Looking for a new stove and oven for your home?  Which will you choose: Electric or gas?  Foregoing all the bells and whistles, the traditional debate has been over which type 'cooks' better.  It only takes a couple of Internet searches or a casual question in the break room to realize that gas versus electric is a heated debated.  For every person who's passionately in favor of one, someone else is just as passionate about the other.

Gas stoves are more responsive - meaning the cooking temperature can be adjusted more quickly, but gas ovens require venting which makes the oven temperature fluctuate more.  Electric ovens cook more uniformly since heating elements can be placed in the bottom and the top, but electric burners heat and cool slowly compared to gas burners.  For those that want to bake their cake and eat it too, dual-fuel models combine responsive gas burners with even-cooking electric ovens, but require both electrical and natural gas lines to your range.  

In today's greening world, energy efficiency is just as important as cost, color and function.  What else should you consider when looking for the perfect range?

For starters, remember that the cheapest to buy are often the most expensive to run.   Since ranges do not yet have EnergyGuide labels and are not Energy Star rated, be sure to ask about the insulation of each model you're considering.  As a rule, ranges with a self-cleaning feature are better-insulated.  Here are some additional considerations:

Stoves and cooktops

• Gas stoves can release harmful pollutants into the air, so make sure your range is properly vented and has an energy efficient exhaust fan and hood.
• Choose a model with an electric pilot.  An electric pilot uses 30-40% less gas than a continuously-burning pilot light.
• Induction burners are the most energy-efficient electric option.  Energy is transferred directly to the pan and uses half the energy of standard coil range tops.  (Note:  They only work with copper, aluminum, iron and steel pots and pans.)
• Ceramic-glass electric cooktops can be either halogen or radiant.  Both are efficient, but halogen heats and cools more quickly.
• Cooktops with multiple element sizes allow you to match the cooking element to the pan size.  Heating a small pan with a large element wastes a lot of energy.
• Standard electric coils and solid disk elements are not efficient and consume a lot of energy.

Ovens

• Convection ovens circulate air to cook food more quickly and evenly.
• Oven lights allow you to view the food without opening the oven door and loosing heat.
  
• Adjustable racks allow you to place food closer to the heat and to cook multiple dishes at once.
• Self-cleaning models are better-insulated.

After you've made your purchase, you can also maximize your energy savings by cooking smart.  A few tips will help you save money, prolong the life of your range and reduce your carbon footprint.

• Keep the stove burners clean.  For gas: Yellow-tipped flames mean the gas isn't burning efficiently.  Call your gas company to have the burners adjusted.  For electric: Make sure your pans have flat bottoms that make full-contact with the heating element.
  
• Only preheat when necessary and keep the preheating time to a minimum.
• Don't open the door!  The oven can loose 25 degrees Fahrenheit when you do.
• Don't wrap racks in foil and stagger cookware and pans so air can circulate freely.
• Using glass and ceramic cookware allows you to reduce the temperature about 25 degrees.
• Run the self-cleaning right after cooking.  It takes a lot of energy to heat an oven to 900 degrees from room temperature.  Using the heat you used to cooked with saves energy.
• For ovens and electric cooktops, turn the heat off early.  The heat you've already generated will continue to cook the food without using additional energy.

Now you're cooking with green!