Saving Energy on Cooking

Cooking can be a very energy-intensive process. Everything from blenders to ovens consumes energy. The worst offenders are ovens and stovetops.

Oven Cooking

Think about it: you turn on your oven, which turns on a flame (in the case of a gas oven) or an electric coil (electric oven), which takes several minutes to heat the air in the oven and the metal oven box up to your set temperature. Meanwhile, excess heat is venting into your kitchen. This is not so bad in the winter when you are already heating your house, but in the summer, it adds to your air conditioning load.

Once the oven is up to temperature, you put the food into it, and the gas flames or electric heating coils continue heating the air and oven to heat the container to heat the food. Not very efficient!

Microwave ovens are FAR more efficient at heating food, especially small portions, since they do not heat either the air in the oven or the container, but work by exciting the atoms of water and fat in the food itself. So using a microwave whenever possible is a major energy saver.

Solution: use the microwave to heat food whenever possible.

Stovetop Cooking

Gas stoves burn natural gas (methane, a fossil fuel), which heats air, which heats a container, which heats food. Notice how hot the air is around a gas burner… that is wasted heat! Plus, the burning gas creates not only CO2, a greenhouse gas, but also carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate pollution that is hazardous to your health! In fact, cooking with a poorly vented gas stove creates so much indoor air pollution, it would exceed EPA regulations if it was discovered outdoors!

So how about electric stovetops? These pass electricity through a resistive element (coil), which heats the coil, which heats the pan, which heats the food. While it does not pollute your indoor air, the conduction of heat between these surfaces is inefficient, so heat (= energy) is wasted. If your electric stovetop is a glass surface, it is even worse, since the coil heats the glass, which heats the pan, which heats the food. Not great.

There is a relatively new technology called Induction that is far more efficient than either gas or electric. Induction works through magnetism — a magnet interacts with the metal of your pan to heat the pan directly, which then heats the food. The stovetop surface only gets hot through contact with the pan! The advantages of induction include:

Faster heating: induction stovetops boil water several times more quickly than either gas or electric
Instant heat: no need to heat a coil to heat the pan
Instant off: Like a gas stove, when you turn it off, it stops delivering heat
Fine, consistent temperature control, from very low (simmer) to very high (boil) settings
Safer and cooler: the stovetop remains relatively cool, and cools more quickly once the pan is removed.
You can wipe up overflows immediately! The surface is just a piece of glass, which never gets extremely hot. Just lift the pan, wipe, and set the pan back down.
Easy to clean: its glass surface cleans like a countertop
No indoor air pollution
Lower energy use.

So are there any downsides? Sure:

They are more expensive than either gas or electric, typically costing about $1000 more to purchase. But the electrical savings really add up!
They only work with magnetic (i.e. iron or stainless steel) pans. You may need to replace your aluminum and copper pans. Make sure your new pans are “induction ready”.
You will need a very high wattage electrical service to the stovetop… typically a 30- or 40-amp circuit, since it draws a lot of juice.
You need to watch out for getting too close to active burner surfaces with electronic devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets, since the magnetism can damage internal components and/or wipe memory. But I wear a smartwatch when I cook, and have had not issues. Just don’t leave electronic devices ON the stovetop while cooking.

In the long run, however, the inductive stovetop pays itself off through energy savings, while giving you a wonderful, clean cooking experience.

Solution: when it is time, replace your current stovetop with a high quality induction stovetop.

But how about renters? I don't own my stove!

Good news! There are relatively inexpensive, single-pan, inductive “burner” units that are portable and can sit on your countertop. This is a great way to introduce yourself to inductive cooking, and you can take it with you when you move!