A Study Found Asthma Improves After Switching From a Gas Stove to Electric | Gas stoves are a source of indoor air pollution. New evidence shows how much they may affect people with respiratory issues
The study can be found here
https://www.cnet.com/health/a-study-found-asthma-improves-after-switching-from-a-gas-stove-to-electric/Open linkView original on slrpnk.net
84 replies
Uh oh, the right-wingers are gonna lose their shit again.
I don't understand why gas stoves are still the default. When you step back and think about it its crazy that we still have an appliance which produces an open flame in our homes. Not to mention that it's one of the most used things in the house (probably).
Where in the world are they still the default?
Large cities, I know where I'm from is mostly gas and it's only 300,000, Google says that "Densely populated urban states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois (including Chicago), and California report that roughly 60% to 70% of households use gas for cooking, compared to a national average of about 38%"
Oh, the US
They're not really common in homes almost anywhere else in the world, tbf. I haven't seen one in europe in decades.
The US are major exporters of LNG. It is cheap and effective in the US. When Europe was importing the majority of its gas, it makes sense they'd transition away when there's other options available.
Everything is cost related. The cost of transitioning in the US doesn't make sense. I have gas appliances, and it'd be silly to transition to electric.
Burning fossil fuels kills more than 250,000 people a year in the US. We know gas stoves contribute to that number by releasing measurable benzene (a known carcinogen). Please, tell us the cost of a human life. So that you can justify your comment that "it'd be silly to transition to electric."
I appreciate what you're saying. I see oil and gas deaths closer to 91,000, which is obviously too many, and it comes down to proper ventilation. Shit, I know I cook with windows open, and I know that was the norm when I was growing up, but mainly because it got hot af. And so, unfortunately, when you factor in the safety measures, the cost of transitioning 47 million homes to electric stoves becomes a burden.
And I don't know what the cost of a human life is. I hear this "If you save one life" thing, and I'm not sure it means anything. I've heard people spout it at hearings for cell phone towers. In an ideal world we'll achieve this perfection where nothing we do has any risk to anyone, but it's not realistic. We will always find some way to kill ourselves.
That's a lot of deflection and minimization of the issue. It's WAY more than 91,000. Give the value of a human life. I dare you. Only then can you make an argument as to what is cost effective and what is not. BTW, throwing in the complete BS about cell phone towers makes you look like a complete buffoon.
Edit: Since you did no research other than asking AI how many people are killed/year by fossil fuels (and immediately went for the lowest estimate lol), I went ahead and did the work for you. AI gives the statistical value of a human life in the US between $13.1 million-$13.7 million. Multiple that by a few hundred thousand lives PER YEAR, and it makes your argument that "it would cost too much" pretty childish. Most Americans have been convinced by their corporate overlords (which includes the fossil fuel industry) that they don't deserve any rights, and you are a perfect example. Be better.
Once You get access to (pipes), it's commonly way cheaper. Extra cheaper if You have old house, made with old tech that would be extra expensive to turn into electric heating.
If You have fair income, ok, go full electric, but for many who lives from check to check in many areas, the gas do matter.
The difference may be quite big if You live in country without fairly cheap nuclear energy, unsure i'd call green energy extra cheap. Then often mining lobby may do harm even to gov, to keep unclean and expensive energy as main source of any electricity.
Also is gas so default? Afaik, if some gonna build whole building, within new tech, it is more common to go full electricity, without any gas connection - many decide to skip getting pipes (save lots once), even if that would mean paying slightly more (per year, long term, but who knows future prices, for how long calculations).
Gas companies push gas stoves and dryers because once you have those comparatively low usage devices they can sell you on gas water heaters and furnaces which are the real money makers for them.
Also, a lot of older homes don't have a high enough amperage on their electric service to power a bunch of 240V devices. But there's no excuse for new builds outside of the local grid not being able to handle it.
Even with cheap nuclear here. My old house's connection to the grid is inadequate for switching to full electric. Getting the power company to come and upgrade the connection is prohibited expensive even before replacing all my gas powered appliances.
