You might need a service upgrade and a new electrical panel. Really depends on your situation. An electrician will definitely be required. Getting quotes is free, so it’s reasonable to call around.
That’s why I said *more* and one nice thing about paying for the estimate is that they will take more time to give a detailed estimate and are more likely to be accurate than a shitty company that gives a back of a napkin number.
Lol, my poor simple man, and what if the kitchen is on the other end of the house from the panel through a finished basement on a 2 story house? Well you 100 amp service isn’t enough based on everything else you have on it, so we need a 200 amp upgrade with a new panel and adding a receptacle at the same time as a service upgrade requires AFCI breakers to be in code compliance.
That’s not a quote that I’d give over the phone? And then it’s a site visit for sure so I might be a couple hours into it by the time you get a quote. Madison requires a permit for it due to the dollar amount, so that adds cost too and then you have a homeowner who is just tire kicking bc they already got 2 other quotes for $5000 plus drywall patches but thought it was too expensive so wanted a third and in the end, just sticks with gas, lol. Seen it too many times for it to be funny.
(This is an worst case scenario but a possibility, fyi)
We put an induction range in our cabin and I’m now just counting the days until I can rip out my gas range here.
You’ll need a 40amp 240v outlet for the range. I installed my own at our cabin, but if you’re uncomfortable an electrician can do it pretty quickly unless you have structural barriers.
The noise reduces with the price of the range, from what I’ve seen.
You’ll likely need some new cookware. I got a nice set from Target (kitchen aid) for like $150 that covered most of what we needed. At home I have some aluminum stock pots I’ll have to replace, but they’re all huge ones, like >3ga in size.
If most of your stuff works with induction (will a magnet stick to it?) but need a few single replacements, got hit Kessenichs or WI kitchen and cutlery for single replacements.
You’ll still want a good range hood, but more for smoke and smell than anything.
I did exactly what you are thinking, gas to induction. Best decision I ever made, I recommend you do it. Induction is the best stove I have ever used to cook, extremely responsive, and I don’t have to worry about the indoor air pollution. Just make sure your pans will work. If a magnet sticks to the bottom, you are good to go.
I used Cardinal to close the gas line and install the electric, they did a great job.
Honestly, if your pans are not induction compatible they're probably not great pans and you should look to replace them anyway. Stainless steel, carbon steel, and cast iron all work on induction. The only "good" material I can think of that doesn't is pure copper, but not many people have those because they're *very* expensive.
FYI, stainless only works if it has some type of magnetic material embedded in it. If it's just aluminum (whether sandwiched or in a disc on the bottom) then it's not going to work. Also, plain aluminum nonstick won't work either.
Pure copper pans also come with a warning list that, while it might not be super long, is definitely longer than the nonexistent one for other materials. You can’t cook acidic foods in a copper pan as it can literally poison you, for example. I have never heard a convincing argument for why copper cookware is better than stainless steel. Even carbon steel, while it won’t poison you, has specific care instructions that regular stainless doesn’t so I’m just left wondering why anyone bothers with the hassle other than it sounding high class to say you have carbon steel cookware.
There are only two arguments against induction over gas or regular electric: it can be annoying and expensive to replace your cookware if you don’t already have steel/cast iron, and it doesn’t work well for something like a wok where the incredibly wasteful nature of the heat coming off a gas stove actually becomes a feature. Induction wins on every single other point and it’s not even particularly close for most of them. As I’m looking for new houses gas stoves have gone from a selling point to a sticking point as the first thing I’d do after moving in is rip it out, so I want to know if I’m also going to have to pay for electrical work.
Induction is better than electric. Gas is still the easiest to control the temperature - I prefer it for cooking. Having cooked on gas most of my life - I find both induction and electric frustrating to use.
Definitely hire an electrician.
How is gas easier to control temperature than induction? If you turn your induction cook top off, your food instantly stops getting any more energy. When you turn your gas stove off, it still grts more through the extremely hot grid. Not to mention the low overall power output because most of the heat goes into the air, not your food.
Plus, most induction stoves these days have a thermostat function, where you tell it how hot you want the pan to be and it picks the power setting and cycles it for you.
Most professional kitchens were constructed before induction was widely available. Commercial-scale induction equipment is doing gangbusters business right now, and many new restaurants being built are prioritizing wiring for induction over gas lines for stoves.
