How often are yall getting power outages?
I’m here in Europe where I’ve never ever seen anyone using a gas stove, ever. Not even the old timey stove in my grandparents’ tiny summer home. I’m almost 40 years old. Seriously, gas stoves are ancient and not efficient.
I wish someone pointed this out 20 years ago (enough to be heard). I raised two kids with occasional asthma in a house with gas stove, and maybe that could have been different.
I recently converted from gas to induction, and find it a much better cooking appliance in every way. Pans on the stovetop heat up faster than with gas, and I can boil a pot of water faster. The oven has more options and more consistent heating, especially on the broiler.
The only problem was the cost. Way too much money to get a new circuit installed but also the range was double or more what I would have spent on gas. There were very few options at appliance stores, and I never did find one on display, of any brand. In the US, it’s unnecessarily difficult to make this switch.
When I was shopping for one I was told to pay attention to coil sizes. Sure enough experimenting with a large skillet on small coil shows very uneven heating. I did find one or two reasonable priced ranges but with only tiny coils. Even at spending way too much, I only have one coil that works well with 12” skillet or stock pot. I know ikea now sells an induction range for more reasonable price but coil size is critical and the first thing I’d look at
I have gas and would fight anyone who tries to tell me otherwise. I rented a place with an induction range and now I want one so bad.
Having a proper exhaust hood that sucks air outside mitigates this to a huge degree, but a lot of us have hoods that “filter” the air through nothing and then shoot it up towards the ceiling.
The flippers who did my house disconnected the outside air vent, I’m still pissed and mean to get it fixed, cause I can’t afford an induction range either.
A lot of us
Everyone I know has a microwave. Is that a class thing?
As a taller guy who wears glasses, I’ve had the horrible experience of some of these filters blowing greasy air in my face and settling on my glasses. Not pleasant
Mine has a vent, but no hood so there’s only so much it can do. And the way they built out the kitchen means there’s no good way to install a hood without remodelling.
But now I don’t care as much. The current vent (and window) is good enough for induction
Every elective stove I’ve used has sucked for controlling the temperature. I’ll deal with a little air pollution to have my food actually come out how I want it. Maybe induction ones are better but those are expensive.
Yes, induction stoves are the solution. The way I went about it is I bought a secondhand hob for just $110. Works brilliantly, controls just as well as gas. As a bonus, pumping all the energy straight into the cookware makes it heat things up REAL fast.
Regular electric stove is very inert, making it straight up impossible to do a lot of stuff.
Bullshit
Another fuckass article trying to shift blame to the individual instead of holding gigantic corporations and tech giants responsible for making conditions so bad that even indoor air is polluted.
I feel like the health benefits I get being able to cook proper, healthy Asian style food with my wok outweigh the health risks of a gas stove.
You can use wok with electric stove
“No, you don’t understand. It’s a different kind of heat.” - them, probably.
Yes, it is. Cooking on fire isn’t the same as cooking on an electric stove.
Its more like you can’t use a wok on a cheap electric stove, but you can use it on a cheap gas stove. That’s it. You get what you pay for and landlords are parasites, so if you rent gas is what you prefer.
If you have a gas stove and can’t afford, or don’t want to switch to electric, keep a window open in the kitchen while you cook. This is especially important if your over-the-range hood does not vent to the outside (yes, that’s a thing.) If your hood does vent to the outside, turn it on every time you cook and you’re golden.
Yeah, I’m going to open a window every time I want to fry a couple of eggs or bake a loaf of bread at -25F/-32C.
Just how many hours a day do you think any stove is continuously on? That 3D printer you might own runs far, far longer.
Induction stoves should be Mandatory in mew construction. Coil electric works just fine but we need to introduce people to tech that’s superior to gas to get the switch to stick
Modern electric heaters are also superior to gas in any way. And yeah, induction is just a new level of superiority.
mew construction
User name checks out.
I got an induction maybe 10 years ago or so. It is amazing how fast I can boil water or just get going in general. Lovely tech
I used to prefer gas ranges. I grew up with one and really liked that we could still cook when the power was out. Also, fire. I just… kinda like fire.