I like having a backup heating/cooking source in case of power outage, still far too common for me here in Chicago with the above ground power lines. I have electric space heaters and then of course my gas furnace and fireplace.
The number of "adults" I have met who do not think they need to run the vent and/or open a window while burning gas in their homes is deeply troubling.
Routing our range hood to vent outside is the single best upgrade we've done to our house (but also the most annoying to DIY). I'd love to have induction but with gas the outside vented range makes the issue non existent.
Even with electric, range hoods should be required to vent outside always. I don't know why it's still legal to build homes that vent inside.
It isn't legal to build new homes that vent to the inside. In the US, there is no national build code, only states regulate code. But all states default to some minimum year of the ICC codes. At this point there are no remaining states where it is legal to have a new build vented inside.
This isn't to say though that some states were late to adopt a minimum year that finally included it and maybe your semi-new-ish house just barely fell under old regulations when it was built. That said, cities can also enforce a higher code if the building is being rented out and needs to have an occupancy license and may force an owner to do the upgrade before renting out.
Oh that's awesome! The last new build I rented was built in 2013 (Ohio) and it didn't vent outside, maybe just missed the cutoff.
To be fair, there are several 'types' of home that have ways of avoiding building codes. For example, Alaska is notorious for the most lax building codes and easiest to get around. Want to build your own bushman log cabin on your 100 acres that barely passes as a shack but won't immediately kill anyone? Go for it. But if you are a track home builder trying to stand up a new neighborhood, follow the code.
Huh never realized that for gas but makes sense. Parents had a gas stove that I hated turning it on as a teen cause if it didn't light I felt like I had to wait some time, don't recall thinking of the fan even then which would have been the obvious solution but then I wouldn't be sure the gas hasn't accumulated cause well no Google back then to check.
Usually gave it like 4 clicks (of the spark trying to light it) if not lit then wait a bit. I sort of wish I understood gasses better, even if I knew high school chemistry well at the time. Never had a gas one since I've been adult to think of that part.
The gas wouldn't have gone upwards into the vent. It's a heavy molecule for starters, but also just depressurized on release, making it colder. It'd sink down. The reason the vent is important when running is because the gas fumes are going to be significantly heated and rise via convection.
It's pressurized though. It's basically sprayed upwards in a cooktop, it's not going to rise but it'll mix into to the air for a good while
Look at the way it jets out. It jets sideways. The preview picture to this article even shows it. The only thing curving the flame upwards is convection. The instant the gas is out of the jet, it's depressurized
I've spent a lot of time testing and modifying my hvac and general home circulation. My main tool is a smoke pencil, basically a pushbutton vape. Air is stupidly stagnant. Suction vents have stupidly low influence over the air even within arm's length of the duct. Convection is the only thing carrying stove gasses upwards and if there's no heat because it's not lit, the methane isn't going up on its own. Just diffusing into the air with a preference for sinking. But the amount coming out is pretty low for a reasonable lighting attempt and the dangerous ignitable level is much, much higher than what that attempt will dispense. A couple flaps with a hand towel or toaster tray will disperse it plenty for good measure
You should open the window regardless of gas.
Cooking is not an environmentally friendly action lol, and it also releases plenty of bad shit for you to breathe.
Life isn't perfect guys, sorry bout it.
"Big electric is trying to ban gas stoves again and cancel your god given right to buy indoor gas stoves that we assemble here in america with parts imported from china"
"Big electric is trying to ban gas stoves again and cancel your god given right to buy indoor gas stoves!" Big gas -2020
"Big gas is trying to ban coal stoves again and cancel your god given right to buy indoor coal stoves!" Big coal -1920
"Big coal is trying to ban wood stoves again and cancel your god given right to buy indoor wood stoves!" Big wood -1820
...
"Big fire is trying to ban raw food again and cancel your god given right to tear raw flesh with your teeth!"
Cave man John -60,000 bc.
