Skip to content

You Don't Want a Gas Stovetop

2022-02-18 · explainer · Hank · 3:51 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: Advocacy & fundraising

In an unscripted rant Hank argues that viewers should stop wanting gas stoves: they foul indoor air and induction is better, and though stoves burn little methane, people's attachment to them lets gas companies keep piping methane into homes for decades, so changing that belief matters for climate.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Unscripted: don't want a gas stove; coil stoves are bad, but industry made gas the dream stove

  • ★ On half a cup of coffee, Hank makes an unscripted video, something he almost never does, about a thing he cares passionately about. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Hank tells viewers they need to not want a gas stove, because gas stoves suck. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank agrees coil-element stoves are the worst: hard to clean, very hard to control, slow to heat up and slow to cool down. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says the stovetop and natural gas industry made the blue-flame gas stove, beautiful and used by Gordon Ramsay, the alternative people picture to coil stoves. — 00:00:00

00:00:43 — Indoor air quality, induction, the methane pipe, and household gas as a climate contributor

  • ★★★ Hank says a gas stove burns fuel inside your home, decreasing indoor air quality; a fume hood on full blast helps, and a gas stove should never lack a hood. — 00:00:43
  • ★★★ Hank says an induction stovetop has more power and is easier to control than natural gas. — 00:00:43
  • ★★ Hank mocks that most houses have three pipes: water in, water out, and one bringing methane, like a gas station piping gasoline straight to your car. (playful) — 00:00:43
  • ★★★ Hank concedes cooking does not significantly add to climate change, but household natural gas use is a big contributor, mostly not from the stovetop. — 00:01:11 · climate change
  • ★★ Hank says when gas companies ask people about switching their furnace or water heater from gas to electric, people say they don't care. — 00:01:11

00:01:40 — Furnaces and water heaters use almost all the gas; stove attachment keeps the gas infrastructure alive

  • ★★ Hank says homes already get power efficiently through a power line, and there are great electric water heaters, furnaces and heat pumps. — 00:01:40
  • ★★★ Hank says stoves use a tiny percentage of the methane gas companies sell; almost all goes to furnaces and water heaters. — 00:01:40
  • ★★★ As long as people want gas stoves, which House Hunters calls top-tier, gas companies will keep building and replacing very expensive infrastructure to pipe gas into homes. — 00:02:09
  • ★★★ Hank says gas companies are campaigning for gas ranges, objectively worse, because the stove toehold justifies supplying gas for uses electricity could easily take over. — 00:02:09

00:02:39 — Induction is better; change the belief, not necessarily the stove; the scripting flub; pipe replacement lasts 60-80 years

  • ★★★ Since induction beats gas, one of the most important things a person concerned about climate change can do is drop the belief that gas stoves are best. — 00:02:39 · climate change
  • ★ After his metaphor derails into frying the thought with butter, Hank says this is why he scripts his videos. (playful) — 00:03:08
  • ★★★ Hank says replacing your gas stove now is not important, probably best not to; what matters is not thinking it is better than induction. (hedged) — 00:03:08
  • ★★★ Hank says neighborhoods will be asked whether to replace their gas pipes with infrastructure lasting 60 to 80 years; neighbours who love gas stoves will block the switch. — 00:03:08
  • ★★ Hank would be sympathetic if gas were better, but it is not. — 00:03:41

In the description and comments

  • ★★★ The description says gas stoves release dangerous chemicals including nitrogen dioxide; a meta-analysis found kids in homes with gas cooktops have a 41% higher chance of asthma. — video description
  • ★★ The description says gas stoves add a significant danger of fire and explosion, especially with children or people with memory problems in the home. — video description
  • ★★★ The description says household methane use is a big contributor to climate change that must stop over the next 30 years; attachment to gas ranges is a silly reason to worsen it. — video description · climate change
  • ★★ The description says the cheapest gas ranges currently cost less than the cheapest induction cooktops, which government incentives should change. — video description
  • ★★ The description says where Hank lives gas (maybe hydrogen) will likely still need delivering to homes, since it gets below -20 degrees F and heat pumps struggle there. (hedged) — video description
  • ★★ The description says it is completely possible the extreme-cold problem will be solved within the next 20 years. (hedged) — video description
  • ★★ The description says 90% of people in the US live where it never gets that cold, a share rising as people move south and cold places warm. — video description · United States

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: climate change · gas stove · induction cooking

Also: electric stove · Gordon Ramsay · heat pump · HelloFresh · House Hunters · indoor air quality · methane · natural gas

Only in the description or credits: Asthma · United States

← Previous: My Most Valuable Books · Next → On the Death of My Hero