But learning about the dangers has changed my view. Funny enough, I recently moved into a new place and have an electric stove for the first time. My heart is upset at me, but I can’t deny that it’s better. Not only are there fewer dangers, but it seems to heat up really fast. Much faster than any of the gas stoves I’ve used (which have been in almost every house and apartment that I’ve lived in til now.) I set a pot to boil, go sit down, and it’s bubbling before the YouTuber I’m watching finishes gargling their sponsor’s balls.
(Kidding, of course. I always skip the sponsor placement.)
I grew up with one and really liked that we could still cook when the power was out
Is this a north america joke I’m too European to understand? I heard America gets power outages but surely they are not frequent enough this would be something influencing what stove you buy
Induction tops are the best. Instant heat, very safe and energy efficient. Not compatible with cheap non magnetic cookware though.
I fucking hated the induction stove we had in the 90s, and awe moved into a place with a very nice gas range. One of them rich people brands. And I’m a food snob. Well okay I was before I wokenboken. It’s going to be hard to convince me.
Not sure if induction stoves existed back then.
Do you recall if it got hot with no pot on it?
If it got hot with nothing on it, it was not an induction top, but a normal electric one with glass on top.
In the 90s you probably had one of those shitty glass top coil element stoves. Those things suck. Induction is great. Maybe there was some old tech out there but I love mine
I think a big part of the issue is the wild variances on electric stove quality.
The landlord specials are dogshit and what most people have experience with. Even a bad gas stove is 10x better than those.
But once you get to quality electric ranges, and then induction options, they are superior to gas in basically every way. But very few people have experience with these, or the money to afford upgrading to them when their existing stoves breakdown unexpectedly. So most are stuck with the cheap crappy electric options.
See this explains my experience. Shitty induction range and expensive gas range. Like, if I had a jennair induction to compare to I could make an intelligent analysis but as is I fucking love gas ranges. Very easy to see what you’re getting as far as heat.
Fwiw my induction range has blue LEDs built into the glass top so so can see when the big burner is on. I thought it was a stupid gimmick, but it really makes a nice stand-in for that flame
I will never own another Jenn-Air. We had one for a brief period of time. It tried it’s best to burn the house down 3 times by shorting out 2 twice and having the thermocouple induce a runaway the last time.
I’ve got a higher range induction and there are worlds between that and the run of the mill portable induction stove I bought for cooking smelly/smoky stuff outside. So much so that I prefer the 80’s electric hot plate of my mother.
That mobile induction abomination regulates like a microwave: full blast or nothing (in much too long pulses). Cooking on that is a challenge. My stovetop tho goes from just hand warm (keep warm function) to the fires of mount doom in 17 silky smooth steps. I could hardly believe my eyes when it boiled pasta water faster than my electric kettle. As nice as cooking is with that, the biggest advantage is the cleaning…
In Pornhub, gargling the balls is the content. It’s all about context… condoms.
As a foil: I grew up with an electric oven. Used an electric ofen through the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and finally got a gas oven in 2017.
Because I was concerned about gas in the home, methane, CO, etc. I invested in a bunch of sensors so I’d know the moment any of it became an issue.
It’s been almost 9 years now, and I’ve yet to experience an issue.
However, that whole “you can use it when the power’s out” thing: can’t use the oven; the valve is electric. On my first gas range, the range wouldn’t even come on without electricity.
The pots and pans I use now are designed for gas and heat up fast, maintain an even heat, and cool down fast.
Essentially, I think not all devices are created equal.
I like not depending on a single utility for my energy needs, but at the same time wouldn’t shed a tear if methane production vanished tomorrow (I’d probably convert to propane short term and electric long-term).
One unexpected change with induction is the handles of my cast iron skillets take much longer to get hot. If I cook something relatively fast, like an egg, I can now pick up the cast iron bare handed!
But if I wanted to cook during a power outage, I have a propane grill.
