Which is better: a gas or electric range? Most serious cooks prefer gas, because it delivers heat instantly and is highly controllable. With typical electric cooktops, it takes longer for the burner to respond when turned on and when the setting is adjusted.

我曾经在煤气营地里。但是我大约20年前就转向了电动，当时我的两个女儿还很年轻，我对电动烹饪的令人满意感到惊讶。我的决定是由我在1980年代阅读的研究推动了我关于家庭中呼吸气体燃烧产品可能产生的长期影响的，尤其是儿童的。担忧包括哮喘，其他呼吸道疾病，甚至（一些研究）对心理发展和智力的影响。因此，出于健康原因，我选择了电动范围。但是能量性能如何比较？这实际上很有趣 - 至少对于能量极客来说！

当我们比较气体和电气时空间加热，气体本质上更有效 -如果我们考虑公用事业公司用于发电的“来源能源”。但是，如果我们仅考虑用于供暖的“现场能量”，则电力在顶部，因为进入加热元件的100％的功率被转化为热量。通过烹饪，这更加复杂，因为我们必须考虑从热源（气火或电元素）中的热传递到正在烹饪的食物中，以及实际上没有造成烹饪的能量。

借助燃气灶具，事实证明，库汽油的许多能量含量没有转移到食物上，因此烹饪效率相当低：约40％，而电气的烹饪效率为74％，据劳伦斯·伯克利国家（Lawrence Berkeley National）的一项研究实验室（LBNL）。如果燃气灶具具有试点灯，则大约一半的年能量使用是用于飞行员的，因此“能量因子”（效率的年度量度）通常小于20％。平滑的电炉比较旧式的电螺旋元件效率更高，但差异通常小于1％。

较新的“感应炉灶”更有效：大约84％，因为电能直接转移到烹饪容器上（磁铁将粘附在烹饪容器上）；不幸的是，感应灶具仍然非常昂贵。

气体与电烤箱呢？在这里，电力的论点甚至更强烈。从性能的角度来看，烤箱的快速可控性并不像炉灶那样重要，并且电烤箱的温度控制趋于更准确。的确，出于性能原因，许多美食厨师都购买包括燃气炉和电动烤箱在内的范围。从效率的角度来看，气体烤箱需要更多的空气流量（以提供燃烧的氧气并去除烤箱舱中的燃烧气体），因此它们的效率明显降低。

A standard electric oven has a cooking efficiency of about 12%, according to the LBNL study, while a self-cleaning electric oven, which has more insulation in the oven case, has a cooking efficiency of about 14%. By comparison, standard gas ovens have cooking efficiencies of about 6% and self-cleaning models 7%. If the self-cleaning feature is used frequently in an oven, the Energy Factor drops, due to the energy use for self-cleaning. The electric clocks in both gas and electric ovens can significantly worsen the annual energy factor, since they consume an average of 4 watts and operate all the time. Pilot lights on old gas ovens dramatically reduce the annual energy factor.

此外，很多人没有意识到，大多数气体烤箱都有电动“发光杆”，这些电动棒在整个烤箱运行的过程中都吸引了350至500瓦。这是一个安全功能，以确保火焰出于某种原因吹出，气体不会在烤箱中积聚。虽然这比吸引数千瓦的电烤箱要少得多，但它几乎与微波炉一样多，并且必须比微波炉的运行时间更长才能进行相同的烹饪。（微波炉的烹饪效率约为56％，几乎是标准气烤箱的十倍，是电烤箱的四倍以上。）

In other words, gas ovens may actually use more electricity than electric microwave ovens. And during a power outage, most gas ovens won’t operate at all (though gas cooktops can be used if started manually).

以下几乎没有建议在购买或使用烹饪设备时节省能源：

• Buy a self-cleaning oven, but minimize use of the self-cleaning feature.

• Buy a convection oven, which allows cooking at a lower temperature because the heat is more uniformly distributed.
• Avoid buying an old gas range, cooktop, or oven that has a pilot light (pilot lights are no longer included on new cooking equipment)
• Use a microwave oven for reheating food and for cooking when practical
• 使用慢炖锅（锅或类似设备）作为炖菜，汤和其他烹饪可行的菜肴；用独立的米饭用米饭。
• 使用电动灶具，将元素直径与锅或锅匹配。在8英寸元件上使用6英寸的锅会浪费40％的能量。
• With an electric cooktop, make sure your pots and pans have flat bottoms to maximize heat transfer.
• Keep your stove and oven clean to improve performance.
• Defrost foods before cooking to reduce cooking time and energy use, unless cooking instructions suggest otherwise.
• Optimize your cooking—for example, by cooking larger portions that can be used for several meals—and then reheat in a microwave oven as needed.

烹饪的能源用途（无论是天然气还是电气）是房屋典型能源消耗的很小比例（约5％），因此相对于储蓄，还有更多重要的地方可以付出努力。但是每一点都有帮助。