Compare the Best HobsJuly 2018

A hob is a collection of gas or electric burners arranged together in a single unit with a unified power source. While they are usually included with an oven as part of a cooker set, they can also be bought seperately. We have a large selection of hobs in all different shapes, sizes and colours, allowing you to pick the perfect hob for your needs, as well as one that complements the style of your kitchen.

Burner Type

When choosing a hob, first you must decide whether you want gas or electric burners. Both have advantages and disadvantages:

Gas Hob: Gas burners have no heat-up time, so are far quicker to use, and the heat levels are easier to control than electric. Gas flames tend to spread more evenly across the bottom of pans, meaning quicker heating and more even cooking. They are also cheaper to run than electric hobs, saving you money on daily use.

Electric Hob: Electric hot plates take time to heat up, and tend to have a far more concentrated heat radius, leading to uneven heat distribution with large pans. They are also more expensive to run than gas hobs - however they are easier to clean, and significantly easier to set up and use.

Number Of Burners

Another consideration is the number of cooking zones (burners or hot plates) on the hob. Most hobs have 4 burners spaced evenly across the top of the machine - however some models have as few as 2, or as many as 7. These burners will be of differing sizes and shapes - most 4-burner hobs contain a small, medium, large and extra-large burner, suitable for a range of different pots and pans. While 3-4 burners will be sufficient for the majority of users, people that find themselves cooking a lot of dishes at once may wish to look at extra-large hobs that can fit several different pans at once.

Specialist Burners

It's not only the number of burners that is important - several more advanced hobs also contain specialist burners as well. These can include:

Power Level

The power level of the hobs are measured in watts (W). The larger the power level, the quicker and more efficiently food will be cooked. Hobs also have a different amount of power settings - on some more basic models, this can be little more than 'low' or 'high'. However more advanced models feature a large number of power settings, allowing for extreme precision when cooking.

Hob Prices

The price range of hobs is from £13 to £1,975 and in total we found prices for 1557 hobs. On average, a new hob costs £444 and 80% of hobs are priced between £111 and £904. The Brentwood TS-322 is the cheapest hob at only £14, and Smeg PVL6106CN is the most expensive at £1,975.

Hob Brands - Price Range

Fulgor Milano hobs range in price from £1,317 to £1,535, and the highest average hob price out of all brands is Fulgor Milano hobs with an average price of £1,426.

Gaggenau hobs start at £827 and their most expensive hob costs £1,812. The average price of Gaggenau hobs is £1,262 which is the second highest average price of all hob brands.

The average price of KitchenAid hobs is £1,224 which is the third highest average price of all hob brands. KitchenAid hobs start at £700 and their most expensive hob costs £1,950.

Hob Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 4 expert reviews and 2,614 user reviews for hobs from across the internet and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of hob. The top three hob brands are AEG, Hotpoint and Beko. AEG has an average rating of 92%, Hotpoint has an average rating of 92% and Beko has an average rating of 91%.

Biggest Hob Retailers

We found 1,034 current offers for hobs from eBay making it the biggest hob retailer. That is significantly bigger than the second biggest retailer, Amazon UK for whom we found 844 current offers for hobs. The third biggest retailer is ao with 390 current hob offers.

When Are Most New Hobs Released?

Over the last 3 years we couldn't see any obvious pattern in the release month for new hobs. April was the biggest month last year for new hobs, with 162 new hobs released that month. In October 2016 296 new hobs were released making it the biggest month that year for new hob releases. The biggest month in 2015 for new hob releases was April, with 230 new hobs released that month.

How Fast Do Hob Prices Drop After Release?

On average hobs drop in price by 3% in the first 6 months after release. On a typical new hob costing £444, by waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average £11.

Hob Types

There are a number of different technologies used by hobs to transfer heat to the cooking pan. Gas hobs use a simple flame to heat the underside of the pan and can be used with any pan type. Electric hobs come in a variety of types including ceramic, sealed plate, halogen and induction.

The most frequently found hob type amongst new hobs is induction. We found 1,021 hobs that are induction hobs. The second most frequently found hob type amongst new hobs is gas. We found 840 hobs that are gas hobs.

Burners / Cooking Zones

The number of burners (gas) or cooking zones (electric) on the hob.

Comparing all hobs, the burners / cooking zones range from 1 to 8. The burners / cooking zones of most hobs range from 4 to 5. The Whirlpool SMP 778, which currently retails for £849.00, has the most burner / cooking zone and is an 8 burner / cooking zone hob. The hob with the least burner / cooking zone is the Neff N74TD00N0, which is a 1 burner / cooking zone hob and currently retails for £1,173.21.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Hobs?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying hobs. For each retailer it shows the total number of hobs where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying hobs. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 719 of their hob prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Hobs for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for hobs by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of hob prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's hob prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 69.5% of their hob prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.