Actually, it’s kind of amusing that my main grill is a pellet grill with powered auger to feed the pellets, so I can’t use that in a power outage
What metrics did you monitor? With my air quality monitor I’d see CO2, particulate, nox skyrocket in rooms even far away from the gas stove. If you got a carbon monoxide detector + explosive gas detector then yeah you wouldn’t get any alarms with normal use, but those aren’t the only pollutants to monitor.
Co2, CO, particulates, NO2 and volatile organics.
I guess it’s down to venting?
I like not depending on a single utility for my energy needs
We had an extended outage in our neighborhood. Just over a week. I let the neighbors know I had enough wood and charcoal to keep the smoker at 275 all week and we could pop on the propane grills if we needed something hotter (I have been blessed with an abundance of backyard cookery). Fed half the neighborhood at some point that week, everyone at least got some ribs.
Last thing I want the folk on my street to do is go hungry, especially if all what’s wrong is the electricity.
Did any of those sensors measure nitrogen dioxide?
Yes, actually. I can see the level go up slightly when the burners go on, but when the ventilation fan kicks in, the levels go back down almost immediately.
Yeah that’s why. Most people don’t have a real vent in their homes. It’s the recirculating one or nothing.
That’s what should actually be illegal. I see those everywhere now, and I can’t believe they were ever allowed. Mine is bad enough as a ceiling vent without hood but at least it does vent outside
There are two kinds of studies I really enjoy. 1. Some wildly unexpected result in a classic field. Rare. 2. Quantification of some phenomenon in greater detail, which confirms current understanding. Happens all the time. Love it the most.
Integrating indoor and outdoor nitrogen dioxide exposures in US homes nationally by ZIP code https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/12/pgaf341/8361964?login=false
Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/12/gas-propane-stoves-nitrogen-dioxide-exposure-health-risks-switching-electric
We replaced our gas stove with induction and our water heater with an electric one this past year and disconnected the gas. Now our solar panels offset a lot of the cost of electricity and our main bill is for water.
Happy with an induction cooktop, it boils water quicker and is easier to keep clean. My only concern is someone dropping a heavy pot onto the glass surface.
Your main bill is for WATER?? Maybe this is because water in Spain is subsidized, but may I ask how much water you use per month?
We averaged 1800 litres a day according to our last bill, but it’s summer here in Australia so the reticulation for the garden is on and the pool needs to be topped up because of evaporation.
Our last bill showed an average of 763 litres a day usage so that would represent the cooler months.
It also seems safer to only attach each house to one sort of potentially deadly infrastructure.
Can we choose because I vote geothermal
I was thinking of the electrical grid :-) And then heating with heat exchange either to air or to ground, which of course also requires electrical power.
Edit: Unless you want to go autonomous with regards to electrical power. Then the energy storage would become the potentially deadly local infrastructure, I suppose.
Sign me up for the fusion reactor
(I only read the title)
Pretty damn obvious. Yes, it needed to be tested and verified experimentally, but… well, I really mean no offense, but why is this worth sharing?
Because a lot of people assume that everything is fine with things that have been around forever. They need a heads up or a reminder that it isn’t the case.
More like researches need to constantly publish. If they take up too much time with some big project they will lose funding as non productive scholar. That’s why we have so much bullshit papers saying “water is wet”. Publish or perish.
eh…if you want the horde to adopt something you need to put a reference to it in a popular movie/show. not an ad but like…some kind of plotline where someone blows up their house/dies via gas-stove.
and of course…make it cheap, majority of america lives paycheck to paycheck…when your living paycheck to paycheck the only thing that matters (especially in the US, with it’s lack of basic social safety nets) is $
only the nerdiest of nerds reads at all, let alone reads research publications.