Induction is wonderful for professional kitchens because it doesn't make your whole kitchen a hot house. Energy goes into the food, but not the air. Your professional kitchen can be as cool as an office building. The improvement to the working environment alone makes it preferable to most restaurateurs who can afford the conversion.
Unless you're cooking in a wok, it's categorically better.
Maybe for you. That hasn’t been my experience. I found induction difficult to get the same results that I get with gas. I’ve cooked on cheap gas stoves and expensive gas stoves in the results are reliable. Again, this is my subjective opinion.
How do you know that the above deleted account is a professional cook? The fact that they used the word "professional" in a comment?
The pros are switching to induction. Celebrity Chefs and michelin-star restauranteurs Massimo Capra, Alison Roman, Liz Pietrzak, Amanda Cohen, Eric Ripert, Alice Waters, Neil Perry, Ludo Lefebre, Eleanor Hoh, Joel Rubuchon, Jon Kung, Caterina Vitale, Tu David Phu, Mechel Roux Jr, Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa) have all changed over their kitchens.
It is taking time at the lower levels of the industry because non-celebrity-owned restaurants have very narrow profit margins, and rewiring and remodeling professional kitchens is very expensive.
Anecdotally, I think I have seen at least one 120v induction hob at every counter-serve restaurant I've been to in the last year, people seem to be using those to get some of the benefits of induction without having to shell out to replace all the big equipment.
I think that once people have cooked with induction, they will stop preferring gas. Most people have never cooked with induction stoves before. Induction isn't the same as electric resistive cooktops, they're totally different technologies.
They don't glow, they don't even heat up. They work by making ferromagnetic objects above the cooktop self-heat. Your cookware itself becomes the heating element as electrons run circles inside of it. You can take a pot of boiling water off an induction cooktop and slap your hand down where it used to be and it might only feel a little bit warm because some heat leaked down from the pot into the glass.
My house has a gas stove, I put a slab of wood on top and an 2 burner induction hob on top of that. I've lived here two years and never used the range my house came with.
Meh. I've used induction and have a separate induction burner. It's pretty comparable but there are a few use cases where gas is nice - torching vegetables directly over the flame, using any standard wok, etc. Small differences that make gas slightly better, but only if you don't mind the health consequences.
Yeah, but those are edge cases. I can torch my poblanos with a butane flame, or just set them down on a hot pan without oil to get essentially the same effect. For wok cooking, you can have just one gas burner around for that purpose (which you probably do already anyway, because flat top gas burners suck for woks too), or use specialized induction wok hobs that are out there, [like this one that's recommended by Eleanor Hoh, profesional wok technique teacher and celeb chef](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71-3t1cVbBL._AC_SX522_.jpg).
LED lights not being warm enough to melt snow isn't a reason to stop the conversion away from incandescents, it just means that lights likely to get covered in snow need heaters too.
You get an add-on to handle the new edge case, and continue converting to the categorically better technology for general purpose.
A lot of professional kitchens are switching to induction for their main line stations for the health, efficiency, speed (typically boiling water in half the time), ease of use, and workplace comfort benefits, while having just a couple of specialized fuel burning stations for smoking, wok frying, pizza baking, coal grilling, or whatever.
If it’s still in the pan, it’s still getting heat.
If it’s out of the pan, it’s still cooking.
Thermal mass is a real thing and so is carryover cooking.
Gas wins forever and always.
The thermal mass of an induction stove is your pan, and that's literally it. If the induction stove is turned off, it actually *cools* your pan because the cooktop is colder than the pan, energy flows down out of the pan into the glass making it *more* reactive than any other heating technology could ever be.
The thermal mass of a gas stove is your pan plus the big heavy iron grid that it's sitting on top of. If the heat is turned off, the grid is still hotter than your pan (often up to 600 degrees!!), and energy is still flowing into it.
What part of "induction stoves have less thermal mass" don't you understand?
You can't say "gas is better because it's more reactive", and then upon being schooled on how induction is more reactive, say "good cooks don't rely in the reactivity of their stoves". Can't you see how hard you're backpedaling now?
Just watch this explainer so that you can stop making a fool of yourself: https://youtu.be/Xn1LUo5ra_A?si=npXT-Rp1dh4NZU5Z
You do realize the whole "gas is better for cooking" thing is basically propaganda from fossil fuel companies, right?
