[arghnoname]

While this is just a label, municipalities in California have been banning use of gas appliances in homes for new construction and significant renovations. It was recently overturned by a court decision, so the proponents do want this to be coercive.

I am not remotely convinced there is any need to do this. Code updates for improved ventilation in kitchens, okay, but you're going to have a hard time convincing my that my grilled cheese destroyed the environment significantly more with gas than electric.

I suspect these petty heavy-handed bureaucratic moves will make enemies out of regular people (try cooking with a round bottomed wok on electric) for no real gain. I'm increasingly feeling resentful of these sorts of things.

[petepete]

> try cooking with a round bottomed wok on electric

If you don't mind dropping £3k on an induction wok ring it's entirely possible!

https://www.miele.co.uk/product/11323040/smartline-element-c...

Actually I just checked and there's plenty of counter top ones available too but they're not half as elegant.

[anjel]

Gas induction hybrids are the Prius of stoves.

[petepete]

What gas?

[arghnoname]

that's pretty slick!

[skrause]

> try cooking with a round bottomed wok on electric

It's not an unsolved problem, I recommend the recent Technology Connections video titled "Induction cooking - but what about woks?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzJKxUCKOBg

[acover]

The induction wok shown seemed inadequate and the host unknowledgeable about the requirements for wok cooking.

[dessimus]

He also states doing zero research on the product space and just bought one, presumably the cheapest, easiest one to procure for the video. So while much better versions may exist, he was only showing they do and not making a statement on that make & model in particular, nor attempting to make any claims regarding all induction wok appliances.

[ajoseps]

I’m not familiar with the regulations but I always thought the benefit of not using gas stoves was less about the environment and more to reduce the CO2 produced in a home. It seems like there are correlation with in house stove usage in poorly ventilated homes and adverse health conditions. I definitely see a huge spike in my CO2 monitor each time we cook with our gas stove. Better ventilation probably addresses this but I honestly don’t know which approach is easier to implement.

[arghnoname]

Ventilation is good even with electric, just to deal with pollutants being put off by the food being cooked. As I understand it, these are often worse than the combustion byproducts, but I'm not well informed on the composition of each kind of pollution.

So I think in either case, kitchens should have good ventilation. Fortunately, it's just an ingress and egress hole in the house with a fan. If trying to retain the moisture and temperature of indoor air, it's more complicated because heat may have to be exchanged and air dehumidified (though kitchen air is often hotter and wetter than general air conditioned air).

However, this is also true of ventilation needed to prevent well insulated houses from getting damp and moldy and removing other indoor pollutants, such as from off-gassing of new home goods, etc. In summary, we need ventilation period. It should be a part of building codes and it should be done in a way that is appropriate to the local climate.

I'll be buying a house in the next few years and if I'm allowed to get gas, I'm not actually sure if I will or not. Customarily it's what I've used and it works well for my needs, but induction has advantages. I'm open to it. If I had my pick, I'd probably have a mix of induction and gas ranges, but maybe I'd look into induction and be sold. I just don't want this forced on me on with such thing rationale.