There is pushback from some on the right that want fossil fuels piped to every residence.
some cities/states have government mandated rules requiring gas to every home. normally some dinosaur provision before the advent of electrical appliances, to insure new-builds had heat and stuff for winter (landlords have always been cheap SOB’s). and sometimes that comes with a state-mandated gas monopoly (rarely a properly public-funded venture…normally some scummy price gouging company)
some even have some bullshit where you have to pay the gas-company anyway for your electrical appliances, through some equivalency-meter type shit (i assume that stuff was just
lobbiedbribed for by the gas companies)And there was huge pushback a couple years ago when a few places wanted to change that - new construction must be electric only. While I can see builders like to be cheap, anything moderately expensive should be able to get heat pumps and induction at no real cost difference to gas
Switching can be expensive, but doing the right thing on construction much less so. We now have a bunch of new infrastructure/technology we’ll expect our future houses to have, and it’s past time we started doing so on new construction, where it’s much cheaper than converting
Speaking as a board member in a housing community where we are actively dealing with residents who claim that their precious gas stoves are safe and they don’t want electric replacements, I appreciate this post being shared.
Are you forcing people to switch to electric stoves? Are you buying the stoves for them and installing them?
Also, simply opening a window while cooking, and/or keeping a hood that vents to the outside turned on, makes them safe to use.
No, we don’t force anyone to do anything, electric replacements are offered as a “free” upgrade. We’re a housing cooperative, so technically it’s not free, but it’s paid for by the community’s collective funds.
The other main problem is that people routinely forget to turn off their stoves. We’ve had the fire department come multiple times this year alone because someone left their gas on and filled their unit with it. One resident left his gas open for who knows how long before he passed out in his living room and shit himself. Luckily someone found him and called the paramedics.
I guess if it was one person living in the wilderness and they blew themselves up or suffocated, then that’s on them. In a community though, it endangers everyone nearby.
Gas is not safe.
I monitored my indoor air quality prior to getting rid of my gas stove and even with windows open, the levels of the monitored pollutants skyrocket when the stove or oven was going. Maybe if you had a box fan blowing in/out for a long time after you finish you’d be ok, but that’s not ideal if you’re heating/cooling your place.
People are so fucking weird! Like yeah instant heat is nice, but induction cook tops do it without poisoning your lungs. But people (conservatives) will claim it’s superior in some way or another in order to be a contrarian.
Fuck em, let them suffocate.
It took decades of propaganda. Paying off cooking shows and influencers to have big, obvious gas stoves. They even popularized the phrase “cooking with gas” as a euphemism for anything fast. If it was so much better, it would have sold its self.
Induction can also boil water much faster than gas ever could. And to be honest, as much hate as they get, I would even prefer non-induction electric over gas at this point.
I really wish I could get them to work properly, but my moka pot doesn’t boil properly on a standard electric coil stove. Mine (hot plate) cycles on and off (at maximum heat and off rather than some intermediate temperature) causing inconsistent heating through the boiling cycle, making bad coffee.
I was raised with the coil guys. And even if it didn’t release nitrous byproducts, just the safety factor of an electric stove being <<< than gas to blow up.
A new induction range at the cheapest appliance store in my area is right around $1200. I can get a gas range for around $400. The price just isn’t feasible for many people that need to replace a major appliance, and that’s not even mentioning the massive number of cheap ass landlords who will most likely never install induction, especially if there’s an existing gas hookup.
That’s a significantly larger gap than what I see here at my local Lowe’s. We have electric and gas stoves both about $550 at the cheapest. The gas one is $10 cheaper, not much of a price point. The induction one is $850 at the cheapest, so about 55% more expensive. That’s definitely not the 3x cost difference you see here.
I can only get close to those numbers you quote by selecting a high-end induction stoves. They don’t sell gas range or oven only for less, but I could see that being a cheaper alternative. Also, their search is weird and I had to specify gas to find gas stoves.
Curious, when did you last need an oven with flame heating?
I’m not sure what you’re asking here.
Tl;dr: electric is better.
I’m in the EU. “Range” is a cooktop plus oven, right?
We got rid of out old gas appliance and bought an induction top and an electric oven.
They both cost as much as the gas stove, so double the price. Running them costs about the same.
But induction is just so easy and quick! Setting the time for eggs, getting water to boil in seconds… It’s truly next level.
The oven is just alright, maybe heats more evenly with the fan.
Other than that? I guess no danger of explosions. No yearly checkups.
I like it much more, and wouldn’t go back.
