Posted on 09/04/2026 10:54:09 AM PDT by DoodleBob
More than one-third of American households rely on natural gas stoves to prepare their meals.
Burning natural gas generates carbon dioxide, which is the main driver of climate change. But cooking on gas stoves is also an under-recognized and important source of indoor air pollution. Combustion of natural gas creates nitrogen dioxide and other compounds that can irritate the lungs.
People with preexisting respiratory conditions, such as the 28 million Americans with asthma, may be especially susceptible. An analysis of more than 40 studies found a correlation between nitrogen dioxide levels and asthma symptoms.
I am a physician and medical researcher, and my colleagues and I recently completed the first study to examine whether replacing gas stoves with electric stoves can improve asthma symptoms.
How we conducted the study
Our study included 85 adults and children with poorly controlled asthma who lived in homes or apartments with gas stoves. Asthma control was determined from responses to a standard questionnaire that asked about specific asthma symptoms, activity limitations and use of rescue medication such as fast-acting inhalers.
Contractors removed the gas stoves, safely capped the gas lines, installed the necessary electrical outlets and replaced the stoves with electric induction models at no cost to participants. We chose electric induction stoves because they heat up and cool down rapidly, and they are safer and easier to clean than electric coil stoves.
Our research team assessed asthma control based on a questionnaire participants filled out before the stove replacement and again two to three months afterward. We used air quality monitors to measure indoor nitrogen dioxide levels for seven-day periods before and after stove replacement.
From moderate to mild symptoms
The results were striking: Improvements in asthma symptoms following stove change were similar to -- or even greater than -- those reported in clinical trials of commonly used asthma medications.
On average, participants went from having moderate asthma symptoms to having mild symptoms. Emergency room visits and hospitalizations for asthma fell by 70%. Missed days of work or school because of asthma dropped by about 80%. At the same time, indoor levels of nitrogen dioxide decreased by 70%.
These findings suggest that a relatively simple change in the home -- switching from a gas stove to an electric stove -- may lead to meaningful improvements in asthma control for people who are struggling with their symptoms.
And though the natural gas industry advertises gas stoves as being better for cooking, participants in our study preferred their electric stoves. Nearly all -- 98% -- said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their electric induction stove, compared with only 41% who felt that way about their gas stove.
That said, it is worth noting that our study included a relatively small number of participants and followed them for only a few months. The findings may not apply to people with milder asthma symptoms. We also did not include a comparison group that kept their gas stoves.
Potential obstacles
The cost of replacing gas stoves with electric stoves is likely to be a barrier for low-income communities, both in the U.S. and abroad.
In newer American homes, an electric stove and its installation typically costs about $1,500. Most of our study participants lived in homes that were built before 1960, and we spent an average of $7,000 per household to upgrade their electrical systems as part of the study.
But given the potential cost savings from reduced emergency room visits and hospitalizations, it might make sense for governments or health insurers to subsidize the costs of replacing gas stoves with electric ones for patients with poorly controlled asthma.
In developing countries, the high initial cost of new stoves can be a real impediment to switching. Inadequate home wiring and unreliable electrical grids present additional challenges in many places.
But countries with severe air pollution and a high prevalence of lung conditions may find it's worth the cost.
In Ecuador, one program demonstrated that providing subsidies could help the population transition from gas to electric stoves. From 2015 to 2021, the Ecuadorian government subsidized 750,000 households -- one-tenth of all households in the country -- to replace their gas stoves with electric induction stoves. Program uptake correlated with declines in hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses.
What patients and physicians can do
Switching stoves is not a cure for asthma and may not help everyone. People with asthma should continue working with their physicians, taking prescribed medications and reducing exposure to other asthma triggers, such as cigarette smoke, dust mites, pollen and viral respiratory infections.
But about 80% of our study participants experienced meaningful improvements. So people with poorly controlled asthma may consider transitioning away from gas stoves, depending on their resources and circumstances, to ease their symptoms.
Physicians may also want to ask asthma patients about the use of gas stoves and educate them about potential harms. And builders, landlords and restaurant owners may want to think about the types of stoves they install, as that may be a consideration for the future buyers, renters and employees who will cook in their kitchens.
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My induction electric stove heats water faster than my microwave and AI says it is also faster than gas. I have a gas option but if I need a new stove I will continue with induction. I don’t care about climate change and no one in my house has asthma. I grew up with gas, it was better than electric coils but not better than induction.
Something that mostly females are misinformed on, is that they fear natural gas, they confuse it with propane, that drives some to want electric.
So? Am I to assume that everyone who has a gas stove will eventually develop asthma? Or is it that I am supposed to assume that those with asthma are not able to obtain an electric stove? Which am I obliged to panic about and demand a total end to gas ranges?
