Gas stoves likely make the air in your kitchen more polluted than recommended outdoor clean air quality standards. Burning gas releases nitrogen dioxide, small particulate matter, and carbon monoxide, all components of air pollution. Cooking on a gas stove increases kids’ risk of current asthma by 42 percent. Ventilation can work well to remove air pollution but only if the exhaust hood over the gas stove is strong enough, if it vents outdoors and you remember to use it.

Once your stove is ready for replacement, your best bet is to replace it with an electric or induction stove. An Induction stove is not your usual electric stove, which can take longer than gas to heat food! An induction stove cooks food faster even than a gas stove, and temperature regulation is just as precise as on a gas stove. It uses magnetic waves which only heat the pan, not the surface of the stove, so it is never so hot that you can burn your hand on the stove, even when cooking. This also makes it more efficient than gas and electric stoves. Costs of induction burners and stoves vary widely but there are new MassSave rebates ($500) and federal tax credits to ease the costs. You can purchase a two-burner induction cooktop for about $125 and the price goes up from there.

Andee Krasner (Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility and co-author with Rocky Mountain Institute of a report on gas stoves), will talk about the health risks of gas cooking and government rebates/incentives. Diana Goldman of Beantown kitchen will share her experience, and we will hear testimonials of neighbors who use induction cooktops, with lots of time for Q&A.

This event is co-sponsored by Temple Shir Tikva