Reading through the articles and linked articles in the comments, gas stove emissions contribute to, not a direct cause of, the deaths of .04% of the 50 million people in the US that use gas stoves.
Not saying this isn’t important, but I don’t think this will ever crack the top 10 concerns of my lifetime.
What sucks, is I can’t afford a comparable induction range that cooks as well, and quickly, as gas. Unless I can get some sort of rebate, buying a new range is out of the question.
If you’re not commonly using more than 1 or 2 heating elements at a time, portable induction cooktops are significantly less expensive than an entire induction stovetop ($50-60 each). I wouldn’t want it as a permanent solution, but it works.
Just a warning for people that see this, generally you’re going to want to spend more like $150 because you want to make sure you get a unit that has true variable power and not duty cycles. If you get one with Duty Cycles you’re likely going to hate it because temperature control is going to be almost impossible unless what you want is full blast or almost nothing.
If the only thing you do is basically turn the stove on to high and that’s it then you won’t care but if you ever do anything that needs to hold a very specific temperature you are going to definitely want a unit that has a true variable power inverter so that it can actually change the power output instead of attempting to approximate that through Duty Cycles (turning on full blast then off in cycles)
This is also something you want to look for in a microwave.
It is something that is not very well documented for products either. The cheap ones without variable power obviously won’t advertise it but many of the ones that do have the capability also don’t advertise it well, or even at all for whatever reason. It makes a huge difference when trying to cook anything on any setting other than high.
I’ve been using a single-burner induction cooktop as my primary cooktop for over a year now, and it’s awesome. I very rarely need more than one burner, and have never needed more than two. Paying $50 for a cooktop vs $5000 for a range is a pretty easy choice.
I also have a large toaster oven and generally avoid any dishes that would require a full-size oven. That toaster oven was not cheap, though, unlike the induction cooktop.
It is not just the range replacement, but also adding the electrical requirements.
Or, y’know, just get a regular electric stove like we use in Europe?
Better for the enviroment as well as safer and healthier.
If you live in an area where you regularly have to worry about what’s for dinner if the power cuts, then gas stoves are probably not your biggest concern.
I mean, a countertop plug-in model is only a few hundred bucks for the good ones with actual true variable power. And thanks to their insanely higher efficiency because they’re literally making the pot the heating element thus very little heat not going directly into the food those countertop models generally can boil water much faster than a gas range can even if it has the hyper burner or whatever your particular range marketing team decides to call it.
So you both use less power than a range, have better temperature control (as long as you get a unit with true variable power and not Duty Cycles) and faster heating speeds!
Related Technology connections time!
There’s a Fridgidare that costs ~$1000. So, if I’m gonna spend a few hundred, I might as well get that and make payments.
Just make sure it has true variable power, for whatever reason a lot of the full range tops only have Duty Cycles. I was originally looking for a range top but after tons of searching and only finding duty cycle models unless i spent like 3kI gave up and got the countertop ones instead
If you are in Massachusetts, there’s a $500 mass save rebate for a new induction stove if you are replacing a gas stove. Take before and after pictures, and document everything because the process is a pain.
If you live in another state, there may be something specific to your state.
I’m sure everyone knows this but just in case someone doesnt:
Burning anything where air is the oxidizer creates nitrogen oxides. Because they have a triple valent bond they are very stable so they are around for a long time. If you combust in higher pressures you create more of them. They contribite to acid rain and low level ozone pollution. They are a problem.
All that said I don’t think gas stoves are a huge health concern. I would think OSHA would ban natural gas forklifts from operating indoors if that were the case.
I keep seeing this pop up lately like its news. Its so obvious. How do people not realize that combustion of nearly everything creates carcinogens? It’s like cigarettes all over again. If you take something thats already bad for you, light it on fire, then inhale what that creates, what are the chances that its now not bad for you?