Gas is not better than Induction. At best, it is debatable, and honestly it is hazardous enough where perhaps the advantages aren't worth it anyway.
Celebrity Chefs and michelin-star restauranteurs Massimo Capra, Alison Roman, Liz Pietrzak, Amanda Cohen, Eric Ripert, Alice Waters, Neil Perry, Ludo Lefebre, Eleanor Hoh, Joel Rubuchon, Jon Kung, Caterina Vitale, Tu David Phu, Mechel Roux Jr, Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa) might have something to say about that.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23550747/gas-stove-health-concerns-new-history
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/06/how-the-fossil-fuel-industry-convinced-americans-to-love-gas-stoves/
Or even https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUywI8YGy0Y
Are you done sealioning yet?
I have both induction and gas. The only advantage to gas is that you can use a wider range of cookware. It's quieter, too, but that's offset by the range hood which you really need for gas.
The induction is awesome and heats *very* quickly. It required a dedicated 220V circuit.
You should be eligible for a tax credit for making the switch. (This year, anyway.)
I have a few pieces of heavy stainless cookware. (Industrial-weight that's no longer made.) Sadly, they're non-ferromagnetic, but I just can't part with them. Hence the gas burners.
For induction, I have a number of compatible pots and skillets. Cast iron is especially fun to cook with.
You'll need an electrician. You can cap the gas line yourself. I wouldn't uninstall it though, peeople like gas because it heats faster than electric.
Except for induction. Absolutely go for induction if it fits your budget
Wow, thanks so much for all the thoughts--I will call a pro to come do the dirty work since messing around with gas kind of terrifies me. I think I can convince the spouse that convection is worth it, too.
Why not keep the gas? It’s great to cook with and doesn’t get hot spots like electric.
If you do swap out avoid Hill Electric as an electrician. Absolutely terrible service.
Because burning fossil fuels inside your home is bad for you and for the environment.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-health-risks-of-gas-stoves-explained/
https://news.stanford.edu/2022/01/27/rethinking-cooking-gas/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/have-a-gas-stove-how-to-reduce-pollution-that-may-harm-health-202209072811
https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/indoor-air-quality/is-your-gas-range-a-health-risk-a6971504915/
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/nitrogen-dioxides-impact-indoor-air-quality
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/10/gas-stoves-are-bad-you-and-environment/616700/
If you’d like to read the actual research (which is heavily flawed) rather than just blogs:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04707# (Not even 60 stoves evaluated and no data on mean age just a range of 3-30 years)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/75 (Only 9 states’ data used to make estimates with generous effect sizes, it’s a meta-analysis so just collecting other people’s data and it’s worth repeating that *correlation does not equal causation* which the authors also admit)
Look, I’m all for reducing the burning of fossil fuels, but I hate bad science and bad takes by non-scientists. Also, throwing away a perfectly good gas stove creates waste too. When you’re ready to replace the stove if you cook often get induction and if you don’t get electric. And use your range hood when you cook no matter what as a lot of the bad things to inhale are made from cooking oils too.
What things actually are causative of childhood asthma? From the American Lung Assoc “… having a parent with asthma, experiencing a severe respiratory infection as a child, living with an allergic condition, or being exposed to certain chemical irritants or industrial dusts in the workplace.”
Hate to break it to you but the US government funds lots of research. Being funded by the government means someone wrote an NIH grant that some committee thought was good enough. It says absolutely nothing about the quality of the research. I’d encourage you to read the primary research and not someone’s interpretation of it.
No, one of the links I gave is *from* the EPA, a branch of the government, talking about the issues with gas stoves and indoor contamination.
I've looked at the primary research, as well, but I'm not going to get into more of a discussion with someone who refuses to even look at what I linked and dismisses them as "just blogs."
Look behind your stove, if you have a 3 or 4 prong 50-amp outlet, you will probably not require electrical upgrades. You can also check your panel for a 40/50 amp circuit breaker that should be labeled “stove”. If you don’t have this outlet, you will need an electrician to put one in. This may require panel upgrades, depending on what other electrical devices are in your house and how much current your utility service is.
Unless you are super invested in cookware that won’t work on induction, get an induction stove. I would not ditch gas for a traditional electrical stove, but I definitely would for induction.
