Briefly, from my own personal view, we could have put in a gas cooktop and went away from it mainly because I find them so large looking and cleaning a chore. I've cooked on a gas cooktop in our RV for 10 years so that's the only experience I have with them.

Went to an induction and LOVE it. Exact cooking (like gas - maybe even moreso). Clean up is a breeze because food does not cook onto the cooktop. Sleek look. I'm very happy with the decision. I cook a lot, sauces and all and am still amazed by the speed at how quick it heats up and cools down.

Good luck.

While the better gas burners provide very good low temp settings, I think induction is more consistent and more precise. No problem with the flame blowing out, no need for simmer plates.

High temp, gas used to rule. But induction now does have the ability to transfer more BTUs than in the past. An advantage of induction is that at high gas temps you also have residual heat that heats the kitchen. Induction you only have heat coming off the cookware instead of the cookware and open flame. So the cook can stay cooler.

If storage is a consderation, induction tops can be quite thin, allowing for more storage in the cabinets under the cooktop.

A possibly negative would be your cookware. Depends on what you have though, it'd be tough to set a nice collection of non-ferrous pots and pans aside.

We considered induction a few years ago but instead chose gas. While things might have changed, here are a couple of reasons we went with gas:

1) Noise. The more powerful induction units were noisy due to internal fans. I think that's a personal thing, but it drove my wife nuts.
2) We have periods where we lose electricity. While I need a match to light the flame, gas still works. While I have a household-sized generator, the induction would hog much of the output.
3) The lack of an open flame. Roasting/charring things like peppers on an open flame. A personal thing there. But for me that's a necessity!

For kitchen safety, I think an induction top is probably the safest thing out there. But I'm a Darwinist, so which is "safer" wasn't a concern for me.

Just got an induction range, and went home and cooked on my mom's gas range. I was amazed at the simularities in cooking, but I do agree that I think my induction is easier to manipulate the heat. Also the clean up is soooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier. The only noise I notice is a low humming when my 8 qt pot has boiling water. I got Henkel International Clad and Infinite circulon pans with my credit card points and like each of them (especially like the handles on the Henkel set, very ergonomic). I L.O.V.E. my induction range!

Another recent convert to induction here. We're not master chefs, but it really is amazing. I don't hear anything, noise is definitely not an issue (I guess when it's on "boost" which we just use for boiling water). And I love how it doesn't heat up the room. Also, our cooktop in in a peninsula, so for us, safety was a concern, but the peninsula also doubles as my desk and with the induction, we just windex it after we use it and the ENTIRE peninsula becomes functional as workspace. And wait, no one has said anything about how FAST it is. Lots faster than anything I've ever used before. Ours is a Sauter, not sure if they're available in the US.

My desk/where we eat and cook:

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I am remodeling my old kitchen now, but I replaced the old electric cooktop in November 2008 with a 36 inch wolf. I LOVE to cook and my previous home had a large gas range from jenn air that I loved. When I loved to a home that doesn't have a gas I was so unhappy. It took me 1.5 years to commit to the induction since I didnt know anyone that had it and it was the BEST decision I could have made.. I really didnt think I would LOVE it. I thought I would just be a bit more satisfied then putting in an electric, but in the end it is awesome and better then I expected. Everything everyone said above , I agree with... precise and easy to clean. I use cast iron enamel pots, lodge preseasoned cast iron and stainless steel pots, scanpan nonstick too! IT is great for complicated sauces and sautees.. you can not .. not LOVE it!

mongoct: If storage is a consderation, induction tops can be quite thin, allowing for more storage in the cabinets under the cooktop.

You'd think so, but different manufacturers have very different specifications (among induction cooktops that appear to have similar "guts") for clearance below the unit. One GE product requires 8 inches, which seems like a ridiculous spec and kills quite a bit of storage.

We have a drawer right under ours (for, what else, cooking utensils). It doesn't go all the way back, because we needed to leave a little room under the cooktop, it's a half-depth drawer. Like ajard, I didn't think I COULD LOVE a cooktop. But I do LOVE ours. Whenever our friends come over we do demonstrations. We're like trying to convert everyone we know---they're THAT cool.

I love induction cooking. Had one for 15 years in old house. Had gas in rental - hated it! New house we chose induction.