Yes but if you don't get diabetes, asthma and cancer the communists will win so shut up and cook your hamburger helper on a gas stove using PFAS-ladden pan like daddy Trump wants you to.
Brought to you by Big Butt Cancer
But... it smells so good :(
And heat is hot. Who would have thought that having a gas canister in your home and having it burn natural gas INSIDE of your home could somehow worsen indoor air quality. Why don’t we just put our gas grill inside as well because clearly big electricity is just spreading fake news that gas is bad.
but there is NO SMOKE
Gas stoves are also linked to slightly higher cancer rates. But dammit, gas stoves rule. I spent so long cooking with nonstick pans on electric stoves. Now I've got cast iron on a gas range and everything is better and easier.
Electric stoves come in two forms though: ceramic, where you have an old-fashioned spiral which heats up the plate your pan sits on and plainly sucks imho. Or induction which heats your pan directly though an electromagnetic field. The latter is more efficient and modern cast iron pans work perfectly fine on them, no need for an enamel coating
Last few years I alternated between induction and gas due to moving around, induction is a clear winner for me.
You forgot IR, which was the 'cool' electric stoves during the 80s through late 00s when induction came about and took it's spot.
Edit: and also Coil stoves (which what I thought you meant with Ceramic, but that's the slightly more upmarket version) which are the absolute worst and the standard 'landlord special' in Australia.
Ah, TIL that the electric family was even larger than that. Thanks for the addition.
Uh most induction ones are also ceramic though, and not all old-fashioned ones are.
I think you mean resistive vs induction, not ceramic vs induction
We call old-fashioned stoves with a resistive spiral a ceramic plate here, while induction stoves are never referred to as a ceramic plate. Might not be technically correct, but that's language for you I guess.
Ah yeah, apparently in English ceramic stovetops are only called ceramic when there's a resistive spiral lol, didn't know.
It's funny because the ceramic refers to the glass, which is quite literally the same for induction.
In my case Dutch, never realised it might differ across languages. Although in hindsight it makes sense, like you said: it's all ceramic.
I used to say that also but dammit, induction stoves are even better. The clear winner is my pasta pot on the big burner boils water significantly faster than gas used to
Actually I’ve noticed fairly frequently that I no longer have time to prep while things are getting up to temp - I’ve had to change my habits to do essentially all prep ahead of time (ok the pasta water still takes a bit but instead of turning it on high before doing prep, I use medium high to give me more time)
Some people have problems with their cookware, but I was already using cast iron, which works beautifully, and multilayer stainless which works beautifully. I do keep a couple non-stick skillets for eggs, or visitors to use, and had to get special ones since most won’t work.
The only real problem with induction is it isn’t commonly available (in the US), and can be expensive. I paid way more than I wanted to, because induction and air fryer which I wanted, only came with “smart” and double oven which I didn’t want to pay for …… and I never did see a floor model so had to buy without actually seeing it
induction stoves are great if the pan fits the coil and has a perfectly flat bottom.
With oversized pan they get horrid hot spots, and for something like a Wok they just don't work.
Horrid may be the wrong word, but yes if you put a big pan on a small coil it will heat unevenly. It’s more noticeable in skillets where you’re trying to sear something.
Yes I’ve noticed that
You could just…. Not do that
They do work for wok, Technology Connections even made a video about it. It just needs to be a specific set designed for it (but really, the same goes for gas if you want a proper wok).
With a gas burner, you can just change out the grill on top to make it accommodate a wok pretty well. With an inductive stove, you can't. They make flat-bottom works for use on them, but they're useless.
The advantage and disadvantage of induction is that the cookware is the heating element. It makes them very efficient, but they are terrible at spreading heat. I love boiling water in mine because it's super fast and efficient. But I can only heat 1 pancake, steak, or tortilla at a time on them because if the food isn't centered over the coils it doesn't cook evenly at all.
I’m a convert. Induction is so much better. Heats cast iron like you wouldn’t believe.
Try induction. It's so much better than standard electric, and in my opinion, also better than gas.
