I had not thought about my gas stove as being a fossil fuel polluter. I must say, I love cooking on gas. The only electric cooking I've done since college is on my mother's terrible, cheap electric stove with those old wire coils that take forever to heat and then forever to cool down. Every house I've lived in since has had gas. Marketing never had an influence on my preference for gas cooking, but a crappy electric stove certainly did.
I discovered the joys of a drying rack on a trip to Europe about eight years ago. We stayed in an Air BnB that had one and it was a revelation. I had to do some searching at home to find one as sturdy as the ones common in Europe. In the spring and summer I use my drying rack all the time. I can dry heavier things like thick towels and jeans on a sunny afternoon in a fraction of the time it would take my dryer.
I am in South Africa. The issue here is that we have very frequent power outages and therefore the gas stove and gas heater is a life saver at times. Electricity is also very expensive and is produced in outdated coal power stations which produce a huge amount of greenhouse gas. Unfortunately we are still dealing with a government who will not allow us to have alternative power suppliers. Solar power and wind power need to be done under permit for private use and also require a larger capital.
But thank you for the great posts daily. A lot of it is doable also in my country.
I must say there is something wonderfully primal about cooking over a flame, produced by gas or wood. And the pilot light in my former gas oven was the perfect temp for incubating yogurt and proofing bread dough. We bought a house five years ago with an electric range and natural gas heat but are gradually converting to electric: we installed 14 solar panels; I incubate my yogurt in a small well insulated cooler; we dry our clothes outside in the summer and my husband built an indoor drying rack that holds a full load of laundry and installed a small fan to assist with drying clothes in the laundry room/hall in winter. We did buy a portable induction burner to test that method and will invest in an induction range when we redo the kitchen or if the current old electric range dies-whichever comes first. We're getting older and slowing down some, but hopefully will get to everything and have some years left here to enjoy it all!
One tiny kitchen maneuver I do when I remember is to remove items from the fridge and let them come to room temp before cooking or reheating.
We're loving your 30 days of Climate Action. Thanks for posting!
We’re working toward moving from gas to electric as our appliances need updating. A few months ago, we got a heat pump water heater and love it. One thing to note is that it wasn’t a fast process—in most cases, an electrician will need to create a dedicated power supply for the appliance, and with pandemic plus Seattle building boom, that took a couple months. So this is where we planned ahead rather than waiting for the old heater (already well past its expected lifespan) to die.
We also bought a smaller fridge this fall when our old one was on life support, and haven’t missed the larger size at all. The new fridge is actually so much better designed than the old one that there is more usable space.
I love household energy hints. And this one is a real surprise: "A recent study found that the delicate cycle can release an additional 800,000 plastic microfibers. The study revealed that the more water used, the more plastic microfibers released. The delicate cycle uses up to two times as much water as the regular cycle."
My house is all electric now. One of the things that really pissed me off when I was on gas was the distribution fee of 35 bucks a month regardless of how much gas you used. As I winnowed out the various gas appliances this fee seemed more and more goofy. Sadly I didn't plan early enough in my reno process to put in on demand water heating so I have one large electric water heater for the 3 households in my house. Works fine and haven't run out of hot water yet.
It's been 3 years of induction stove, because me and my husband made the math when we were moving in together (it would pay itself in 2-3 years with the money we saved on gas). Because we knew our electricity bill would be a little higher, all other appliances were chose for energy efficiency. So we don't spend that much energy after all. The stove works very well, and we use mostly stainless steel pans.
I highly recommend for anyone: it cooks faster, it's more energy efficient than any other option I know and it's much easier to clean!
