Come see an induction cooktop demonstration at the GreenEXPO in Newton Center on October 20!
Also, check out the information HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team, a Cambridge nonprofit) and Mothers Out Front has put together on induction cooking—Taste The Future 2019–what it is, why you want to use it, and the variety of cost options.
Induction Cooktops are Better than Gas
By Justin Gillis and Bruce Nilles
Induction cooktops use magnetic waves to heat up pots, and cooks who have tried them quickly fall in love. The perceived advantage of gas stoves is pinpoint control of heat, but induction cooktops are more precise, and faster. For now, induction cooktops are generally more expensive than gas stoves. At retail, 30-inch gas cooktops generally run $500 to $1,000, while induction cooktops of that size run from $800 to $2,000.
A change to induction cooking would make sense even if the climate were not a concern, because gas stoves are polluting our homes. Over the past decade, a growing body of scientific evidence has shown that gas stoves throw off pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. When you are cooking, those invisible pollutants can easily reach levels that would be illegal outdoors, but the Clean Air Act does not reach inside the home.
Scientists link gas stoves to asthma attacks and hospitalizations. In 2008, Johns Hopkins scientists urged doctors to advise parents of asthmatic children to get rid of their gas stoves or at least install powerful exhaust hoods. Asthma is a rampant, discriminatory disease, hitting children and communities of color the hardest.
For health and climate reasons, we think people who can afford to switch now need not wait for prices to fall. Enlist a good contractor, replace gas appliances with heat pumps and cap off the gas line. At the same time, state incentive programs should be designed to ensure all families can make this transition as quickly as possible, regardless of income.
The sooner you make the switch, the sooner you can show off your sleek new induction cooktop to the neighbors and let them know that all-electric living is back, not a moment too soon.
The above is an excerpt from a New York Times article (May 1, 2019) by Justin Gillis and Bruce Nilles.
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