this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2025
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Speaking as a board member in a housing community where we are actively dealing with residents who claim that their precious gas stoves are safe and they don't want electric replacements, I appreciate this post being shared.
People are so fucking weird! Like yeah instant heat is nice, but induction cook tops do it without poisoning your lungs. But people (conservatives) will claim it's superior in some way or another in order to be a contrarian.
Fuck em, let them suffocate.
Edit: and some non conservative lemmy users.
Induction can also boil water much faster than gas ever could. And to be honest, as much hate as they get, I would even prefer non-induction electric over gas at this point.
I really wish I could get them to work properly, but my moka pot doesn't boil properly on a standard electric coil stove. Mine (hot plate) cycles on and off (at maximum heat and off rather than some intermediate temperature) causing inconsistent heating through the boiling cycle, making bad coffee.
I was raised with the coil guys. And even if it didn't release nitrous byproducts, just the safety factor of an electric stove being <<< than gas to blow up.
Tl;dr: electric is better.
I'm in the EU. "Range" is a cooktop plus oven, right?
We got rid of out old gas appliance and bought an induction top and an electric oven.
They both cost as much as the gas stove, so double the price. Running them costs about the same.
But induction is just so easy and quick! Setting the time for eggs, getting water to boil in seconds.. It's truly next level.
The oven is just alright, maybe heats more evenly with the fan.
Other than that? I guess no danger of explosions. No yearly checkups.
I like it much more, and wouldn't go back.
Yes, the US is different. My range has a normal 220V plug, and a simple menu to set the maximum wattage it's allowed to draw..
most US stoves use 220v as well.
Range is the top part. Oven is the box. Stove is the whole thing.
But if you mix them up everyone will still know what you mean.
That's a significantly larger gap than what I see here at my local Lowe's. We have electric and gas stoves both about $550 at the cheapest. The gas one is $10 cheaper, not much of a price point. The induction one is $850 at the cheapest, so about 55% more expensive. That's definitely not the 3x cost difference you see here.
I can only get close to those numbers you quote by selecting a high-end induction stoves. They don't sell gas range or oven only for less, but I could see that being a cheaper alternative. Also, their search is weird and I had to specify gas to find gas stoves.
They sell single induction tops for like $50.
You mean hot plates?
No.
Curious, when did you last need an oven with flame heating?
Sorry I was drinking last night. I was asking when you needed the enclosed space to be heated up fast, like a gas stove would.
It took decades of propaganda. Paying off cooking shows and influencers to have big, obvious gas stoves. They even popularized the phrase “cooking with gas” as a euphemism for anything fast. If it was so much better, it would have sold its self.
no, that's not the reason. induction stoves are really only around for a couple years, IIRC, and old electric stoves simply weren't that great. they were mostly slow. gas, you turned on and had heat. electric meant that you had to wait for the glass pane to heat up below your cooking gear. on top of that, gas was typically cheaper than electric.
that's really only changing now, where renewable energy provides cheap electricity, while gas prices are increasing due to international situation. it simply takes a while for the news to spread, and not everybody has gotten the news yet. renewable energy will be much cheaper than gas in the long run, thanks to solar energy, and that's a news that really only started being economically meaningful around 2 years ago. It simply takes a long time for the news to go around and everybody hear it.
Are you forcing people to switch to electric stoves? Are you buying the stoves for them and installing them?
Also, simply opening a window while cooking, and/or keeping a hood that vents to the outside turned on, makes them safe to use.
No, we don't force anyone to do anything, electric replacements are offered as a "free" upgrade. We're a housing cooperative, so technically it's not free, but it's paid for by the community's collective funds.
The other main problem is that people routinely forget to turn off their stoves. We've had the fire department come multiple times this year alone because someone left their gas on and filled their unit with it. One resident left his gas open for who knows how long before he passed out in his living room and shit himself. Luckily someone found him and called the paramedics.
I guess if it was one person living in the wilderness and they blew themselves up or suffocated, then that's on them. In a community though, it endangers everyone nearby.
Gas is not safe.
that is nightmare level stuff
I monitored my indoor air quality prior to getting rid of my gas stove and even with windows open, the levels of the monitored pollutants skyrocket when the stove or oven was going. Maybe if you had a box fan blowing in/out for a long time after you finish you’d be ok, but that’s not ideal if you’re heating/cooling your place.
I wouldn't claim either of those things.
However I will tell you my experience. People in these threads will always tell you that induction is better than gas. That might be true, but as a renter I'll never know it. Gas is better to cook on than the coil electric stoves which is what I always get in a rental. No landlord is going to spend the extra on an induction cooktop when a coil electric is one of the cheapest options.
I understand that, I've lived with gas ovens most of the time as well. Interestingly, the studio I just moved into (which is freshly converted from a garage) has a new fridge and an electric flat-top range. But I rent from a lone guy, not from a standardized apartment community. So maybe that's why he invested in the good stuff. Renovating an entire complex is way pricier than setting up a single apartment.
I also think I just got lucky. It's not a perfect place - the insulation sucks, there are paint flecks on the floor and kitchen cabinets, the shower hot/cold are backwards (which confused the hell out of me at first. I thought my hot water wasn't working) and I saw a mouse recently. But I can't complain, because the landlord is responsive and the good appliances help balance out the negatives.