
Important:
Ensuring safety is directly related to a very important requirement — the exact observance by the user of the procedure for using the oven, which is described in the instruction manual.
Economy
According to this parameter, gas ovens look preferable than electric ones, because main gas is cheaper than electricity. However, this difference is not very noticeable if you rarely use the oven. But with frequent use of an electric oven, which consumes from 2 to 7 kW of electricity per cooking cycle, this difference in favor of a gas oven becomes especially pronounced.
Price
The cost of an oven depends on a large number of parameters — the manufacturer (brand), prestige of the brand, functionality, power, energy efficiency, materials used, year of manufacture, visual appeal, etc. But with relatively equal parameters, gas ovens turn out to be significantly cheaper than electric models.
It is almost impossible to unequivocally decide that it is better to have an electric or gas oven. The choice depends on many factors, but the main thing is for what purposes and how often you plan to use the oven. If a minimum set of functions is enough for you and you plan to use the oven often, then you should take a closer look at the offers of gas ovens. If a variety of cooked dishes is important to you, then you should definitely choose an electric oven.
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