I grew up in Connecticut. When the price of oil went sky high my parents used our gas oven to warm the house and cut the bill. It was also handy during power outages during a New England winter when an oil burner would not ignite without electricity. The gas range disn’t care.
As a former professional chef, modern induction cannot be beat at the home level not even with high end Viking ranges in the $15k price range. We have a dual electric set up at the big house. The island has this work of art in it and the counter side has a 48” pro grade radiant cook top for my high end anodized commercial grade pans and pots.
This can heat any size cast iron or carbon steel Debuyer to ripping hot in seconds much faster and with better temp control than gas ever could.
https://www.gaggenau.com/us/en/mkt-product/cooktops/400-series/400-series/induction/CX492612
Most home could lack the skill set to even need such professional level tools but induction is a chef’s choice in a pro kitchen.
The only cooktop that beats it is a French Top and those are 20 grand for a home set up and you have to heat it for hours before hand so it reaches it thermal equilibrium point they are strictly for commercial use the average home user couldn’t afford the energy bill nor possess the skills to use it anyways.
Exactly...the rule in our house is if the gas stove goes on so does the fan. Fan goes off when stove goes off. Prevents accidentally leaving a burner on too.
Ashwini Sehgal
Tells you all you need to know.
I bought a very simple LP Gas Range about 6 months ago that requires NO AC to operate. All it takes is a single 9V battery. It does a great job cooking on the range top and the oven. We have a 500 gal propane tank (usually fill to 75%, lasts a LONG time.
If the power goes out? We can still cook. That happened again a week ago. Power was off from 4 PM until 1:30 AM. The issue was we had no air conditioning for that length of time. (It has been over 100 degrees every day for 4+ weeks. It was still hat in the evenings.)
Slow Biden is responsible for slamming the use of fossil fuel appliances. Pure Nonsense.
In the winter we rely on LP gas, and a backup up with fire places. (and 1 wood stove)
More follow the science, with an ulterior motive.
I don’t believe this is a sex thing.
There have been plenty of times, especially with teenagers, when someone doesn’t shut off the burner completely. That would make mothers AND fathers think twice about gas.
The same holds true with elderly moms and dads. That would make daughters AND sons think twice about gas.
Indeed, taking your argument further, women should fear electric stoves since the glass remains a hazard well after the power’s been killed. Little Johnny and Mary could melt their fingers.
Head Shake
No Sale.
When winter hits and you have ice and snow and the electric lines are down I still have heat as I am on GAS! If worse comes to worse I can turn on the burners.
“induction is a chef’s choice in a pro kitchen.”
So says no Restaurant person I’ve ever met.
Choice is what matters.
You be You.
We use a 115 year old Glenwood Gold Medal combo gas wood/coal stove.
It’s got four gas burners on the right and four cooking plates on the left above the wood/coal stove. Above, it has an AutomatiCook regulated gas oven and a broiler, and below the range it has a large oven fed by the wood stove.
We love it. We’re in our mid 70s and just need to fend off the busy-body meddlers a little bit longer until we croak.
“Yeah, “gas is bad”... yeah well I don’t have to wait 10 minutes for water to boil with gas.”
I can boil 1 qt water faster on my induction top than I can using the 15,000btu burner in the outdoor kitchen for sure.
With the boil boost and a stainless induction read pot 100% or 7+KW of power hits that 6” diameter pot bottom and sidewalls 45 seconds to a boil go pour a full 32OZ in any ppt put it on your biggest indoor gas burner on high start a stopwatch on your phone at the 45 second mark induction is already rolling boil.
This masterpiece lets you use anywhere on the surface at full blast or so gently you can melt chocolate and not have it scald.
https://www.gaggenau.com/us/en/mkt-product/cooktops/400-series/400-series/induction/CX492612
Being able to use 16” Debuyer carbon steel, or a 30” carbon steel plancha (griddle) is why we one this very high end work of art. It absolutely destroys gas in every metric I worked back of house in NYC while at NYU and worked my way all the way to Sous Chef level. So yeah this is a professional review.
Replacing gas stoves with electric greatly reduces asthma symptoms
Web search suggests that homes with gas stoves tend to sell better because people who like to cook prefer gas.
Regarding electric stoves, single-burner induction units are available, the wider diameter units said to heat bigger pans, pots more uniformly than smaller units. I suspect that some buyers don't ask about diameters when investing and wind up with smaller diameter units.
Also, consider power failure with electrical stoves.
Anyone remember “If you must cook, cook with gas”.
Maybe if the government wasn't forcing vaccines into kids they wouldn't have asthma and it wouldn't matter what mom was using to make the Kraft Mac&cheese.
Considering how little moms cook at home these days I really don't think gas or electric makes much difference.
GMO wheat is probably a much bigger concern.
How come God did not a hotplate and electrical outlet at every human campsite since the beginning of mankind. This is another MSM propaganda piece. Plenty of fools will fall for it.
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