{"id":183256,"date":"2026-04-02T10:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183256\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:14:08","slug":"why-thousands-of-new-yorkers-swap-gas-for-induction-stoves-in-clean-energy-push-it-makes-sense-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183256\/","title":{"rendered":"Why thousands of New Yorkers swap gas for induction stoves in clean energy push: \u2018It makes sense\u2019 | US news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marcos Ramos hasn\u2019t been able to cook a full meal at home in nearly four years, after a gas leak resulted in a lengthy supply cut off for his New York<\/a> City apartment building.<\/p>\n

Now, though, Ramos will be able to cook again thanks to a technology that is gradually advancing in the US after being embroiled in an unlikely culture war \u2013 the electric induction stove.<\/p>\n

Over two days last month people in 15 co-op apartments in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan who have had to rely on portable hot plates and microwaves for meal preparation were fitted with new induction stoves via a scheme supported by state<\/a> and city governments, along with non-profit<\/a> groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited, I\u2019m going to make some lasagne, a whole pasture-raised chicken, things I couldn\u2019t fit on the hot plate before,\u201d said Ramos, a health coach and one of the residents, as he gazed at his new stove.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been so frustrating to live like this until now. I now think everything should be electric. If you\u2019re minimizing risk with the gas, the fire, then environmentally, health-wise, it makes sense. It\u2019s logical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcos Ramos was among the people in 15 co-op apartments in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan who had an induction stove installed in March. Photograph: Thalia Juarez\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The project is a prelude to a much larger task for Copper, the company that supplied these induction stoves and is now working on a $32m pilot to replace gas stoves<\/a> in 10,000 apartments across the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) system \u2013 the largest public housing network in the US. An initial trial in 100 of these apartments should start early next year.<\/p>\n

Advocates claim the inroads induction stoves are making in New York, following a similar move<\/a> made to install the stoves in low-income housing in California, demonstrate a viable alternative to gas, which has jumped in price amid<\/a> the Iran war. Gas also gives off pollution harmful to the health<\/a> of residents and worsens the climate crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Residential energy use, including gas for cooking, accounts for around a fifth<\/a> of US greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrogen dioxide wafting from gas\u2019s blue flame can also exacerbate<\/a> respiratory and heart problems, with exposure most severe in small apartments with poor ventilation. These indoor toxins are not regulated, unlike outdoor air pollution, despite potentially being up to five times as extreme<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A gas stove is carried out of an apartment in a co-op building in Washington Heights on 24 March 2026. Residential energy use, including gas for cooking, accounts for around a fifth<\/a> of US greenhouse gas emissions. Photograph: Thalia Juarez\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that we often have cleaner air outside than we do in our own homes, there\u2019s been a lack of focus on the indoor environment,\u201d said Misbath Daouda, a scientist at UC Berkeley. She led a 2024 study that found<\/a> people who replaced their gas stoves with electric alternatives were exposed to less than half the amount of nitrogen dioxide emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemoving gas stoves reduces that pollution dramatically,\u201d Daouda added. \u201cThat is a win-win situation because it addresses climate goals as well as health goals. The technology is also just more efficient too \u2013 every single person in our study group preferred the electric induction stoves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just 3% of US homes currently have<\/a> induction stoves \u2013 which use magnetic fields to heat cookware directly \u2013 but efforts to expand their use have been fought<\/a> by the gas industry and also Republican politicians who claimed, incorrectly, that then-president, Joe Biden, wanted to ban gas stoves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

a pile of gas meters from the co-op building, a crew carries an induction stove up a staircase <\/a>Gas meters are removed from a co-op building as an install crew with Americare Appliance carries a new induction stove up a staircase in Washington Heights.<\/p>\n

A Biden-era federal subsidy that covered as much as a third of the cost of a stove has also been dismantled<\/a> by Republican lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat transition has definitely slowed down,\u201d said Daouda. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that this administration has removed help for low-income households to gain access to this technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some states, including New York, California, Hawaii, Georgia and North Carolina, are now stepping into this void by crafting rebate programs<\/a> that encourage take-up of induction stoves. Advocates hope that further states will follow suit. \u201cThe portrayal of electric stoves hasn\u2019t helped until now, but I think things are changing,\u201d said Daouda.<\/p>\n

For New York, a city constantly grappling with creaking infrastructure, there is a cost imperative beyond the public health benefits. While the kind of Copper stove installed in the Washington Heights apartments is priced at $6,000 each, this is still less than the total cost of gas pipe or electrical upgrades required for an alternative.<\/p>\n

Reina Feliz is among the people in 15 co-op apartments who had an induction stove installed in the Washington Heights area. <\/p>\n

Tenants in Ramos\u2019 building, many of them elderly and on fixed incomes, would\u2019ve had to collectively pay around $200,000 to fix the aging gas pipes, whereas the electric stoves are able to plug directly into existing 120-volt power points \u2013 in all, the project cost around $90,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe production and piloting of affordable, energy-efficient induction stoves will alleviate the amount of service outages and the need for costly capital investments caused by the deterioration of aging gas plumbing infrastructure in our properties,\u201d said a NYCHA spokesman.<\/p>\n

Our fossil fuel age has brought heating and lighting but also conflict, price surges and explosions. Reina Feliz, one of the Washington Heights residents with a new induction stove, said she is \u201cglad there won\u2019t be risks from the gas anymore\u201d. She added, via an interpreter (she, like many people here, has Dominican Republic heritage): \u201cWe have to cook, we have to eat. But it will be better for our health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooking is a cultural, as well as an economic, act,, and the gas industry \u2013 which came up with<\/a> the term \u201ccooking on gas\u201d \u2013 has had a head start in portraying gas as a better way to heat food. Some chefs have marveled<\/a> at the speed and efficiency of induction stoves, but many people in the US will still need to be won over to electric.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was used to gas. I wasn\u2019t sure about electric,\u201d said Hilda Jimenez, another resident. \u201cBut I\u2019m OK with it now I have this,\u201d she added, pointing to the hefty stove that was being hauled into her kitchen. \u201cI couldn\u2019t cook turkey here. Thanksgiving was no good. I had to go to my son or my daughter in Florida, but now I can have it here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh Land, co-founder of Copper, said that previous iterations of electric coil stoves may have been underwhelming to consumers but superior induction stove options, when coupled with city and state climate mandates, should help accelerate uptake for a range of cleaner appliances across the US.<\/p>\n

Hilda Jimenez, right, a Washington Heights resident, cleans her new induction stove on 24 March 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce people can accept having an electric stove that\u2019s good and functional in the kitchen, they\u2019ll be like, \u2018Oh, we can do an electric dryer using electric water heater, electric heater,\u2019\u201d said Land, who is a former chef.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou use a stove every day, if that\u2019s electric and that works well then I think people will accept the whole house going that way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marcos Ramos hasn\u2019t been able to cook a full meal at home in nearly four years, after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-183256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}