Sources checked 17 September 2026. Every specification and price in the comparison table was read off the live product page on that date. The amp figures are our own arithmetic at 230 V. The gas installation point is quoted from the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. This is general information about a normal UK 13-amp socket, not a survey of your flat’s wiring.
The short answer: two rings, one 13-amp socket
If you searched for a two ring hob plug in, this is the page for you. Two-ring plug-in hobs are real, they are easy to buy, and they run from an ordinary socket. The catch is never the hob. It is the supply.
A UK 13-amp socket on a 230-volt supply gives you about 2,990 watts. Almost every two-ring hob sold for a plug in the UK is rated 2,800 W — which is 12.2 amps. That means the hob uses nearly the whole socket before you have cooked anything at all.
What that feels like in a real kitchen:
- Both rings on: no boost anywhere. The two zones share the 2,800 W between them.
- One ring flat out (usually the larger one, 1,600 W): the second ring gets what is left, which is enough to hold a simmer and not enough to boil a pan of pasta.
- One ring on its own: some models let a single zone draw the lot — the Cooksir and Karinear units below combine both zones into one 2,500 W “flex” area for a big pan.
- Nothing else on that socket. A 3 kW kettle on the same double socket, or anything sharing the ring main point, is where fuses start blowing.
So the honest version of “can I have two rings?” is yes — but you are buying two half-power rings that add up to one full-power ring, not two of everything. We explain the 13-amp ceiling and the full range of plug-in induction hobs in our 13-amp induction hob guide.
If your real question is two rings versus two separate single hobs, that argument is made properly in our long-term test of a portable hob replacing a built-in one. The short version: two singles on two sockets give you full power on each and a working kitchen if one dies; a two-ring hob gives you one cable, one footprint and one thing to clean.
The two-ring hobs that actually plug in
Every row below is a real model on sale in the UK, checked on its own live product page. Every one of them plugs into an ordinary socket — no electrician, no new circuit, no rewire.
| Model | Type | Zones | Rated power | Amps at 230 V | Connection | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooksir CSI-B22811K-BS | Domino built-in, 49 × 27 cm cut-out | 2 (1,600 W + 1,200 W; flex 2,500 W) | 2,800 W | 12.2 A | 13 A plug | £75.99 |
| GIONIEN GIT230SP | Domino built-in | 2 | 2,800 W | 12.2 A | 13 A plug | £99.99 |
| Karinear KNI-302S1-BS | Domino built-in, 270 × 490 mm cut-out | 2 (1,600 W + 1,200 W; flex 2,500 W) | 2,800 W | 12.2 A | 13 A plug, 1.25 m cable | £69.99 |
| VonShef 2000158 Double | Countertop, 58.5 × 36.9 × 7.2 cm | 2 | 2,800 W | 12.2 A | Plug-in | £79.99 |
| Cookology CIPH48DZ | Countertop, 56.5 × 36 × 6.5 cm | 2 | 2,800 W | 12.2 A | Plug-in | £84.99 |
| VBGK K2004 (ceramic) | Countertop or built-in, 27 × 48 cm cut-out | 2 (1,800 W + 1,200 W) | 3,000 W | 13.0 A | Plug-in | £79.99 |
| Daewoo SDA1732 (solid plate) | Countertop, 40 × 33 × 10 cm | 2 (1,500 W + 1,000 W) | 2,500 W | 10.9 A | Plug-in | £34.97 |
Cooksir, GIONIEN and Karinear state their 13 A rating on the listing; the four countertop models are listed as plug-in, which for a UK appliance means a fused 13 A plug. Currents are our own arithmetic at 230 V.
Specs and prices read off live product pages on 17 September 2026.
Where to buy the seven models above (one link each, checked the same day):
- Cooksir 2-zone 13 A induction hob with flex zone (CSI-B22811K-BS), £75.99
- GIONIEN GIT230SP domino 2-ring induction hob, £99.99
- Karinear 2-zone flex induction hob with 13 A plug (KNI-302S1-BS), £69.99
- VonShef Double Induction Hob 2800 W (2000158), £79.99
- Cookology 2800 W dual-zone portable induction hob (CIPH48DZ), £84.99
- VBGK Double Ceramic Hob 3000 W plug-in (K2004), £79.99
- Daewoo Double Hot Plate 2500 W (SDA1732), £34.97
How to read that table. The first five rows are induction: fast, precise, and fussy about pans — the pan base has to be magnetic. The last two are the older technology: a ceramic radiant surface and, at the bottom, cast-iron solid plates. They are slower and they stay hot for a long time after you switch them off, but they take any flat-bottomed pan, which matters if your cookware came with the flat.
The VBGK row is worth a second look: 3,000 W is 13.0 A, right on the nose of a 13-amp fuse, with no margin at all. The Daewoo, at 2,500 W, is the only unit here that leaves usable headroom (10.9 A) — the trade-off being that it is the slowest thing in the table.
Countertop or domino built-in — the distinction that catches people out
This is the most common mistake in the whole category, and it is easy to make because marketing photos are always shot close up against white.
- A countertop hob has a casing, feet and a flex. You put it on the worktop, plug it in, and lift it off when you want the space back. The VonShef, Cookology and Daewoo rows are this type.
- A domino hob is a permanent fixture cut into the worktop. It looks like a small built-in hob because that is what it is: the Cooksir needs a 49 × 27 cm hole and the Karinear a 270 × 490 mm one; the GIONIEN’s own listing does not quote a cut-out at all, so confirm that one with the seller before ordering. They still arrive with a 13-amp plug, which is why they get filed under “plug-in” — but the plug is the only part that is plug-and-play. The hole is not.