Range is the top part. Oven is the box. Stove is the whole thing.
But if you mix them up everyone will still know what you mean.
I feel like you didn’t even read what I said. For many people here on the US, moving to an induction range is cost prohibitive. It has nothing to do with which one is better. Hell, a lot of homes would even need an electrician to run an electrical line to where the range goes since it used to be common to only have a gas hookup.
Yes, the US is different. My range has a normal 220V plug, and a simple menu to set the maximum wattage it’s allowed to draw…
They sell single induction tops for like $50.
You mean hot plates?
No.
I wouldn’t claim either of those things.
However I will tell you my experience. People in these threads will always tell you that induction is better than gas. That might be true, but as a renter I’ll never know it. Gas is better to cook on than the coil electric stoves which is what I always get in a rental. No landlord is going to spend the extra on an induction cooktop when a coil electric is one of the cheapest options.
I understand that, I’ve lived with gas ovens most of the time as well. Interestingly, the studio I just moved into (which is freshly converted from a garage) has a new fridge and an electric flat-top range. But I rent from a lone guy, not from a standardized apartment community. So maybe that’s why he invested in the good stuff. Renovating an entire complex is way pricier than setting up a single apartment.
I also think I just got lucky. It’s not a perfect place - the insulation sucks, there are paint flecks on the floor and kitchen cabinets, the shower hot/cold are backwards (which confused the hell out of me at first. I thought my hot water wasn’t working) and I saw a mouse recently. But I can’t complain, because the landlord is responsive and the good appliances help balance out the negatives.
Because there are billions of people worldwide for whom this fact is unknown.
Yes, it needed to be tested and verified experimentally…why is this worth sharing?
Glances at community name
Smh
Guess what else would drastically reduce air pollution. Switching to electric heating aka heat pumps instead of burning wood and coal. While cooking the ventilation is already good enough but if you cannot open the damn windows because everyone is poisoning the air…
Not going to open the windows when it’s -20C.
Of course, one does not exclude the other.
Same goes for various industries and energy production in general. Burning stuff is usually the easiest way to do it, but it comes with some serious long term consequences. Ideally, we would use renewables to produce electricity, and then use that electricity to heat things up when needed.
Unfortunately, large parts of various industries has been built around the idea of burning things instead of using electricity. In order to fully transition, we would need to completely rebuild many factories and radically modify countless others.
We do need to completely rebuild …
Like anything else, it could have gone smoothly if we did it in an intelligent way as opportunity presents, but turning it partisan, proceeding in fits and starts, only looking short term, refusing out of fear of change, means we keep putting it off. That’s just going to build into an emergency.
On top of that, the economics only make it harder. Those who take dirty shortcuts, will have lower CAPEX and maybe even OPEX. This gives them a competitive advantage compared to those companies that choose to follow a more sustainable path.
Im stuck with an all electric house… to expensive just to live and it has left me with no money to upgrade to cheaper options like heat pumps and solar. My monthly equal payment plan is currently $850 a month. This is with me keeping my house cold during winter where its set to 64 on average. At night I drop it to 58. Maybe one day ill be able to afford it to break this shitty cycle.
Yeah, I grew up in an all electric house, and even as a kid who didn’t have to pay bills, I hated it and vowed never to be stuck in one again.
But heat pumps make a huge difference in heating cost and induction is better than cooking with gas.
You do have to factor in the cost of utilities and where I live electricity is very expensive. Even here regular heat pumps are cheaper than heating with propane or oil (or of course resistive electric) but gas is still cheapest. Installers generally recommend a hybrid system so you can use the heat pumps in the shoulder seasons, but gas when it’s cold. If you could use a ground source heat pump or solar panels, that changes everything.
But all that is hugely expensive to convert to and we’re not going to make any progress if that’s the way forward. Requiring it for new construction, where it’s much cheaper, is the least we can do, but this is something that’s worth a little government help
My state still has incentives for landlords and homeowners by income level: any chance there’s some help there?
No chance there are government grants to do those upgrades?
I assume you’ve also done the math on financing those upgrades, and on just plain moving out.