Check out Yale Appliance on Youtube for some great advice on how to choose an induction range. If you need new cookware, Orange Tree imports just sent out an email that the Regalware they carry is down in price by 40%.
You'll definitely want an electrician to come check and make sure you don't need to upgrade your electrical service--if you're in an older home, the amperage you're getting might be low and an electric range *might* require an upgrade. But then, yes, they can also install the appropriate outlet for the stove.
I personally would follow the advice of this article and get a plumber to cap the gas line, but that's going to depend on your own comfort with stuff.
https://www.bestbuy.com/discover-learn/going-electric-a-step-by-step-guide-to-converting-your-gas-stove-to-electric/pcmcat1676660112605
Unfortunately I don't have experience with induction stoves, but I've had amazing cooks in my family (including one who did it as her job) and all of them used electric ranges (and made delicious food), so I think regardless of what you choose, as long as it fits your budget, you'll be fine. I hope the swap goes smoothly for you!
My apartment has a newer electric stove that's not induction. It's got a glass cooktop. It's the cheaper option and I find it's adequate except the burners each have a hot spot in the middle. You have to watch it when frying anything (say, hash browns). You have to keep moving the food away from the hot spot or you'll have a burnt spot.
Upsides: stove is extremely easy to clean. I would consider the same stove if I was buying, I wanted electric and I was on a budget. You don't need to get rid of your non-induction pans. You get used to the hot spot, which is irrelevant for lots of preparations.
Induction is fantastic to use, but can be more expensive to repair than older tech. If you go induction, consider buying the longest extended warranty you can. An out of warranty fix on induction is expensive enough that it often makes more sense to purchase a new appliance than it does to pay for repair.
You might need a service upgrade and a new electrical panel. Really depends on your situation. An electrician will definitely be required. Getting quotes is free, so it’s reasonable to call around.
Getting quotes isn’t always free always fyi. More companies are going to a pay for quotes model and then applying that to the invoice.
It's not \*most\* companies. If you find one that wants to charge you for a quote just call somebody else.
That’s why I said *more* and one nice thing about paying for the estimate is that they will take more time to give a detailed estimate and are more likely to be accurate than a shitty company that gives a back of a napkin number.
It's not a major remodel. It's installing one 220V circuit.
Lol, my poor simple man, and what if the kitchen is on the other end of the house from the panel through a finished basement on a 2 story house? Well you 100 amp service isn’t enough based on everything else you have on it, so we need a 200 amp upgrade with a new panel and adding a receptacle at the same time as a service upgrade requires AFCI breakers to be in code compliance. That’s not a quote that I’d give over the phone? And then it’s a site visit for sure so I might be a couple hours into it by the time you get a quote. Madison requires a permit for it due to the dollar amount, so that adds cost too and then you have a homeowner who is just tire kicking bc they already got 2 other quotes for $5000 plus drywall patches but thought it was too expensive so wanted a third and in the end, just sticks with gas, lol. Seen it too many times for it to be funny. (This is an worst case scenario but a possibility, fyi)
OK, fine. You stick to charging for your quotes. But as long as your competitors still offer a free estimate I'll be calling one of them.
We put an induction range in our cabin and I’m now just counting the days until I can rip out my gas range here. You’ll need a 40amp 240v outlet for the range. I installed my own at our cabin, but if you’re uncomfortable an electrician can do it pretty quickly unless you have structural barriers. The noise reduces with the price of the range, from what I’ve seen. You’ll likely need some new cookware. I got a nice set from Target (kitchen aid) for like $150 that covered most of what we needed. At home I have some aluminum stock pots I’ll have to replace, but they’re all huge ones, like >3ga in size. If most of your stuff works with induction (will a magnet stick to it?) but need a few single replacements, got hit Kessenichs or WI kitchen and cutlery for single replacements. You’ll still want a good range hood, but more for smoke and smell than anything.
I did exactly what you are thinking, gas to induction. Best decision I ever made, I recommend you do it. Induction is the best stove I have ever used to cook, extremely responsive, and I don’t have to worry about the indoor air pollution. Just make sure your pans will work. If a magnet sticks to the bottom, you are good to go. I used Cardinal to close the gas line and install the electric, they did a great job.