These emails are so thorough with such great resources! I'm on board for a portable induction cooktop, but what is a good alternative to using a gas oven? I enjoy baking. We looked into buying an induction range but it would cost $1100 for the range along with $1500 to update the electric outlet (doesn't look like they give rebates for stoves yet, here)
I had not thought about my gas stove as being a fossil fuel polluter. I must say, I love cooking on gas. The only electric cooking I've done since college is on my mother's terrible, cheap electric stove with those old wire coils that take forever to heat and then forever to cool down. Every house I've lived in since has had gas. Marketing never had an influence on my preference for gas cooking, but a crappy electric stove certainly did.
I discovered the joys of a drying rack on a trip to Europe about eight years ago. We stayed in an Air BnB that had one and it was a revelation. I had to do some searching at home to find one as sturdy as the ones common in Europe. In the spring and summer I use my drying rack all the time. I can dry heavier things like thick towels and jeans on a sunny afternoon in a fraction of the time it would take my dryer.
I am in South Africa. The issue here is that we have very frequent power outages and therefore the gas stove and gas heater is a life saver at times. Electricity is also very expensive and is produced in outdated coal power stations which produce a huge amount of greenhouse gas. Unfortunately we are still dealing with a government who will not allow us to have alternative power suppliers. Solar power and wind power need to be done under permit for private use and also require a larger capital.
But thank you for the great posts daily. A lot of it is doable also in my country.
I must say there is something wonderfully primal about cooking over a flame, produced by gas or wood. And the pilot light in my former gas oven was the perfect temp for incubating yogurt and proofing bread dough. We bought a house five years ago with an electric range and natural gas heat but are gradually converting to electric: we installed 14 solar panels; I incubate my yogurt in a small well insulated cooler; we dry our clothes outside in the summer and my husband built an indoor drying rack that holds a full load of laundry and installed a small fan to assist with drying clothes in the laundry room/hall in winter. We did buy a portable induction burner to test that method and will invest in an induction range when we redo the kitchen or if the current old electric range dies-whichever comes first. We're getting older and slowing down some, but hopefully will get to everything and have some years left here to enjoy it all!
One tiny kitchen maneuver I do when I remember is to remove items from the fridge and let them come to room temp before cooking or reheating.
We're loving your 30 days of Climate Action. Thanks for posting!
We’re working toward moving from gas to electric as our appliances need updating. A few months ago, we got a heat pump water heater and love it. One thing to note is that it wasn’t a fast process—in most cases, an electrician will need to create a dedicated power supply for the appliance, and with pandemic plus Seattle building boom, that took a couple months. So this is where we planned ahead rather than waiting for the old heater (already well past its expected lifespan) to die.
We also bought a smaller fridge this fall when our old one was on life support, and haven’t missed the larger size at all. The new fridge is actually so much better designed than the old one that there is more usable space.
I love household energy hints. And this one is a real surprise: "A recent study found that the delicate cycle can release an additional 800,000 plastic microfibers. The study revealed that the more water used, the more plastic microfibers released. The delicate cycle uses up to two times as much water as the regular cycle."
My house is all electric now. One of the things that really pissed me off when I was on gas was the distribution fee of 35 bucks a month regardless of how much gas you used. As I winnowed out the various gas appliances this fee seemed more and more goofy. Sadly I didn't plan early enough in my reno process to put in on demand water heating so I have one large electric water heater for the 3 households in my house. Works fine and haven't run out of hot water yet.
It's been 3 years of induction stove, because me and my husband made the math when we were moving in together (it would pay itself in 2-3 years with the money we saved on gas). Because we knew our electricity bill would be a little higher, all other appliances were chose for energy efficiency. So we don't spend that much energy after all. The stove works very well, and we use mostly stainless steel pans.
I highly recommend for anyone: it cooks faster, it's more energy efficient than any other option I know and it's much easier to clean!
Love this one but all the rest too. Wonderful contributions!
These emails are so thorough with such great resources! I'm on board for a portable induction cooktop, but what is a good alternative to using a gas oven? I enjoy baking. We looked into buying an induction range but it would cost $1100 for the range along with $1500 to update the electric outlet (doesn't look like they give rebates for stoves yet, here)