Simple plug-in electric stoves could be a cleaner and more climate-friendly cooking solution.
Gas stoves can release harmful pollutants and also can be expensive to repair. Yet many around the world use gas as their primary cooking apparatus.
Now, a new electric stove and oven has been manufactured that can be plugged into a regular mains outlet without the need for electricians.
These stoves could be a useful innovation supporting a mass cleaner energy transition away from gas.
Dealing with gas leaks
For years, Ed Yaker and his fellow board members – who look after nearly 1,500 apartments in a New York City cooperative – have had to deal with gas leaks.
So it’s no wonder that Yaker’s curiosity was piqued when he learned of a California startup that was manufacturing an electric stove and oven that could simply be plugged into a regular outlet.
When a leak occurs, the gas at an entire building is shut off, leaving residents unable to use a stove for months until expensive repairs are made to local gas lines.
However, the sleek, standard four-burner electric induction stove offered by Copper runs on 120 volts, meaning there is no need to pay a licensed electrician thousands of euros to rewire the system to 240 volts, which many electric stoves require. This innovative stove contains a smart battery, meaning it can charge up when electrical rates are low, allowing people to cook without incurring peak-rate electrical charges.
“In terms of, ‘Is this the way to go?’ It’s a no brainer,” Yaker said, demonstrating a quart (about one litre) of water that boiled in about two minutes.
The energy efficiency of the electric stove was a motivation for Yaker, too: his apartment is full of books on energy and climate change.
Cooking with electricity is healthier
Gas cooking remains the most common cooking method in developed countries, yet gas stoves release pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, which has been linked to asthma, and cancer-causing benzene.
“I had a gas stove until I started this line of research,” said Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Stanford University and lead author on a study on pollution from gas cooking.
“Watching pollutant levels rise almost immediately every time I turned a burner on, or my oven on, was enough to get me to switch,” Jackson added.
“You wouldn’t stand over the tailpipe of a car breathing in the exhaust from that car. And yet nearly 50 million households [in the United States] stand over a gas stove, breathing the same pollutants in their homes.”
Gas stoves bleed emissions even when they’re not being used
Induction stoves can also address the considerable amount greenhouse gas emissions that come from buildings – such as emissions from cooking, heating and cooling living spaces, and hot water.
About half of the flame’s heat from gas stoves escapes into the room. Electric stoves, by comparison, can be up to 80 per cent efficient. Of those, induction stoves come out on top with up to 90 per cent efficiency, partly because they only heat where the surface makes contact with the pot.
Just the presence of a gas stove in a home contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, even when it’s not turned on.
Jackson’s team found gas stoves bleed methane – the main constituent of natural gas – when they’re off, from loose fittings and at connections between the stove and wall.
The climate impact of leaky stoves in U.S. homes was estimated to be comparable to carbon emissions from 500,000 gasoline-powered cars.
The new electric stoves are not cheap – and take a while to get used to
Early adopters of the Copper stoves are relying on government incentives to defray the hefty price tag. When Yaker, a teacher, went to buy his, a federal tax credit for clean energy appliances brought the price down from $6,000 (€5,722) to $4,200 (€4,005).
Purchasing the stoves in bulk also bring a big price reduction. The manufacturer has an agreement with the New York City Housing Authority to buy 10,000 stoves at a maximum price of $3,200 (€3,052) each, set to arrive in 2026, while a nonprofit affordable housing developer in California has also retrofitted an apartment building with the stoves.
“It’s pretty cool, it looks nice and it’s easy to clean,” said Jolene Cardoza. Her adult daughter’s asthma was irritated by her old gas stove when she would come over to bake and she’s happy the new electric stove doesn’t release pollutants.
However other tenants have found the transition to induction cooking more bumpy.
“I don’t really like the way it cooks my food in the oven,” said Monica Moore, who notices a difference in the texture of her cornbread. She is impressed with how quickly water boils, but misses cooking with a flame, and said it was a hassle to switch out her pans with ones that are compatible with induction stoves.
For Jackson, though, the transition away from gas is important:
“I think shutting the gas off to our homes and electrifying our homes is one of the best things that we can control individually to reduce our personal greenhouse gas emissions. I think of cars and homes as the two places to start for reducing our greenhouse gas footprint”.