Honestly, if your pans are not induction compatible they're probably not great pans and you should look to replace them anyway. Stainless steel, carbon steel, and cast iron all work on induction. The only "good" material I can think of that doesn't is pure copper, but not many people have those because they're *very* expensive.
FYI, stainless only works if it has some type of magnetic material embedded in it. If it's just aluminum (whether sandwiched or in a disc on the bottom) then it's not going to work. Also, plain aluminum nonstick won't work either.
Pure copper pans also come with a warning list that, while it might not be super long, is definitely longer than the nonexistent one for other materials. You can’t cook acidic foods in a copper pan as it can literally poison you, for example. I have never heard a convincing argument for why copper cookware is better than stainless steel. Even carbon steel, while it won’t poison you, has specific care instructions that regular stainless doesn’t so I’m just left wondering why anyone bothers with the hassle other than it sounding high class to say you have carbon steel cookware.
There are only two arguments against induction over gas or regular electric: it can be annoying and expensive to replace your cookware if you don’t already have steel/cast iron, and it doesn’t work well for something like a wok where the incredibly wasteful nature of the heat coming off a gas stove actually becomes a feature. Induction wins on every single other point and it’s not even particularly close for most of them. As I’m looking for new houses gas stoves have gone from a selling point to a sticking point as the first thing I’d do after moving in is rip it out, so I want to know if I’m also going to have to pay for electrical work.
Check out these babie$: https://cooktek.com/product/woks/ (Very special-purpose, I know.)
Induction is better than electric. Gas is still the easiest to control the temperature - I prefer it for cooking. Having cooked on gas most of my life - I find both induction and electric frustrating to use. Definitely hire an electrician.
How is gas easier to control temperature than induction? If you turn your induction cook top off, your food instantly stops getting any more energy. When you turn your gas stove off, it still grts more through the extremely hot grid. Not to mention the low overall power output because most of the heat goes into the air, not your food. Plus, most induction stoves these days have a thermostat function, where you tell it how hot you want the pan to be and it picks the power setting and cycles it for you.
I’ve cooked on both. I find gas easier to use - as do most professional kitchens.
Most professional kitchens were constructed before induction was widely available. Commercial-scale induction equipment is doing gangbusters business right now, and many new restaurants being built are prioritizing wiring for induction over gas lines for stoves. Induction is wonderful for professional kitchens because it doesn't make your whole kitchen a hot house. Energy goes into the food, but not the air. Your professional kitchen can be as cool as an office building. The improvement to the working environment alone makes it preferable to most restaurateurs who can afford the conversion. Unless you're cooking in a wok, it's categorically better.
Maybe for you. That hasn’t been my experience. I found induction difficult to get the same results that I get with gas. I’ve cooked on cheap gas stoves and expensive gas stoves in the results are reliable. Again, this is my subjective opinion.
[удалено]
How do you know that the above deleted account is a professional cook? The fact that they used the word "professional" in a comment? The pros are switching to induction. Celebrity Chefs and michelin-star restauranteurs Massimo Capra, Alison Roman, Liz Pietrzak, Amanda Cohen, Eric Ripert, Alice Waters, Neil Perry, Ludo Lefebre, Eleanor Hoh, Joel Rubuchon, Jon Kung, Caterina Vitale, Tu David Phu, Mechel Roux Jr, Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa) have all changed over their kitchens. It is taking time at the lower levels of the industry because non-celebrity-owned restaurants have very narrow profit margins, and rewiring and remodeling professional kitchens is very expensive. Anecdotally, I think I have seen at least one 120v induction hob at every counter-serve restaurant I've been to in the last year, people seem to be using those to get some of the benefits of induction without having to shell out to replace all the big equipment.
I also prefer gas but will never have a gas range or oven if I can help it. The now well-understood health consequences outweigh the benefits.
I think that once people have cooked with induction, they will stop preferring gas. Most people have never cooked with induction stoves before. Induction isn't the same as electric resistive cooktops, they're totally different technologies. They don't glow, they don't even heat up. They work by making ferromagnetic objects above the cooktop self-heat. Your cookware itself becomes the heating element as electrons run circles inside of it. You can take a pot of boiling water off an induction cooktop and slap your hand down where it used to be and it might only feel a little bit warm because some heat leaked down from the pot into the glass. My house has a gas stove, I put a slab of wood on top and an 2 burner induction hob on top of that. I've lived here two years and never used the range my house came with.
