Laughton wrote:Can't answer the "cheapest" question (presumably meaning purchase price plus running costs over time) but for our household Induction is a no-brainer.
What you need to be aware of is that it only works with pots and pans that have magnetic bases. It can be quite expensive if you have to replace all your saucepans and frying pans so definitely worth checking what you already have with a magnet before making final decision.
Thinking about this puzzled me: Why do they need to have "magnetic bases?"
So I looked up Induction cooking on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooking
The answer is that the magnetic field in the pan base needs to be concentrated enough (i.e. by a ferromagnetic material) in order to generate a high enough induced electric current in the vessel to cause heating by electrical resistance (maybe also aluminium/copper are too good at conducting electricity?).
But the Wikipedia article does point out you may not need to chuck out all of your favourite copper pots and pans! You could put a steel plate on the hob and put a copper pan on that.