All new construction in my city will be all-electric starting this year (cooking, heating, etc). And its not even Berkeley, which implemented their ban in 2020. It will eventually hit statewide, by 2026, I think. And new water heaters/furnaces will be banned in 2030. Are stoves next? Certainly will limit my move choices. And lighting has similarly been switched over from incandescent.
I’ll avoid moving before I give up my gas stove, and I’ll buy a new spare one if they threaten to ban sales. Or smuggle a cookop in my luggage across the border
They do need to upgrade the electrical grid for all these changes, a big piece of the equation they are missing. However, gas powered electric generation is still more efficient than separate gas appliances.
We should consider the difference between practice vs theory. In theory, everyone will know how to handle their alcohol, so we don’t need worry about drink and driving. In practice, it is a different story. My point is that is installing exhaust fan the limiting factor? Or is people not turning on the fan the limiting factor?
Exactly. I realized that people often to decide to turn on and off the vent based on how “smelly” or how “oily” the cook foods, not because of the gas stoves. Totally understand. I was just boiling water an hour ago, and I almost didn’t turn on the fan, and I didn’t “feel” the need to turn on my fan – granted I have an electric stove, but the point stands.
Amen to that. When we moved to Nevada from California, we just assumed our gas stove fan would be vented to the outside (like they all seemed to be in CA), and were truly shocked when we found out it wasn’t. We couldn’t believe it when we sauteed some onions, and all the cooking odors vented right back into the kitchen! We asked around, and apparently outside venting is the exception here.
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
126
I don’t put the hood on unless searing, but then I do it all the time. Just frying some eggs or pancakes etc., no.
My gas oven vents up the back and out the little “collar” across the back top of the stove. It’s not too common that I’m making smoke from the oven, mostly when trying to get a crust on a roast, but having the vent hood on takes care of that, too. But unlike when cooking on stove-top, I nearly always run the hood when the oven is on (even for making bread) because I don’t want all the heat in the kitchen.
So does it vent outside, or just into the kitchen?
The only time I had a gas oven was growing up. I’m unaware of any direct vent for that oven as it was on an inside wall. There was a hood over the range, and am pretty sure that was roof vented.
For me it doesn’t really matter what fuel I use. Ovens really don’t matter (and I actually find electric to be more accurate and calibrate-able).
For cooktops, I have two (GE Profile Propane, Frigidaire Gallery Ceramic), plus a single 110v induction hob. I can make perfectly cooked food on any of them, and I only use the GE when PG&E can’t keep the lights on.
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
128
Hey Scott - sorry for not being clearer. It vents up the back of the stove and therefor into the kitchen. But because it’s at the back of the stove range part, it’s in an ideal position to be captured by the range hood, which vents outside onto my open deck portion.
So pretty much any time I’m running the oven, whether it will be making smoke or not (making smoke as in for crusting a roast), I’ll still run the hood to vent the heat outside.
The big advantage I have seen when renting vacation homes having electric ovens is that they hit temp much faster than my gas oven - half the time, if I had to guess.
First of all, no one is actively considering a ban on gas stoves. The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, noting that gas stoves have been found to be a leading cause of childhood asthma, offhandedly said that such a ban might need to be considered. The right-wing BS machine freaked out creating a flap where none exists.
That said, gas stoves do emit greenhouse gases and are a source of indoor air pollution. For myself, I have just ordered a new electric downdraft range to replace my old Jennair dual fuel model. Using the ductless vent kit should slightly lower my heating bills.
All y’all have convinced me that I should maybe buy a small propane burner for emergencies, to complement my induction cooktops
More on-topic, I saw a study today that said that most methane from a gas stove actually leaks (very slowly) when the stove is not in use. So venting is good, but it may only capture somewhat less than half of the gas fumes. I have no idea how accurate the study was and I’m ashamed that I didn’t take the time to dig in further. It did however make me think about gas-related issues outside of venting.
The problem is not methane leaking from gas stoves, but the massive amounts leaked during production, especially fracking, and distribution. The combustion products of natural gas, i.e. methane, are mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor, but there is also some carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and especially in the Northeast, radon. Meanwhile there is a group calling itself “Smarter Energy NY” trying to convince people that propane is cleaner than natural gas, which is, of course, total nonsense. In fact, propane produces somewhat more carbon dioxide per unit energy.
Not a response to LeCoqNoir
This one, also from NYT and hopefully unlocked, uses phrases like " gas-burning stoves may be linked to nearly 13 percent of childhood cases of asthma in the U.S. Past research shows that gas stoves led to more exacerbated asthma symptoms as well, and “triggers asthma” , which makes a lot more sense to me, at least after looking into this ( thank you @Hawashingtonian )
You are a bit all over the map. First, you said there is no real plan to ban gas, and it is only some right-wing BS machine. Then, you say good for them to ban gas.
I just boiled some water for instant noodle… Unintentionally, I did not turn on my fan all the way through. I didn’t realize this until I start eating my noodle and reading this post.
I imagine one could get a detector that monitors the air and sounds an alarm if something is wrong or concentrations reach an unhealthy level.
About two years ago, I put in a new smoke detector. I didn’t really pay that much attention to the box, just saw it had a 10 year battery in it, so I purchased it and hung in my master bedroom.
Fast forward a year and I’m sweating some copper pipe in the guest bathroom (putting in a new shower control) using MAPP gas. The whole process took less than 5 minutes, but it was enough to set off the smoke detector in the master bedroom. Apparently, this newer smoke detector picked up the MAPP gas as a foreign air contaminant and literally sounded the alarm.
With today’s technology I’m sure one could monitor the air in the house while cooking and if it exceeded a level that concerned the user, he/she could turn on an exhaust fan.