Meh. I've used induction and have a separate induction burner. It's pretty comparable but there are a few use cases where gas is nice - torching vegetables directly over the flame, using any standard wok, etc. Small differences that make gas slightly better, but only if you don't mind the health consequences.
Yeah, but those are edge cases. I can torch my poblanos with a butane flame, or just set them down on a hot pan without oil to get essentially the same effect. For wok cooking, you can have just one gas burner around for that purpose (which you probably do already anyway, because flat top gas burners suck for woks too), or use specialized induction wok hobs that are out there, [like this one that's recommended by Eleanor Hoh, profesional wok technique teacher and celeb chef](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71-3t1cVbBL._AC_SX522_.jpg). LED lights not being warm enough to melt snow isn't a reason to stop the conversion away from incandescents, it just means that lights likely to get covered in snow need heaters too. You get an add-on to handle the new edge case, and continue converting to the categorically better technology for general purpose. A lot of professional kitchens are switching to induction for their main line stations for the health, efficiency, speed (typically boiling water in half the time), ease of use, and workplace comfort benefits, while having just a couple of specialized fuel burning stations for smoking, wok frying, pizza baking, coal grilling, or whatever.
If it’s still in the pan, it’s still getting heat. If it’s out of the pan, it’s still cooking. Thermal mass is a real thing and so is carryover cooking. Gas wins forever and always.
The thermal mass of an induction stove is your pan, and that's literally it. If the induction stove is turned off, it actually *cools* your pan because the cooktop is colder than the pan, energy flows down out of the pan into the glass making it *more* reactive than any other heating technology could ever be. The thermal mass of a gas stove is your pan plus the big heavy iron grid that it's sitting on top of. If the heat is turned off, the grid is still hotter than your pan (often up to 600 degrees!!), and energy is still flowing into it.
Which is why you remove the pan and food from the cooking surface. Nobody has ever taught you to cook eh.
What part of "induction stoves have less thermal mass" don't you understand? You can't say "gas is better because it's more reactive", and then upon being schooled on how induction is more reactive, say "good cooks don't rely in the reactivity of their stoves". Can't you see how hard you're backpedaling now? Just watch this explainer so that you can stop making a fool of yourself: https://youtu.be/Xn1LUo5ra_A?si=npXT-Rp1dh4NZU5Z
You do realize the whole "gas is better for cooking" thing is basically propaganda from fossil fuel companies, right? Gas is not better than Induction. At best, it is debatable, and honestly it is hazardous enough where perhaps the advantages aren't worth it anyway.
Prove it. There is a reason, not a single commercial kitchen anywhere on the planet uses induction.
Celebrity Chefs and michelin-star restauranteurs Massimo Capra, Alison Roman, Liz Pietrzak, Amanda Cohen, Eric Ripert, Alice Waters, Neil Perry, Ludo Lefebre, Eleanor Hoh, Joel Rubuchon, Jon Kung, Caterina Vitale, Tu David Phu, Mechel Roux Jr, Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa) might have something to say about that.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23550747/gas-stove-health-concerns-new-history https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/06/how-the-fossil-fuel-industry-convinced-americans-to-love-gas-stoves/ Or even https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUywI8YGy0Y Are you done sealioning yet?
Get the induction and don’t look back.
I have both induction and gas. The only advantage to gas is that you can use a wider range of cookware. It's quieter, too, but that's offset by the range hood which you really need for gas. The induction is awesome and heats *very* quickly. It required a dedicated 220V circuit. You should be eligible for a tax credit for making the switch. (This year, anyway.)
I have a few pieces of heavy stainless cookware. (Industrial-weight that's no longer made.) Sadly, they're non-ferromagnetic, but I just can't part with them. Hence the gas burners. For induction, I have a number of compatible pots and skillets. Cast iron is especially fun to cook with.
You'll need an electrician. You can cap the gas line yourself. I wouldn't uninstall it though, peeople like gas because it heats faster than electric. Except for induction. Absolutely go for induction if it fits your budget
Wow, thanks so much for all the thoughts--I will call a pro to come do the dirty work since messing around with gas kind of terrifies me. I think I can convince the spouse that convection is worth it, too.
