Live data from Hacker News

Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

npr.org

71–80 of 220 posts

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#71
post #17
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After trying induction for a couple of years, I now believe it's superior to gas.

Induction is better than electric but it isn’t as good as gas in my opinion. You can’t use copper cookware, you are very limited on how you apply heat, you can’t use techniques like flambé, you can’t hold food directly over a flame to singe like you can with gas, etc. Induction is fine for some people but not for everyone. Not to mention in many places they are more expensive to buy and operate. Besides, venting your…

Using gas for occasionally singing or igniting a flambé is absolute overkill. Just get one of those small kitchen burners.

> venting your stove makes gas perfectly safe

That's what the gas industry has been telling you, just like the tobacco industry told us it was safe.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#72
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Do you really believe it's more likely that gas companies are paying people to say they want a gas stove on HN than someone genuinely believing it? I've met some many normal people in real life that say the same thing about gas stoves, including family members that have nothing to do with any Big Gas plots.

No, I'm saying the anti-gas, electric cheerleaders seem ... inorganic.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#74
post #3

[flagged]

Resistive heating? Sure. Those things are nasty. But otherwise... nothing beats 7.2 kW of inductive energy transfer straight into the bottom of your pan.

Where you seeing a 7.2kW induction element? The most powerful I could find was 5kW and the cooktop required a 50A circuit.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#75
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why we need a carbon tax. Your gas bill needs to be much higher.

[flagged]

I assure you that I am just a normal software engineer that happens to live in South Carolina. This is a matter of practicality for me. If induction became more practical for my family, I would make the switch. The incentives just don’t add up yet where I live.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#76
It's surprising that one of the most obvious solutions is generally only seen in both extremes of wealth: outdoor kitchens! Although I can see that still being an issue for people who live in places with terrible weather conditions. And with modern innovations like induction stoves it has probably become a less attractive alternative...

Edit: gas is also really important for places without reliable access to electrical power.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#77
I have gas-everything and no ventilation except for bad construction and bathroom fans.

Ideally I'd like both induction and gas eyes on my countertop. Resistive stoves just suck and putting the elements under glass panels is the worst of all worlds.

Having a gas oven (like the one integrated into my unit) is stupid, slow, and smelly. I try to remember and open the window if I'm using it for very long.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#78
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really believe it's more likely that gas companies are paying people to say they want a gas stove on HN than someone genuinely believing it? I've met some many normal people in real life that say the same thing about gas stoves, including family members that have nothing to do with any Big Gas plots.

No, I'm saying the anti-gas, electric cheerleaders seem ... inorganic.

Probably because it’s the same couple people watching the same couple videos, commenting over and over on the thread.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A proper extractor fan mitigates the problem entirely. For a lot of cooking, gas is simply superior in almost every way to induction or electric. Induction has a few advantages in certain situations, but not many - gas is more flexible. Now there is something to be said about people using insufficient extraction or not maintaining their ventilation/extraction systems for sure, or grossly underspeccing them so that th…

Per the article, a proper extractor fan doesn't migrate the problem. So you are basically poisoning yourself and your family.

A simple Airthings or Awair air quality monitor shows you the VOC rate in the home and it is easy to see how a fan keeps the levels at zero or even just opening a window drops the pollutant rate to almost zero very very quickly after cooking.

I trust my data over internet opinions.

Re: Gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations

#80
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really believe it's more likely that gas companies are paying people to say they want a gas stove on HN than someone genuinely believing it? I've met some many normal people in real life that say the same thing about gas stoves, including family members that have nothing to do with any Big Gas plots.

No, I'm saying the anti-gas, electric cheerleaders seem ... inorganic.

I guess the internet might be a more interesting place if everything you read goes through the lens of a conspiracy theory, so who am I to tell you that these are likely just people with different opinions to you. I don't know either obviously, but I choose to live life using a different lens than that. Maybe I'm wrong and naive but feels more relaxed!
Post reply on HN