Time for a New Oven?

Gas or Electric?

“There’s really no difference in terms of quality or how evenly a gas oven versus an electric oven cooks food,” says David Zabrowski, senior project manager with the Food Service Technology Center, a food-service industry energy-efficiency consultancy in San Ramon, California. And when it comes to energy savings, unfortunately there’s no straightforward answer either.

While you can easily determine how much a certain refrigerator will cost to operate by referring to the Energy Guide sticker and ENERGY STAR ratings, there’s currently no such program for residential ovens because the difference in efficiency between models is minimal. In addition to that, energy costs vary widely across the country.

“Your decision should be based more on what you’re comfortable with and what fuel type is most readily available where you live,” Zabrowski says.