Compare the Best HobsApril 2019

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 £12 to £1,903 and in total we found prices for 1496 hobs. The average price of a new hob is £428 and 80% of hobs are priced between £126 and £899. The Sabichi 171856 is the cheapest hob at only £13, and Neff T48TD1BN0 is the most expensive at £1,903.

Hob Brands - Price Range

KitchenAid hobs start at £687 and their most expensive hob costs £1,800. The average price of KitchenAid hobs is £1,142 which is the highest average price of all hob brands.

Elica hobs start at £699 and their most expensive hob costs £1,579. The second highest average hob price out of all brands is Elica hobs with an average price of £1,119.

Miele hobs range in price from £450 to £1,865, and the average price of Miele hobs is £1,098 which is the third highest average price of all hob brands.

Hob Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 16 expert reviews and 3,855 user reviews for hobs and used this information to evaluate the average rating for each brand of hob. The top three hob brands are Candy, AEG and Belling. Candy has an average rating of 96%, AEG has an average rating of 94% and Belling has an average rating of 92%.

Biggest Hob Retailers

We found 1,171 current offers for hobs from eBay making it the biggest hob retailer. That is more than twice as big as the second biggest retailer, Appliances Direct for whom we found 403 current offers for hobs. The third biggest retailer is AO with 358 current hob offers.

When Are Most New Hobs Released?

The most common period for new hobs to be released in is between April and June. That means that most of the latest hob technology was released in within the last 3 months, and now is good time to buy. The biggest month last year for new hob releases was June, with 117 new hobs released that month. In 2017 most new hobs were released in April, with 169 new hobs released that month. 280 new hobs were released in October 2016 making it the biggest month that year for new hob releases.

How Fast Do Hob Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, hobs drop in price by 2%. On a typical new hob costing £428, by waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average £9.

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.

Induction is the most popular hob type amongst new hobs. We found 1,237 hobs that are induction hobs. We found 981 hobs that are gas hobs, making gas the second most frequently found hob type amongst new 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 Bauknecht CTAC 8780AFS AL, which sells for £633.70, has the most burner / cooking zone and is an 8 burner / cooking zone hob. The hob with the least burner / cooking zone is the Fisher & Paykel CG451DNGGB1, which is a 1 burner / cooking zone hob and currently retails for £449.00.

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. 923 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. 78.8% of their hob prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.