This past summer, I used some personal savings to replace our family’s gas range with an induction stove. I took the liberty of making this upgrade not because the old gas stove was broken — precisely the opposite.
As a slew of recent studies have revealed, it’s the perfectly normal, brand new, off-the-shelf, or long trusted gas stoves — the very one you likely have in your home — that poison their users and the broader environment while being used. When scientists analyzed 26 years of research, they found that “children in homes with gas stoves are 42% more likely to experience symptoms associated with asthma, and 24% more likely to be diagnosed with lifetime asthma due to NO2 emissions in the home.”
This is because, according to the EPA’s Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen, “NO2 is present in homes with gas stoves at concentrations that are 50% to over 400% higher than those in homes with electric stoves.” That’s, “levels that exceed outdoor EPA health standards and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.”
In fact, even when turned off, stoves leak around 1-2% of what you pay for, which adds up quickly. Methane is 20-80 times more powerful than CO2 (the gas produced when methane is burned) at warming the planet, meaning that these small leaks make up around 3/4ths of a stove’s emissions.
When Stanford researches calculated these leaks out, they found that “annual methane emissions from all gas stoves in U.S. homes have a climate impact comparable to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 500,000 cars.”
Obviously, this news is quite concerning from both a household public health perspective and a more general climate perspective. Luckily, quality alternatives to gas stoves exist and are actually generally preferred by professional chefs and the likes. Induction stoves, which are increasingly becoming just as affordable as coil electric and gas ranges, work by using a set of powerful magnets to create an electrical field that causes pots and pans to heat themselves. The actual stovetop never generates heat, making it more efficient and significantly safer for aspiring cooks or overwhelmed parents. Moreover, induction stoves can replace or be installed as the primary cooking element in virtually every home. Most of the time, you can simply cap the gas line and slide the stove right in.
In our case, we ended up having to extend a 40amp plug. But those weary of electrical work need not fret: Numerous table-top induction stoves, which retail for $40-$60, run on a regular 110 volt circuit plug. The importance of family health and safety aside, stoves are an excellent candidate for a household electrification upgrade because of this universality.
In recent years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a non-profit called Rewiring America have conducted studies and concluded that if the world hopes to avoid raising the Earth’s temperature by more than 2.0° C (a level of warming that would be catastrophic for human and natural systems), no new fossil fuel infrastructure can be installed. That means no new pipelines; no new refineries; no new gas appliances in the home.
For me, this sparked a personal crusade against gas appliances in our home. First, we switched the gas dryer out for an electric version found online. We saved up to replace our noisy gas furnace with a heat pump. But I also understand that these upgrades aren’t realistic for many families. For families who live in high altitude sections of the Gorge where temperatures can dip quite low, I often hear the argument that heat pumps can struggle to produce heat in sub-zero conditions. Cost is also prohibitive for many families.
So, in a face of all of this, the electrification of cooking seems like a great place to get started. The health benefits, the efficiency benefits, the climate benefits, the cost parity with the gas-status-quo, it all adds up. So how do we actualize this in our communities?
Multnomah County’s recent 2022 public health report issued on the dangers of gas stoves leaves policymakers with some recommendations — recommendations I think policymakers here in the Gorge would be well to consider.
But as much as it is our government’s job to set the community standards and expectations for its residents, I think it’s also somewhat on us as individuals — both individual activists and individual consumers. First, when installing a stove in a new home for the first time, choose non-gas appliances such as induction stoves or other devices. Second, when you’re in the market for a new stove, make sure the replacement you choose is also gas-free. Third, if you’re locked in to using gas, make sure you have a vent hood installed above your appliance to move some of the gas generated while cooking to outside air. Finally, maybe you’re even like me and willing to get a bit ahead of the game: If the health and climate consequences worry you as much as they do me, consider buying a replacement now.
However, without collective support, this issue can end up like so many others, where families facing poverty end up with the unhealthy, unsafe option while middle-class families relish new and improved products. I ended up selling my gas stove online, so while my home might be emissions free, another household is left with a polluted environment.
There are two major solutions to this concern: One, raising awareness and two, helping to subsidize the cost of electrification upgrades. Sharing this article and bringing up the issue with your city officials and neighbors is a great way to start raising awareness. Second, rebates often exist. For customers of HREC, KPUD and NWCPUD, the majority of rebates are for heat pumps. But who knows what some direct lobbying of PUD officials might yield?
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Peter Fink lives in White Salmon where he works with fellow residents on planning an equitable response to our changing climate.
To submit a column for the Our Changing Climate series, contact Trisha Walker, trishaw@gorgenews.com or 541-386-1234 ext. 109.
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