Talk:Electric stove

message: This article doesn't seem to make any mention of the kind of electric cooker with the spiral heating element, which was like the only kind for eighty years. It just skips right to those ceramic-top ones. Sofar 2 (talk) 08:15, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

message: The assertion "Compared to a gas stove, electric stoves are less energy efficient" is not well supported. 
The supporting reference for this goes to URL 1.	http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/gas-vs-electric-cooking.htm which states "Because gas burners provide instant heat, and cooks have greater control over the temperatures, they're generally more energy efficient than their electric competitors" and refers to the UK site Directgov.
But if Directgov currently has nothing to say about the relative efficiency of gas vs electric.
And so, "which is more efficient" depends on what's included in the definition. Although electric stoves take longer to heat up and cool down, the flames on gas stoves heat a lot of things (the stovetop, the air) other than the pan or pot you want to heat. Overall, it seems unlikely that a gas stove is more efficent than an electric one, if oen looks only at the stove.
But if one includes the entire distribution system (fuel to electricity losses, and losses in distribution) the electric stove will have lower efficiency.
The bottom line: without more detail, the assertion "Compared to a gas stove, electric stoves are less energy efficient" is meaningless. It should be removed from the article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.61.25.254 (talk) 17:39, 12 July 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Gas ovens are certainly less efficient than electric.  The requirement to burn gas and air means that the combustion products together with the heat they contain has to be exhausted to the room space.  This is unnecessary with an electric oven (though the advantage is somewhat offset by the generally higher energy cost of electricity).  I believe that the same argument applies to gas hobs.  Professional chefs usually swear by a gas hob but an electric oven.  The argument they use is the inherent controllability of a gas hob, in that the cooking effect can be reduced almost instantaneously, but this also applies to modern electric systems such as infra red and induction. 86.150.65.44 (talk) 16:59, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Efficiency of electric vs. gas stoves? 

message: "The first technology used resistive heating coils which heated iron hotplates, on top of which the pots were placed."
I am fairly certain that I have seen in several museums electric hobs where the pans are supported over bare iron wire heating elements.  Probably an ideal arrangement if the pan boils over but nobody worried about things like that in those days! 86.150.65.44 (talk) 17:13, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: The science museum in London has an excellent example in their domestic appliances gallery.  It pre-dates the invention of nichrome heating elements, so I do not actually know what metal in the element is bit iron would be my guess.  The exhibit's tag notes the danger of the exposed element.  212.183.128.165 (talk) 17:01, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  First technology?