If you rent, that distinction is the whole decision. Cutting a worktop is an alteration to the property: you need permission, you get it wrong and you own the problem at the end of the tenancy, and you certainly cannot take the hole with you when you move out. A countertop hob lifts off and goes in a cupboard.
Both types are also bigger than the photos suggest, and the countertop ones vary more than the label implies. The two large induction portables are 58.5 × 36.9 cm (VonShef) and 56.5 × 36 cm (Cookology) — most of a small worktop run — while the VBGK ceramic is 28.8 cm wide and the Daewoo solid plate 33 cm. A hob filed under “countertop” can be half the width of another one. Measure the top against the row you are actually buying, check where the socket is, and remember that a countertop hob over your only socket is a problem you create once and live with for a year.
If this is your first plug-in appliance rather than your second, two related reads: the compact kitchen set-up guide for what fits alongside what, and table-top hob vs air fryer if you are deciding which single thing to buy first.
Ceramic, solid plate and the gas question
Two-ring hobs are not all induction, and the searches that lead here — “two ring ceramic hob”, “two ring electric hob” plus a high-street shop name — suggest a lot of people are shopping the cheaper half of the market. That half is worth explaining properly, because it behaves differently.
Ceramic and radiant two-ring hobs. A coil under a glass surface glows red and heats the pan through the glass. Any flat-bottomed pan works, induction-ready or not. You lose precision, you lose speed, the surface stays hot after switch-off, and the rating tends to be higher for the same job: the VBGK ceramic here is 3,000 W. The upside is that they work with the cheap aluminium pan that has been in the cupboard since you moved in; the downside is that you cannot leave anything on the glass afterwards.
Solid plate two-ring hobs. Cast-iron plates, two knobs, about £35. The Daewoo above is the modern version of the hob that was in every student kitchen in Britain. Slow to heat, slow to cool, heavy (3.3 kg), and the cheapest way to get two usable rings on a plug. If you are cooking rice, pasta, soup and stews rather than searing steak, this does the job and nothing in this article is simpler to live with.
Two-burner gas: the answer is no, and here is why. A two-burner gas hob cannot be plugged in, because gas is the appliance. There is no plug-in version to recommend because there is nothing to plug in: the unit has to be connected to a gas supply.
That connection is regulated work. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3(1), says plainly: “No person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so.” Regulation 3(3) goes further and requires the business doing the work to be a member of a class approved by the Health and Safety Executive — which in practice means a Gas Safe registered engineer. So a two-burner gas hob in a flat means a gas supply, a Gas Safe engineer, and in a tenancy your landlord’s written permission before anyone touches a pipe. It is a proper kitchen job, not a plug-in appliance.
The other thing the “two burner gas hob” search turns up is the camping stove: a tabletop twin-burner running off butane or propane cartridges. Those are for outdoor cooking and well-ventilated spaces. They are not a kitchen hob for a small flat, and they should never be treated as one.
So: if you want gas, budget for a Gas Safe engineer and get permission first. If you cannot do either, a ceramic or solid-plate two-ring plug-in is the closest thing you can actually buy — and if your pans are magnetic, an induction one beats both.
Before you order: five checks
Check these five things before you buy
- Measure the worktop, not the photo. Countertop footprints: 58.5 × 36.9 cm (VonShef), 56.5 × 36 cm (Cookology), 28.8 cm wide (VBGK ceramic), 33 cm wide (Daewoo). Domino units need a specific cut-out — 49 × 27 cm, 270 × 490 mm or 27 × 48 cm here.
- Check whether both rings can run at full power. Add the two zone ratings up and compare with the total. If the total is lower, the unit manages itself; if the total is the sum, the socket is the limit.
- Find your socket and measure the cable. Published cable lengths are around 1.2–1.5 m (the Karinear states 1.25 m). A hob that cannot reach the socket is a hob you cannot use.
- Decide where it lives when it is off. Countertop hobs are portable, not light — 2.2 kg for the VonShef, 5.1 kg for the VBGK — and they need a cupboard or a permanent spot on the worktop.
- Test your pans with a magnet. Induction needs a magnetic base. Ceramic and solid plate take anything flat-bottomed.
Nothing else on that socket. A 13-amp plug is a 13-amp supply for the whole socket, not per appliance. A two-ring hob at 2,800 W next to a kettle is 2.8 kW plus 3 kW on one double socket, and the fuse is the part that gives up. The same rule rules out extension leads for a hob: if you need to know what a lead can and cannot take, that is answered in detail in the extension lead and fuse guide.
If you also need an oven. A two-ring hob cooks two pans and nothing else. If the flat has no oven either, the appliances that solve both jobs in one box are covered in our roundup of plug-in mini ovens and countertop cookers.
The bottom line
- Two rings on one 13-amp plug means two half-power rings. 2,800 W shared is 12.2 A on a 230 V supply, so both rings on means no boost for either.
- Countertop and domino are not the same thing. Both plug in; only one needs a hole cut in your worktop. In a rented flat that is usually the deciding factor.
- The model list is short and honest: induction from about £70 (Karinear), a long-standing portable from VonShef at £79.99, Cookology’s slim portable at £84.99, GIONIEN’s domino at £99.99 for a fitted look, VBGK’s 3,000 W ceramic at £79.99 if your pans are not magnetic, and the Daewoo solid plate at £34.97 if the budget is the point.
- Watch the wattage, not the word “portable”. Two-ring hobs rated 3,500 W are sold in the UK for sockets that cannot carry them: 3,500 W is 15.2 A at 230 V, so it will not run on a 13-amp fused plug. If a listing is vague about power, assume the worst and check the label.
- Two-burner gas is not a plug-in option. Gas is the appliance; the connection needs a Gas Safe registered engineer, and in a tenancy, the landlord’s permission.