I'm currently in an Airbnb with a gas range, and fuck do I miss this shit. I have an electric range at home, and it's just shit. I feel like gandalf or some shit just turning down the heat and having it actually happen instantly is some next level shit.
Get an induction at home. Gas sucks compared to it
I've heard good things. I rent tho, so I'm not going to buy my landlord a range. I will consider it if I ever actually buy a home.
You could try a plug in single pot one. Though idk how strong they get if you live in 120V land
No way, I have far too many kitchen appliances as it is 😂
I just keep a double induction hotplate on top of my stove. In the rare cases where I need the non-induction burners, I move the hotplate out of the way. Made dolsot bibimbap just this week and was using the non-induction burner for the stone dolsot bowl and the two induction ones for cooking the toppings seperately.
Though I am considering just replacing the whole range because the ovens also suck and I'd definitely call this a developer special stove/oven.
Gas with cast iron and stainless is top tier. I do my best to stay healthy but sometimes I make choices for quality of life over quantity. Gas stoves is one I'll make when given the chance I love them. I've admittedly only tried induction a couple times. For electric they're awesome but it doesn't seem like you can maneuver the pans as well especially for something like a wok it doesn't compete. Plus aside from anything practical playing with fire is just more fun, it's satisfying
FYI you are choosing to be exposed to benzene then which is the equivalent of a smoker at your kitchen table from a carcinogen perspective.
I get that cooking on a gas stove is viscerally rewarding, and a link back to one of the first technologies ever invented: controlling fire.
I like sitting around a camp fire or bonfire too. It makes me happy. But i know the smoke is bad for me. There's no reason for me to say it is "junk science" to be concerned about the smoke.
I'm still going to sit around the campfire but I'll be respecting it and trying to minimize harm.
Agreed. My balance is to put a little more effort into inside air that I have to breathe constantly. Induction is a nice cooking improvement and investment into cleaner inside air, and I cook outside when I want a flame
This is me 100%. Risk reward assessment.
I think woks are an issue in general but one reason is rounded bottoms which don’t give enough surface to heat
I don’t do much wok cooking so never have reason to maneuver the pans
I find induction much better than gas, in addition to not polluting my inside air
I've got a wok that I use with my induction burner. It's pretty thin, so heats up pretty quickly, and that heat will travel up the sides. The induction burner will beep at me sometimes if I stir by moving the wok rather than with a wooden paddle, but it's no big deal, stops complaining when the wok is close enough again. Would be nice if it had a silent mode.
Gas is better to cook with, and the science behind health effects is pure junk epidemiology and somehow ignores that gas ranges all have exhaust fans.
Having a gas stove is the equivalent of having a smoker at your kitchen table from a benzene (carcinogen) perspective. Measuring benzene is not junk science. And benzene is a well known carcinogen that was found even when not using the stove. Is your assumption that everyone runs their exhaust 100% of the time?
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10324305/
Mine literally does not because the house was built in the 80s in the soviet union. I mean I don't even have a hob. If I want to ventilate the gas out, I need to open a window. Which does more to work against my heat pump than to actually ventilate the kitchen.
I will never forgive my landlord for replacing the perfectly good gas stove with ceramic glass garbage.
I can't even boil pasta properly because the damn thing switches between off and on every couple of minutes so it goes from a rolling boil to barely a simmer repeatedly.
I hate it vehemently.
It's also impossible to clean. After one use a layer of grease seemed to meld with the glass and nothing will remove it. I had to use heavy duty oven cleaner on it after every single use and it still didn't work. I've given up now, i'd rather replace it than spend hours scrubbing it every day.
The gas stove was a major reason for choosing this house to rent and I will not get over it. I don't have asthma and I don't have kids. I'm looking to buy a place and I am looking for a gas stove.
You should look for a place with an induction stove, so much better than gas.
I would hazard not many landlords are going to be putting induction stoves in over the cheapest electric.
We wanted our first house to have a gas stove, but we ended up with a house with a nasty old electric stove. It lasted about a year, then quit, so we started looking for a new one.
