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Switch to Induction Based Cooking

Category

Home Energy

Impact

Cost

Medium

Switching from gas or propane to electric induction cooking is a great way to ‘clean up and green up’ your cooking. With induction cooking there are no open flames, unburned gas or other harmful combustion byproducts in your living space. With induction you have instantaneous control over the temperature of your cookware, unlike the old electric resistance ‘coil type’ cooktops. You also have a much wider range and much more precise, temperature control, for tasks from boiling water quickly to slowly steaming rice. You also have a flat, easy to clean cooktop surface.  

An induction cooktop does not heat the cooking surface, instead it heats the cookware directly. The cookware must be ferromagnetic. To test your existing cookware, you simply obtain a (typically free) cookware testing magnet from an appliance store. If it sticks to the bottom, the cookware will work on an induction cooktop. There are many types of induction compatible cookware, much of your existing cookware may work. Adapter plates are available for non-ferromagnetic cookware. Results with these types of plates vary. 

Since you control the temperature of the cookware directly, you can very quickly change the cookware temperature. Since you are heating the cookware directly induction is more efficient, using somewhat less energy than an electric resistance cooktop, and much less energy than a gas cooktop. This higher efficiency translates into both lower energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Since natural gas cooktops have methane leakage which has been measured in several studies, even when they are off (see Deep Dive references), people with respiratory issues such as asthma may benefit substantially by removing this source of indoor air pollution from their home.

Because of the many advantages, restaurant kitchens are switching from gas to induction cooktops.

Since induction cooktops use a magnetic field to heat cookware, those with pacemakers should check with their doctor, since there appears to be a variety of medical opinions regarding safe practices.

Steps to Take

Step 1: Assess your current cooktop, how much life do you think is left? Would you rather wait till your cooktop fails before you replace it, or would you like to upgrade to induction before then? If you want to wait till your cooktop fails to replace it, do your shopping now, and review the other steps below so you know exactly what to do when your cooktop fails. 

Step 2: Try out induction cooking for yourself, either at a friend’s house (many people have them now, especially in newer homes) or you may be able to borrow a single burner ‘induction hotplate’ you can plug into a wall outlet to try out at home from a local library or friend. Randall Library in Stow has one you could check out to try. 

Step 3: Review the Testimonials tab to see what others think about induction cooktops and check the links in the Deep Dive tab for more information.

Step 4: Check your current cookware with an induction stove test magnet available free from many appliance stores. If this weak magnet sticks to the bottom, your cookware will work. Flat bottom pans yield the best results. 

Step 5: If you are replacing a gas cooktop with an induction cooktop you will need two adjacent circuit breaker positions in your electrical panel. If you don’t have any available, you can ask an electrician to install a sub-panel powered from your main electrical panel when they come to install the wiring for the induction cooktop. Install the largest sub-panel you might ever want, it costs very little extra to ‘upsize’ it while the electrician is there, and you will have more available circuit breaker positions to use as you continue to electrify your home.

Step 6: Go shopping ! You can check prices, read online reviews, talk to friends with induction cooktops, visit appliance stores and otherwise gather the information you need to make a decision.

Step 7: Before purchasing, see which incentives you might be able to access in the Deep Dive tab. 

Deep Dive

1.    What are the concerns with using natural gas ?

Fossil fuel companies have invested a great deal of money in advertising their products and have promoted catch phrases such as ‘clean safe natural gas.’ In reality, natural gas is a toxic, explosive fuel, recall the 9/13/2018 Merrimack Valley natural gas disaster in which 40 homes were damaged by fires and explosions.

The natural gas distribution system leaks large amounts of methane, in so many places the non-profit HEET.org maintains an impressive map to which new leaks are constantly added: https://www.heet.org/the-gas-leaks-map

Natural gas is mostly comprised of methane (CH4), which is a powerful Greenhouse Gas, about 20 times worse than Carbon Dioxide in a 100-year time frame, and about 80 times worse than Carbon Dioxide in the 20 year time frame that is so critical to holding to our 1.5C maximum temperature increase target.

This Scientific American article provides a concise summary of many of these concerns:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-health-risks-of-gas-stoves-explained/

The article contains this note:

“Editor’s Note (5/3/23) New York State has become the first state to pass a law banning gas stoves and other gas-powered appliances in new buildings, including houses and apartment buildings. The move is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but gas stoves also pose health risks, as this article published in January 2023 explains.”

On December 6, 2023, the Mass. Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued order D.P.U 20-80-B available here: https://fileservice.eea.comacloud.net/FileService.Api/file/FileRoom/18297602

in which it acknowledges in the second paragraph of the Introduction, the legal commitment to reducing Mass. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 50% by 2030, with a wide range of implications for gas customers, including possibly decommissioning the natural gas network.

Natural gas cooktops leak methane, even when they are off, polluting the air in your living space, and contributing to climate change:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04707

The low-cost natural gas now produced in the US is in large part due to the process of hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’ of rock containing natural gas that causes the release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, as described in this article by the Yale School of the Environment:

https://e36https://mybioheat.com/0.yale.edu/features/on_fracking_front_a_push_to_reduce_leaks_of_methane

Because of the many advantages of induction cooking, commercial kitchens are transitioning from gas to induction.

https://kitchenni.com/are-restaurants-using-induction-cooktops/ 

Incentives and Rebates

This Consumer Reports article indicates the Federal Inflation Reduction Act can provide a rebate of up to $840 for a new electric cooktop and up to $500 to help cover the costs of switching from gas to electric cooking. The amount, if any, depends on your household income.

https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/inflation-reduction-act-and-new-electric-appliance-rebates-a3460144904/

For customers of Eversource natural gas, MassSave provides a $500 incentive for switching from gas to induction cooking with no income restriction:

https://www.masssave.com/en/residential/rebates-and-incentives/appliances-and-products/inductionstove

Testimonials

We installed our simple, low cost GE induction cooktop about 15 years ago as part of a kitchen renovation project, and we both agree it…
Cooking with an Induction is fantastic !
Submitted by: Michael Duclos

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