Healthy Homes this Holiday Season
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at an event about electrification at Burbank where various of the presenter spoke about why we work on building electrification. We spoke about the environmental social justice aspect and importance, advocacy, local incentives and more. The event was closed with a cooking demonstration on portable induction stoves. I was excited to see firsthand the wide variety of induction stoves, features, sizes and prices!
This lit up a light bulb in my head. The holiday season is upon us and many of us are going to be spending lots of time in the kitchen cooking up meals to share with loved ones. I personally look forward to making traditional Honduran and Mexican foods like pozole, tamales (which I made vegan last year) and our ponche navideno drink. The hours I spend in the kitchen is sacred quality time with my family and sharing ancestral traditions. Unfortunately, now I know it is also time we spend breathing in polluted and even toxic air when we have poor ventilation while cooking with gas. For these reasons I feel the the urge to write this blog and elevate the conversation of affordable electrification. Realistically, not everyone is able to fully decarbonize their homes, especially the large number of renters in our region.
As a renter myself, I am always looking for ways to cut gas out of my home. My most beloved electric appliance has been my Ninja Foodie where I have been able to continue making many of my favorite meals with just one appliance. As the holiday season approaches, I encourage you to look in your kitchen and see what gas fueled appliances you are feasibly able to switch out to ensure you and your loved ones are breathing clean air this holiday season. And for folks who love looking for the perfect gifts, what a better present than one that is going to cut indoor air pollution in their homes with an electric alternative! I hope that the following information will have you ecstatic and energized to switch out some gas powered appliances in your home.
Please note the following information was respectfully provided by our Conservation Program Manager and Sierra Club is not sponsored by any of these businesses. I encourage you to also make a quick search, you might find a better deal!
Affordable Electric Appliances, ON A BUDGET. The perfect gifts for your loved ones.
| $25 | This Electric Kettle is one cheap and easy way to cut the use of your gas stove to boil water - Target |  |
| $59 | Portable Induction Cooktop - IKEA |  |
| $69 | Induction Cooktop with Flexible Cooking Controls - Target |  |
| $129 | Instant Pot + Multi-Use Pressure Cooker - Best Buy |  |
| $160 | The Mini Oven with 8 cooking functions - Breville |  |
| $229 | Double induction Cooktop - NuWave |  |
Electric is the Way
- Gas stoves produce dangerous amounts of air pollutants, including nitrous oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM), that often exceed outdoor ambient air standards. These pollutants can have lasting and damaging effects on the human body. Children, low income folks, and Black & Brown communities are among the most vulnerable.
- Peak indoor air pollution can reach levels that would be illegal outdoors when cooking with gas.
- Cooking with an induction stove is 85-90% efficient, where gas cooktops (primarily methane) are only 40% efficient. Electric kitchens, powered exclusively by electricity, offer cleaner, safer, healthier, and more sustainable homes. Induction and electric stoves make your home safer for you and your family by avoiding combustion of methane gas (natural gas) and significantly reducing the air pollutants that are emitted as a result of cooking. Plus, electric appliances can be powered by 100% renewable energy, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.
- As our summers continue to get hotter and feel longer, cooking with gas heats up your kitchen even more. By cooking with an induction stove, you are able to more precisely control the temperature and more efficiently cook your foods faster.
Our new report compiles national outdoor air pollution data from across government and expert sources showing the extent of the harm caused to people and the environment from fossil fuel burning equipment in homes and buildings, the disproportionate impact this pollution has on environmental justice communities and vulnerable demographic groups, and how the use of methane gas in buildings is connected to the broader system of methane gas extraction and distribution. The Outdoor Pollution is Coming from Inside the House: National Building Pollution Report, a joint report with our partners at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). Learn more about all electric kitchens, here. And if you are ready to make the switch, you can learn more about your local rebates.
To learn more about ways to get involved and support our electrification work, you can email the Chapter Conservation Program Manager at kim.orbe@sierraclub.org. If you are interested in learning more about how you can electrify your home, visit the switchison.org and more on rebates and incentives, here.
Header image: Photo by Sergiy Tryapitsyn/Alamy
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