[diffeomorphism]

> the energy waste is just further up the chain

Just because both are "lossy" that does not mean at all the losses are of comparable magnitude.

So, actual question: "You need X amount of gas in a power plant to generate enough energy for 1000 households to heat their water with induction" vs "You need Y amount for the same number of households using gas stoves". What is the ratio between X and Y? You claim it is about 1. Is it? Or much larger than 1 or much smaller than 1?