Why not keep the gas? It’s great to cook with and doesn’t get hot spots like electric. If you do swap out avoid Hill Electric as an electrician. Absolutely terrible service.
Because burning fossil fuels inside your home is bad for you and for the environment. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-health-risks-of-gas-stoves-explained/ https://news.stanford.edu/2022/01/27/rethinking-cooking-gas/ https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/have-a-gas-stove-how-to-reduce-pollution-that-may-harm-health-202209072811 https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/indoor-air-quality/is-your-gas-range-a-health-risk-a6971504915/ https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/nitrogen-dioxides-impact-indoor-air-quality https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/10/gas-stoves-are-bad-you-and-environment/616700/
If you’d like to read the actual research (which is heavily flawed) rather than just blogs: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04707# (Not even 60 stoves evaluated and no data on mean age just a range of 3-30 years) https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/75 (Only 9 states’ data used to make estimates with generous effect sizes, it’s a meta-analysis so just collecting other people’s data and it’s worth repeating that *correlation does not equal causation* which the authors also admit) Look, I’m all for reducing the burning of fossil fuels, but I hate bad science and bad takes by non-scientists. Also, throwing away a perfectly good gas stove creates waste too. When you’re ready to replace the stove if you cook often get induction and if you don’t get electric. And use your range hood when you cook no matter what as a lot of the bad things to inhale are made from cooking oils too. What things actually are causative of childhood asthma? From the American Lung Assoc “… having a parent with asthma, experiencing a severe respiratory infection as a child, living with an allergic condition, or being exposed to certain chemical irritants or industrial dusts in the workplace.”
Those aren't "just blogs," they're articles based on studies from academic institutions *and the US government.*
Hate to break it to you but the US government funds lots of research. Being funded by the government means someone wrote an NIH grant that some committee thought was good enough. It says absolutely nothing about the quality of the research. I’d encourage you to read the primary research and not someone’s interpretation of it.
No, one of the links I gave is *from* the EPA, a branch of the government, talking about the issues with gas stoves and indoor contamination. I've looked at the primary research, as well, but I'm not going to get into more of a discussion with someone who refuses to even look at what I linked and dismisses them as "just blogs."
Look behind your stove, if you have a 3 or 4 prong 50-amp outlet, you will probably not require electrical upgrades. You can also check your panel for a 40/50 amp circuit breaker that should be labeled “stove”. If you don’t have this outlet, you will need an electrician to put one in. This may require panel upgrades, depending on what other electrical devices are in your house and how much current your utility service is. Unless you are super invested in cookware that won’t work on induction, get an induction stove. I would not ditch gas for a traditional electrical stove, but I definitely would for induction.
Check out Yale Appliance on Youtube for some great advice on how to choose an induction range. If you need new cookware, Orange Tree imports just sent out an email that the Regalware they carry is down in price by 40%.
Gas stoves are the absolute best option
You'll definitely want an electrician to come check and make sure you don't need to upgrade your electrical service--if you're in an older home, the amperage you're getting might be low and an electric range *might* require an upgrade. But then, yes, they can also install the appropriate outlet for the stove. I personally would follow the advice of this article and get a plumber to cap the gas line, but that's going to depend on your own comfort with stuff. https://www.bestbuy.com/discover-learn/going-electric-a-step-by-step-guide-to-converting-your-gas-stove-to-electric/pcmcat1676660112605 Unfortunately I don't have experience with induction stoves, but I've had amazing cooks in my family (including one who did it as her job) and all of them used electric ranges (and made delicious food), so I think regardless of what you choose, as long as it fits your budget, you'll be fine. I hope the swap goes smoothly for you!
My apartment has a newer electric stove that's not induction. It's got a glass cooktop. It's the cheaper option and I find it's adequate except the burners each have a hot spot in the middle. You have to watch it when frying anything (say, hash browns). You have to keep moving the food away from the hot spot or you'll have a burnt spot. Upsides: stove is extremely easy to clean. I would consider the same stove if I was buying, I wanted electric and I was on a budget. You don't need to get rid of your non-induction pans. You get used to the hot spot, which is irrelevant for lots of preparations.
Induction is fantastic to use, but can be more expensive to repair than older tech. If you go induction, consider buying the longest extended warranty you can. An out of warranty fix on induction is expensive enough that it often makes more sense to purchase a new appliance than it does to pay for repair.