By ISABELLA O’MALLEY | Associated Press
NEW YORK — For years, Ed Yaker, treasurer of a New York City co-op with nearly 1,500 units, and fellow board members have dealt with gas leaks. It can mean the gas at an entire building is shut off, leaving residents unable to use a stove for months until expensive repairs are made to gas lines.
So Yaker was all in when he learned of a Berkeley, California startup called Copper that was manufacturing an electric stove and oven that could simply be plugged into a regular outlet. The sleek, standard four-burner electric induction stove runs on 120 volts, meaning there is no need to pay a licensed electrician thousands of dollars to rewire to 240 volts, which many electric stoves require.
RELATED: Cooking with a gas stove is like living with a smoker, Stanford study finds
“In terms of, ‘Is this the way to go?’ It’s a no brainer,” Yaker said, demonstrating a quart of water that boiled in about two minutes. His apartment is full of books, many on energy and climate change, and the energy efficiency was a motivation, too.
Then there are the health benefits of cooking with electricity. Gas stoves, which 47 million Americans use, release pollutants like nitrogen dioxide that has been linked to asthma and cancer-causing benzene.
“You wouldn’t stand over the tailpipe of a car breathing in the exhaust from that car. And yet nearly 50 million households stand over a gas stove, breathing the same pollutants in their homes,” said Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Stanford University and lead author on a study on pollution from gas cooking.
“I had a gas stove until I started this line of research. Watching pollutant levels rise almost immediately every time I turned a burner on, or my oven on, was enough to get me to switch” to an electric stove, he said.
Induction stoves are also a way to address the considerable amount of climate change that comes from buildings — emissions from cooking, heating and cooling living spaces and hot water.
In the case of gas stoves, about half of the flame’s heat escapes into the room. Electric stoves by comparison can be up to 80% efficient. Of those, induction stoves come out on top with up to 90% efficiency in part because they only heat where the surface contacts 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 stove contains a battery that is smart, meaning it can charge up when electrical rates are low, allowing people to cook without incurring peak-rate electrical charges.
The new Copper stoves are not cheap. Early adopters are relying on government incentives to defray the cost. When Yaker, who worked as a teacher and was a saver, bought his, it was $6,000 and a federal tax credit for clean energy appliances brought that down to $4,200.
RELATED: The surprising force stalling climate progress: California restaurants
The manufacturer now has an agreement with the New York City Housing Authority to buy 10,000 stoves at a maximum price of $3,200 each, set to arrive in 2026.
Eden Housing in Martinez, California, retrofit one of its 32-apartment buildings with Copper stoves using state and local programs. The affordable housing group plans to purchase more.
“It’s pretty cool, it looks nice and it’s easy to clean,” said Jolene Cardoza, about the new appliance. Her adult daughter’s asthma was irritated by her old gas stove when she would come over to bake and she’s happy the Copper doesn’t release pollutants.
Other tenants 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 change 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,” said Jackson.
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.