Why thousands of New Yorkers swap gas for induction stoves in clean energy push: ‘It makes sense’ | US news

Marcos Ramos has not been able to prepare a full meal at home for almost four years, after a gas leak caused a lengthy interruption of supply to his New York apartment building.

But now, Ramos will be able to cook again thanks to a technology that is gradually advancing in the United States after being drawn into an improbable culture war: the electric induction cooker.

For two days last month, residents of 15 cooperative apartments in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, who had to rely on portable hot plates and microwaves for meal preparation, were outfitted with new induction stoves through a program supported by state and city governments, as well as nonprofit groups.

“I’m excited, I’m going to make lasagna, a whole pasture-raised chicken, things I couldn’t put on the griddle before,” said Ramos, a health coach and one of the residents, looking at his new stove.

“It’s been so frustrating to live like this until now. I now think everything should be electric. If you minimize the risks from gas, from fire, then from an environmental and health point of view it makes sense. It makes sense.”

The project is a prelude to a much larger task for Copper, the company that supplied those induction ranges and is currently working on a $32 million pilot project to replace gas stoves in 10,000 apartments in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) system, the largest public housing network in the United States. A first trial in 100 of these apartments is expected to start early next year.

Advocates say the progress made by induction stoves in New York, following a similar move to install such stoves in public housing in California, demonstrates a viable alternative to gas, the price of which has soared amid the Iran war. The gas also releases pollution that is harmful to the health of residents and worsens the climate crisis.

Residential energy use, including cooking gas, accounts for about one-fifth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrogen dioxide emanating from the gas’s blue flame can also exacerbate respiratory and heart problems, with exposure being more severe in small, poorly ventilated apartments. These indoor toxins are unregulated, unlike outdoor air pollution, although they are potentially up to five times more extreme.

““It’s unfortunate that while we often have cleaner air outdoors than in our own homes, there has been a lack of attention to the indoor environment,” said Misbath Daouda, a scientist at UC Berkeley. She led a 2024 study that found that people who replaced their gas stoves with electric alternatives were exposed to less than half the amount of nitrogen dioxide emissions.

“Removing gas stoves significantly reduces this pollution,” Daouda added. “It is a win-win situation because it meets climate goals as well as health goals. The technology is also simply more efficient: Every person in our study group preferred electric induction cookers.

Only 3% of U.S. homes currently have induction stoves — which use magnetic fields to directly heat cookware — but efforts to expand their use have been opposed by the gas industry as well as Republican politicians who claimed, falsely, that then-President Joe Biden wanted to ban gas stoves.

A Biden-era federal grant that covered up to a third of the cost of a stove was also dismantled by Republican lawmakers.

“This transition has definitely slowed down,” Daouda said. “It’s unfortunate that this administration has removed support for low-income households to access this technology.”

But some states, including New York, California, Hawaii, Georgia and North Carolina, are now filling that void by developing rebate programs that encourage adoption of induction cookers. Supporters hope other states will follow suit. “The representation of electric stoves hasn’t helped so far, but I think things are changing,” Daouda said.

For New York, a city constantly grappling with creaking infrastructure, there is a cost imperative beyond the public health benefits. Even though the type of copper stove installed in Washington Heights apartments costs $6,000 each, that’s still less than the total cost of gas lines or electrical upgrades needed for an alternative.

Tenants in Ramos’ building, many of whom are elderly and on fixed incomes, collectively would have had to pay about $200,000 to repair the aging gas lines, while electric stoves can plug directly into existing 120-volt electrical outlets — in total, the project cost about $90,000.

“Producing and piloting affordable, energy-efficient induction ranges will reduce the number of service outages and the need for costly capital investments caused by the deterioration of aging gas plumbing infrastructure at our properties,” a NYCHA spokesperson said.

Our fossil fuel era has brought heat and light, but also conflict, price spikes and explosions. Reina Feliz, one of the Washington Heights residents with a new induction stove, said she is “glad there are no more gas risks.” She added, through an interpreter (she is, like many people here, of Dominican origin): “We have to cook, we have to eat. But it will be better for our health.”

Cooking is both a cultural and economic act, and the gas industry – which coined the term “cooking with gas” – has gotten a head start in describing gas as a better way to heat food. Some chefs have marveled at the speed and efficiency of induction cookers, but many Americans will still have to be convinced by electric.

“I was used to gas. I wasn’t sure about the electricity,” said Hilda Jimenez, another resident. “But I’m OK with it now that I have this,” she added, gesturing to the heavy stove that was being carried into her kitchen. “I couldn’t cook turkey in here. Thanksgiving was not good. I had to go to my son or daughter in Florida, but now I can have him here.

Josh Land, co-founder of Copper, said that previous versions of electric coil stoves may have been disappointing for consumers, but that superior induction stove options, when combined with city and state climate mandates, should help accelerate the adoption of a range of cleaner appliances across the United States.

“Once people accept having a good, working electric stove in the kitchen, they’ll say, ‘Oh, we can make an electric dryer using an electric water heater, an electric heater,'” said Land, who is a former chef.

“You use a stove every day. If it’s electric and it works well, I think people will accept that the whole house is like that.”