Quick answer
Switching to induction in NZ means four changes: a dedicated circuit, commonly 32 A, installed and certified by an electrician; ferrous cookware, tested by whether a magnet sticks to the pan base; a flush benchtop cut-out with the maker's cooling clearance beneath; and faster, cleaner cooking. The circuit run often costs more than people expect, so price it first.
Key points
- An induction cooktop needs its own dedicated circuit, commonly 32 A, and only a licensed electrician can install and certify it.
- If you are leaving gas, a licensed gasfitter disconnects and caps the old line; that is not the electrician's job or yours.
- The magnet test settles the cookware question in thirty seconds: sticks to the base, it works; slides off, it does not.
- The joinery changes are small but exact: a cut-out to the maker's template and cooling clearance below, with drawer rules per the manual.
- Budget for the circuit run before the appliance, because a long run to a full switchboard can rival the cooktop price.
Hold a fridge magnet against the base of every pot you own. The ones it grips will work on induction. Anything it slides off, the pure aluminium stockpot, the copper-bottomed pan someone gave you in the nineties, will not, no matter what the element shows on the display. That thirty-second audit is the honest start of an induction switch, and it is free.
The rest of the switch is equally concrete, and almost none of it happens at the cooktop showroom. It happens at your switchboard, in your pan drawer, inside the benchtop cut-out and, if you are leaving gas behind, at the gas meter. This piece walks through each change in the order the trades will tackle them, with no evangelism either way. Induction is a good technology with real installation costs, and you should see both halves before committing.
What changes at the switchboard
An induction cooktop draws serious current, so it needs its own dedicated circuit, commonly 32 A, run from the switchboard to the cooktop position. That is prescribed electrical work: a licensed electrician installs it, connects it and certifies it, and you keep the certification paperwork with the house file. If an electric freestanding stove already cooks in that position, there may be a usable dedicated circuit in place, and the electrician confirms its rating and condition before reusing it. There is no compliant DIY route here, and a cooktop hung off an undersized or shared circuit is exactly the kind of fault that surfaces at the worst moment.
Two site factors set the price of this step. Distance first: a switchboard on the far side of the house means a long cable run through the roof or underfloor, and the labour sits in the run, not the connection. Capacity second: an older board with no spare ways may need work before a new 32 A circuit can land at all. Get the electrician to quote both before you buy anything, because this line item moves more than any other in the whole switch.
If the old cooktop was gas, one more trade enters. A licensed gasfitter disconnects and caps the redundant line, whether that is at the appliance or back toward the meter, and that boundary is worth stating plainly: the electrician handles the new circuit, the gasfitter handles the old gas, and neither job belongs to the kitchen installer or the homeowner.
The four changes in an induction switch, in the order the trades tackle them.
What changes in the pan drawer
Induction heats the pan directly through a magnetic field, so the pan base must be ferrous. Cast iron works. Most stainless cookware sold in the past decade works, because makers now build magnetic bases in. Plain aluminium, copper and glass do not, unless the maker has bonded a magnetic plate to the base. Hence the magnet test: it is the same physics the cooktop uses, run with a fridge magnet.
Run the audit well before install day. Most households find the everyday pans pass and one or two favourites fail, and replacing a single stockpot is a far smaller bill than people fear when they first hear the cookware warning. Take the failed pan to the shop, magnet in pocket, and test the replacement on the spot.
What changes in the joinery
For the kitchen itself, an induction hob is a flush appliance dropped into a precise benchtop cut-out, and precision is the operative word. The cut-out is made to the maker's paper or PDF template, never measured off the glass, and the tolerances are millimetres. Below the hob, the manual specifies a cooling clearance, because the electronics under the glass need air. Whether you can run a drawer directly beneath, and how much gap it must keep, is set by the same manual; some models want a fixed shelf or a heat baffle between hob and drawer, others allow a drawer at a stated distance. Give the manual to your joiner before the carcasses are made and all of this is routine.
If you are switching to a freestanding induction stove instead of a built-in hob, the joinery rule is the classic one: a 600 mm gap in the run for a 595 mm appliance, covered in detail in designing a kitchen around a standalone oven. And if the switch is part of a bigger rethink, separating the hob from a wall oven at a sensible height in a tower cabinet puts the oven floor 700 to 900 mm off the ground and saves your back a decade of bending.
What changes in the cooking
Honestly reported: water boils noticeably faster, low-end control is finer than gas once you stop translating flame sizes in your head, and the flat glass panel wipes clean in one pass because spills never bake onto an open burner. The adjustment period is real but short, a week or two of relearning where your usual settings live. On the debit side: some pans buzz quietly at high power, the glass demands flat-bottomed cookware to perform well, and a wok needs either a flat-bottomed version or a purpose-made induction wok hob to behave. None of these are dealbreakers; all of them are worth knowing on day one.
