Why gas's sticker price is the wrong number to start from
Gas looks cheap on every east-coast bill: priced per unit of energy, it costs a fraction of what electricity costs across NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. A gas burner also wastes most of what it burns, though. Roughly 40% of the energy in a gas flame reaches the pan; the rest escapes around the sides as the flame licks past it. An electric ceramic or radiant element does better, around 74%, and induction better again at 85 to 90%, since it heats the pan directly through the cooktop's own magnetic field instead of heating an element underneath it first. Divide each fuel's raw price by its own efficiency and you get the real cost of a unit of heat that actually reaches the food, the only fair way to put gas and electric side by side.
Cheapest cooktop type, by state
Cost of the heat that actually reaches the pan, not the sticker price of the fuel that made it, for a ceramic, induction or gas cooktop element.
| State | Ceramic | Induction | Gas | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 44¢ | 37¢ | 24¢ | Gas |
| Victoria | 40¢ | 34¢ | 23¢ | Gas |
| Queensland | 42¢ | 35¢ | 22¢ | Gas |
| South Australia | 51¢ | 43¢ | 27¢ | Gas |
| Western Australia | 45¢ | 38¢ | 44¢ | Induction |
| Tasmania | 39¢ | 33¢ | 49¢ | Induction |
| Australian Capital Territory | 37¢ | 31¢ | 40¢ | Induction |
| Northern Territory | 43¢ | 36¢ | 27¢ | Gas |
Cost per kWh-equivalent of heat actually delivered to the pan: each fuel’s own raw energy price divided by its own conversion efficiency (74% ceramic, 88% induction, 40% gas). The Northern Territory has no household reticulated gas, so its gas column uses the published typical east-coast rate as a reference only. Your row is highlighted once you set your location.
Ceramic never wins, once efficiency's counted
Run the efficiency-adjusted numbers for all eight states and territories and one thing never changes: ceramic never comes out cheapest in any of them. Where gas is expensive (WA, Tasmania, the ACT) induction wins comfortably; where gas is cheap (the mainland east coast) gas wins outright, but induction still beats ceramic in every one of those states too. So if the choice is between two electric cooktops rather than gas versus electric, induction is the cheaper of the two to run everywhere on this list, regardless of which state you're in.
What the running-cost numbers don't cover
This is a cost-to-run comparison, not a cost-to-switch one. An induction cooktop typically costs more upfront than an equivalent ceramic model. Induction cookware also needs a magnetic base (a fridge magnet stuck to the underside of a pan is the easy test), so aluminium, copper or some stainless steel pots and pans that fail that test need replacing. Swapping a gas cooktop for either electric type can also mean an electrician running a new circuit if the existing wiring wasn't sized for it, on top of the appliance itself. None of that changes which fuel is cheaper to run once it's installed, covered above, but it does change how long any running-cost saving takes to pay back the switch, and that payback period comes down to your own quote, not a number this page can give you.
Common questions
Is induction cheaper to run than gas in my state?
It depends where you live. On efficiency-adjusted cost, gas wins in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, where reticulated gas is priced cheaply enough to beat induction's efficiency advantage. Induction wins in Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, where gas runs two to three times the eastern states' rate.
Is ceramic cheaper to run than induction?
No, not in any state. Induction converts more of its energy into heat that actually reaches the pan (around 85 to 90%, against roughly 74% for ceramic), so it comes out cheaper to run than ceramic everywhere on this list, even in the states where gas beats both of them.
Do all pots and pans work on an induction cooktop?
No. Induction needs a magnetic base to work at all, easy to check with a fridge magnet: if it sticks firmly to the underside of a pan, that pan works on induction. Aluminium, copper and some stainless steel cookware won't have enough magnetic base and needs replacing before an induction cooktop can heat it.
Does gas beat reverse cycle heating the same way it beats induction in some states?
No, the opposite verdict. Our gas vs reverse cycle heating guide runs the same efficiency-adjusted state-by-state maths and finds reverse cycle wins on heating in every state; gas never catches up there the way it does against induction on the cheap-gas east coast, because reverse cycle's efficiency edge over gas is bigger than induction's edge over a gas cooktop.
Sources
Cooktop conversion efficiency (roughly 40% gas, 74% ceramic/radiant, 85–90% induction), the same figures our oven and cooktop running cost calculator cites: InductionCooktop.com.au's efficiency guide. Electricity rates: AER Default Market Offer, the Victorian Default Offer and each remaining state's regulated tariff, current for 2026–27. Gas rates: EnergyPlans state-average published market plans (June 2026, NSW/VIC/QLD/SA), the WA Government regulated gas tariff and Origin ATCO plan (July 2026, WA), Solstice Energy Tasmania (January 2026) and a WATTever market scan (2026, ACT estimate). The Northern Territory has no household reticulated gas, so the typical east-coast rate stands in for it in the table above. All fetched July 2026.