The Five-Year Hob Bill: What Switching to Induction Really Adds Up To in 2026
Photo: modern induction hob with magnetic pans in UK kitchen 2026, via i0.wp.com
Changing a hob feels like a kitchen decision. Financially, it is a five-year decision with a few sharp edges: the appliance, the person who connects it, the pans you may have to replace, the extractor you may need, and the electricity or gas you buy every month. The sticker price is the smallest part of the story.
At 2026 energy prices, the running-cost gap between gas and electric cooking is real but often smaller than the difference in installation quotes. That is why the sensible comparison is not gas hob versus induction hob. It is gas hob plus Gas Safe work plus pans plus ventilation versus induction hob plus electrician plus pans plus whatever your consumer unit decides to do to your budget.
Start with the bits that are not the hob
A like-for-like five-year comparison has to include the awkward work. For a gas hob, that means a Gas Safe registered engineer, a suitable bayonet or connection, and usually an extractor hood or another form of ventilation. For an electric ceramic or induction hob, it means an electrician, a dedicated circuit in many cases, and a check on whether your consumer unit has space and capacity.
This is where the surprise quotes appear. A plug-in induction hob may run from a 13A socket, but a full-size 7.4kW induction hob typically wants a dedicated 32A circuit. If your kitchen has an old cooker point with the right cable, the job may be straightforward. If it does not, you are looking at cable runs, isolation switches and possibly a consumer unit upgrade. That can add hundreds of pounds before you have boiled a single pan.
Ventilation is the other quiet cost. Gas combustion produces nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulates, so an extractor hood ducted to the outside is not just for smells. Recirculating filters help with grease and odour, but they are not a substitute for outside ventilation. Induction has no combustion, which is the main indoor-air-quality argument in its favour, but it still benefits from a hood for steam and cooking fumes.
The 2026 running-cost maths without fantasy numbers
Use your own tariff, but the shape of the calculation is simple. Electricity is still priced much higher per kWh than gas in the UK, so an efficient induction hob is not automatically cheaper to run than a gas hob. Induction transfers more of its heat into the pan, while gas loses a fair amount around the sides. Those two facts pull in opposite directions.
As an illustrative 2026 example, a household doing a moderate amount of hob cooking might use roughly 400 to 600 kWh of electricity a year on induction. The same cooking on gas might burn around 800 to 1,200 kWh of gas because of lower heat transfer. At roughly 25p per kWh for electricity and 6.5p per kWh for gas, that is about £100 to £150 a year for induction and about £52 to £78 for gas. Ceramic electric sits closer to induction on running cost but wastes more heat through the glass.
These are not bills, just a way to see the scale. The gap is usually tens of pounds a year, not hundreds. Standing charges do not change when you switch hob type, and neither does VAT. If someone tells you induction will pay for itself in a year through energy savings alone, ask to see the working.
The five-year comparison table
| Cost item | Gas hob | Ceramic electric | Induction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hob purchase | £250 to £500 | £200 to £400 | £300 to £800 |
| Connection work | £80 to £150 Gas Safe | £100 to £250 electrician | £100 to £300 electrician, more if consumer unit upgrade needed |
| Pans | £40 to £120 | £30 to £100 | £60 to £200 if existing pans are not magnetic |
| Ventilation | £80 to £250 extractor | £80 to £200 extractor | £80 to £200 extractor, optional but useful |
| Running cost, 5 years | £260 to £390 | £500 to £750 | £500 to £750 |
| Approximate 5-year total | £710 to £1,410 | £910 to £1,700 | £1,040 to £2,250 |
The ranges are wide because kitchens are wide. A straightforward swap in a modern flat is not the same job as rewiring a 1960s kitchen with a fuse box that belongs in a museum. The point is not that one hob wins. It is that induction often costs more upfront and may save only a modest amount on running costs, while gas usually costs less to buy but carries ventilation and indoor-air-quality trade-offs.
Wiring gotchas that catch people out
Do not assume the old gas hob's 13A ignition circuit will run an induction hob. It will not. Do not assume the existing cooker switch is suitable either; the cable size, breaker rating and isolation arrangement all matter. A good electrician will check the load, the circuit and the earthing before quoting. If they do not ask questions, get another quote.
Also check the hob's power rating before you buy. Some induction models are designed for a 13A plug and throttle the power when several zones run at once. Others need a hardwired supply and will trip a weak circuit if installed badly. If you live in a flat with a shared supply or an old consumer unit, get the electrician to look before the hob is delivered, not after.
Pans, patience and the hidden cost of free cookware
Induction needs magnetic pans. The fridge magnet test is crude but useful: if a magnet sticks firmly to the base, the pan will probably work. Thin bases can warp and buzz, and cheap sets sometimes claim induction compatibility without heating evenly. Factor in one or two decent pans rather than a whole new set if your existing cookware is mostly aluminium.
Gas still has the edge for wok cooking and charring, and ceramic is cheap to buy but slow to respond. Induction is precise, easy to clean and keeps the kitchen cooler. None of those are financial arguments, but they are part of the five-year experience you are paying for.
The sensible way to decide
Price the whole job, not the hob. Get a Gas Safe quote if you are staying with gas, and an electrician quote if you are moving to induction or ceramic. Check the consumer unit, the cable run and the ventilation. Add pans if needed. Then compare the five-year total against how you actually cook.
If you already have a good electric cooker circuit and magnetic pans, induction is a simpler leap than the sticker price suggests. If you have a gas supply, a ducted hood and a tight budget, gas may still make sense. The worst outcome is buying the hob first and discovering the wiring or ventilation problem later.