What does it cost to switch to induction?
Split the bill into three parts and it stops being mysterious. The appliance is the visible part, and the market covers everything from entry-level hobs to feature-heavy flagships. Electrical work is the variable part: a short run to a modern board with spare capacity is a modest job, while a long run to a full board can rival the cooktop price on its own. Joinery is usually the smallest part, a cut-out adjustment if the new hob matches the old footprint, or a benchtop and cabinet change if it does not. Add the gasfitter's capping visit if you are leaving gas. Get the electrician's price first, then choose the appliance, then price the joinery adjustment, and there are no surprises at the end.
| Task | Who does it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated circuit, commonly 32 A, plus certification | Licensed electrician | Quote the cable run and switchboard capacity first |
| Disconnect and cap the old gas line | Licensed gasfitter | Applies whenever you leave gas behind |
| Benchtop cut-out and cabinet clearances | Kitchen maker or benchtop fabricator | Cut to the maker's template, never to the glass |
| Cookware audit | You, with a fridge magnet | Sticks to the base means it works |
Why volume housing went induction-adjacent
There is a reason so much new medium-density and social housing in Auckland cooks on electricity: no open flame, nothing a tea towel can catch on, a wipe-clean surface that survives high tenant turnover, and one less gas connection to maintain across a large portfolio. Those are safety and durability arguments rather than culinary ones, and they hold in a family home for the same reasons, particularly with small kids and a bench at the standard 900 mm. The healthier-kitchen thread runs wider than the cooktop, and the same logic shows up in low-VOC and healthier kitchen material choices. We fit joinery around whichever cooking appliance the plan specifies, and the appliance itself almost always arrives under a separate line, the way appliances by others works in kitchen contracts.
The cooktop is a purchase; the circuit is a project. Price the project first.
The order of operations
A clean switch runs in this order. Magnet-test the cookware this week, it costs nothing. Have an electrician confirm the switchboard has capacity and price the dedicated circuit run. Book the gasfitter's capping visit if gas is going. Then choose the appliance, download its installation manual, and hand the template and clearance pages to whoever owns the benchtop cut-out. If the induction switch is riding along with a new kitchen, tell your kitchen maker the hob model before manufacture, since the cut-out, the cooling gap and any drawer beneath are all built from that manual. Get those pieces in that order and the actual swap is a single tidy day of trades.
Frequently asked questions
Does an induction cooktop need a dedicated circuit in NZ?
Yes. An induction cooktop draws enough current to need its own circuit, commonly 32 A, run from the switchboard and protected accordingly. A licensed electrician must install, connect and certify the work, and you should keep the certification with your house records. The cost depends mostly on the cable run length and whether your switchboard has spare capacity.
Will my existing pots and pans work on induction?
Test each one with a fridge magnet on the base. If the magnet grips, the pan is ferrous and will work; if it slides off, it will not heat. Cast iron and most modern stainless cookware pass. Plain aluminium, copper and glass fail unless the maker bonded a magnetic plate into the base. Most households only need to replace one or two pieces.
Can you put a drawer under an induction cooktop?
Often yes, but only as the maker's manual allows. The electronics under the glass need cooling clearance, and each model states its required gap, and whether a fixed shelf or baffle must sit between the hob and the drawer below. Give the installation manual to your joiner before the cabinets are made so the clearance is built in rather than discovered.
What happens to the gas line when I switch to induction?
A licensed gasfitter disconnects and caps the redundant line; that work sits with them rather than the electrician, the kitchen installer or you. If other gas appliances remain, only the cooktop branch is capped. If the hob was the last gas appliance, ask the gasfitter about capping back toward the meter, and ask the retailer what a gas connection costs to keep if nothing is using it.
How much does it cost to switch from gas to induction in NZ?
Three bills: the cooktop, the electrical work and a small joinery adjustment, plus a gasfitter's capping visit. The electrical work is the swing item, because a long cable run or a crowded switchboard costs real money while a short run to a modern board is modest. Have the electrician price the run before you commit to an appliance, then the total holds few surprises.
Why do new housing developments use induction instead of gas?
Safety and durability at scale. No open flame, a flat wipe-clean surface that survives heavy use and turnover, no combustion at the cooktop, and one less gas connection to maintain per unit. Volume housing programmes value those properties across hundreds of tenancies, and the same arguments apply in an ordinary family kitchen with young kids.
Does the benchtop need to change for an induction cooktop?
The hob sits in a precise cut-out made to the maker's template. If the new model's footprint matches the old cut-out, the change is minor; if not, the benchtop needs recutting or replacing, which is easier on some materials than others. Underneath, the manual's cooling clearance must be respected, so check the template and clearance pages against your existing bench before buying.