One point to consider, as our builder cautioned us, if hurricane hits and power goes out you can still cook with gas cooktop. (I guess he never heard of BBQing).

We installed an emergency gas generator!

I have two small Wolf gas burners going in, and a 24" induction. Best of both worlds. Originally I was going to get bigger gas and less induction, but induction wins for most things.

If I were choosing one or the other, I'd choose induction. And with money no object, I'd choose Miele or Gaggenau.

After thirty years of cooking over a gas flame, I've switched to induction. It's safer for me, cleaner to use, and effortless to learn. Great control of hot and warm settings.

Ponotte: I was windexing my induction and then read in the manual not to use any ammonia product on the glass. Mine's a KA. The windex cleaned SO nice but now I'm too afraid to ruin my beloved :(

Anyone else use a cleaner to shine it up?

M

As someone who will never, ever use anything but gas, I must say that induction sounds pretty good. It sounds like the right choice for many people. I've told friends to consider induction for their kitchens, and told them what I know about the technology. When we put in an in-law suite downstairs, I would like to use induction.

My preference for gas in my kitchen is for reasons that are quite idiosyncratic. Most of my cookware is French copper. I like round bottom woks. And I want more heat than I can get from either an induction hob or a residential gas cooktop (but I can get it from a commercial gas cooktop . . . ) Finally, the advantages of induction just happen to be not that important to me - I don't care about a spotless cooktop, I'm not nervous about heat or open flame, and I don't get too warm from cooking with gas.

Why not both? Always wanted gas, but then hanging around the Appliance Forum introduced me to induction. I was intrigued - not enough to take the plunge entirely, though. Our two hob induction is great, easy to keep clean, doesn't make any noise and is the perfect modulated cooking vehicle as compared to our super high BTU Bluestar.

Eliz

When forced to decide between the two, induction won out. Its advantages far outweighed those of gas. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the induction for all the above listed reasons. Admittedly, I would have loved elizpiz's set-up but with more induction and less gas, but I didn't want to make the sacrifices in other areas of the kitchen that it would have required. If we ever build an outdoor kitchen, or add on to the "auxiliary kitchen" (as DH calls it) I'll finally have my gas. Until then, I'll use the powerful Campchef (30,000 BTU per burner) for my gas cooking needs in the summer.

johnlieu - I totally "get" the allure of cooking with gas!

I just got a Wolf 15 inch two burner induction and a 15 inch one burner gas. Love them

I purchased a Max Burton countertop induction hob from Amazon to test how it compared to gas. It is an 1800 watt unit. It was not as speedy as some posts claim. Two quarts of cold water took 8+ minutes to boil. It took about 3-4 extra minutes on gas. Also, the fan noise is annoying. I now use the countertop hob when I want things to boil quickly. I don't know whether the built in units are as noisy. Would love to hear from someone who had both the countertop unit and a built in to see if the fan noise is reduced. I am glad I have the countertop induction unit but think I will stick with gas for now.

Forgot to mention that our 20 year old pots and pans were induction friendly, so you won't necessarily have to start from scratch (shame, beacuse I was looking forward to replaceing those old things! :-)

Eliz

Enright--there is no comparison with the built in units. You get the feel from the countertop unit, but only the commercial ones with commercial plugs (240) are equivalent to the built-ins. The real thing is much faster. Fan noise depends on the maker. Miele is very quiet. Some are loud. Find a store that has their demo models plugged in so you can choose, or just get Miele. :)

1800wt is about half the power of most of the larger hobs of the cooktops I've seen.

To be clear, some of the smaller 6" - 7" hobs in cooktops are around this power.

I really wanted to give induction a try, but I live in an area where power outages are not uncommon. One winter we had no power for over a week because of an ice storm. Cooking on a camp stove was a pain!! I got gas mainly for the ability to cook with no electricity. Otherwise, I would probably have gone with induction.

I got a plug-in countertop induction hob for my temp kitchen, but never seriously considered anything other than gas for the real thing. The hob is a nice toy, but I feel more comfortable having invested in the simpler technology of gas. Also, I don't have room in my kitchen for separate cooktop and wall oven(s), and induction ranges were extremely new when I planned my reno. I'm still in love with my gas range - a vast improvement in function and enjoyment over my old electric smoothtop.