We pulled it out, and there was an old capped gas connection. We had the gas company inspect it, and they said it was fine, so we got a gas stove and hooked it up!
People switch from gas to electric often, but I've never known anyone to go the other way, as much as they'd kike to. It's just too much trouble and expense to run the new gas line.
Try induction. You’ll go back to “electric” faster than you went to gas.
I like fire.
I like
firecancer. FTFY.I think that’s also an advantage of induction. Admittedly I haven’t used an electric glass top, but the induction glass top doesn’t get hot except directly where the pan touches. So far it’s been trivial to keep clean
Do you have the razor blade?
My house has a gas stove with a glass surface and it does get stuff stuck to it like you described but the cleaner and the razor blade scraper both help
I tried using a metal bench scraper on it but I'm not willing to mess around with razor blades, I'm too clumsy for that.
This is a razor blade based tool that came with the stove. I don't think we've ever had to change out the razor blade. looks kind of like this, highly recommended.
And via the power of a hepa air filter/opening your fucking windows, I have solved this "problem".
Also let's not get into the fact that cooking itself releases all manner of things that aren't really breathable.
This reads like more bullshit.
You are kinda right with the solutions. Another problem is that some people have no idea how bad candles and gas stoves are for the indoor air quality. Once I brought a quality gas sensor to a home where they cooked with gas and despite using ventilation they massively underestimated how much PM was still in the air. Depending on your situation, you really need to ventilate your house,
PM is not bullshit though and if you can prevent it you should prevent it. Because then you don't need a hepa filter.
Source: Am asthmatic, have a gas sensor, work with exposure scientists.
Yes, the science is all legit and very real, the problem is normal people and politicians acting like we should kill one in favor of the other, gas vs electric, without fully understanding either one.
Can we say, how much of that was written by electric stove lobby? Are the researchers really independent?
Can we say, mining gas, transporting it to houses and burning in small amount is so worse than mining same gas, burning lot of them in power plant (one energy transformation lose, physics), then turning electricity into hear (another energy transformation lose)?
Much may depends on places You live, but what if electric stove is way more expensive in use than gas (to some, it is)?
I'd like to believe that electricity is much better coz it is more comfy, but won't ignore global eco nor personal wallet aspects.
Yes, we can with 100% certainty say gas stoves are worse for people than electric stoves just like any small gaa engine is worse than a comparable electric engine.
This is not a hard concept and if you'd like it explained in more detail I'd happily do so. It is important to me that more people understand the benefits of electrification not just for my benefit but for theirs.
I mean, i do not doubt, burning anything, includes gas at stoves, do make, do pollute. That much is basic.
But is that pollution amount really so big, that affect our health in so big way, as article suggest? or maybe just keeping window open twice a day, or cook in not-tiny room is enough to minimize health issues below noticeable - while some lobby trying to lie to us and make us buy stuff?
Many many separate studies in the medical literature have shown that burning fossil fuels kills more than 250,000 people per year in the US alone. Air quality indoors and outdoors is a huge contributor to heart disease (#1 killer worldwide), lung disease, cancer, etc. Are you a smoker? Because having a gas stove is the equivalent to having a permanent smoker sitting at your kitchen table from a benzene (carcinogen) exposure perspective.
The paper had them literally swap out gas for electric and see a bigger improvement in patient health than standard medical treatment.
Believe it or not, but breathing in combustion products really isn't great for you.
Oh I do believe that, but numbers please, how much? 2x 15-30 minutes a day straight, often next to open window? Working at kitchen room with 3 stoves for 8hours daily? Is that much worse than living in middle of big city already? Compared to being a driver and stuck in trafic daily, in a country without fancy car restrictions?
Is fancy kitchen worthy 2/3 of my monthly salary, then cutting my monthly income by 10% coz more expensive fuel? Or maybe electric stove barely matter at this point, while some salesman want to push fake news and propaganda to only get into my wallet?
Was using my gas stove for single Wildgrain rolls. Now electric convection countertop so much better and I can get crazy and use the gas range too.
slop post.