your gas stove is bad for you and the planet - in a heat pump

OAKLAND, Calif. —
We have some good news that sounds like bad news: your gas stove has to go.
We know how you feel when you read these words.
We used to like cooking with gas.
But if our society is going to solve the climate crisis, one thing we have to do is stop burning gas in our buildings.
No one will shed tears for having to switch to a more efficient stove or water heater.
But people have feelings for gas stoves, which the gas industry knows.
Seeing the battle coming, the industry has released publicity for gorgeous pictures with blue flames.
What gas companies will not tell you is that your stove is dangerous not only for the world's climate but also for the health of your own family.
We will explain it later.
First of all, the bigger picture is that the need to deal with climate change is beyond urgent scope.
We don't have much time.
Over the next decade, we need to cut climate pollution in the United States by half in order to do our part to protect a livable planet.
Despite the Trump administration, the United States is actually making progress in some areas.
We're going to get rid of coal.
Burning power plants at record speed, half of them have disappeared.
This year, as more state legislatures commit to 100% clean electricity or debate, a new wave of ambition to tackle climate change is sweeping the states.
Despite these advances, the Rhodium Group estimates that,
The United States increased emissions by 3.
Last year was 4% more than last year, the biggest increase in decades.
Now burning natural gas is a bigger source of pollution than burning coal, of which nearly the third is burning in homes and commercial buildings.
But despite the growing climate commitment of state and local governments, none of them really solved the gas problem in buildings.
In fact, gas companies are still allowed to spend billions of dollars to expand new lines, and if we are to achieve our climate goals, these connections will have to be cut off long before their service life ends.
Obviously, it will take a while to get gas from existing buildings, so the new building is the right place to start getting rid of this addiction.
California is ready to go first.
In Berkeley, Senator Kate Harrison proposed a ban on connecting gas to new buildings as part of an effort to ensure the city's 2018 announcement of a "climate emergency.
Other cities are working on the issue, and Los Angeles announced an ambitious plan this week.
Once the city of California has proven this, we hope the action will take place nationwide.
The ultimate goal of this switch-
The strategy, which runs more and more economies on electricity, is called "let everything go ".
"It makes sense because the grid will become cleaner as renewable energy replaces fossil fuels.
People of a certain age may think: Wait. All-
Half a century ago, when the price of electricity fell, the electric "gold medal House" was one thing.
The electric power industry and General Electric's Pittman Ronald Reagan have pushed the families hard.
But when electricity prices eventually rise, they become the albatross of their owners. Why do all-
Does the electric House now make sense?
Because technology has been saved in the form of a device called a heat pump.
They operate on electricity, but they are much more efficient than our parents' generation.
So if we start installing them now, then our building's contribution to climate change will be smaller and smaller as the grid becomes greener.
You may have never heard of a heat pump, but you already have a heat pump at home.
Heat pump is the core technology of refrigerator.
It's basically a cycle that includes a pump and a compressor that sucks the heat inside into the kitchen, and even if the inside of your refrigerator is colder than the air in the room, it does that.
Heat pumps can replace your stove and air conditioning.
In winter, even if the weather is cold, it absorbs heat from the outside and blows it into your house.
In the summer, a heat pump runs in reverse to cool the house.
Efficient Heating
There are many water pump water heaters.
Create a new all
Electric homes powered by heat pumps are already cheaper than buildings that use gas because you can avoid the cost of gas lines and ventilation.
For the elderly families, the economic situation is different;
A study by the Rocky Mountain Institute found that the cost of installing and running heat pumps could be more expensive or cheaper --
Positive and negative 10%-
More important than having a gas system.
As the heat pump becomes the standard for new buildings, the market size and cost of the new and old houses will all decline.
The stove actually uses very little energy, but until people are sure that there is a better alternative than the gas stove, we will not be able to get rid of the gas pipeline of the building --
And start saving a lot of money by shutting down the gas distribution system.
Technology has saved us again.
The induction cooker running on electricity is better than the gas stove.
These devices use magnetic waves to heat the pan, and the chef who has tried it will soon fall in love.
The advantage of the gas stove is the precise control of heat, but the induction cooker is more accurate and faster.
At present, induction cookers are usually more expensive than gas cookers. At retail, 30-
Generally speaking, the inch gas cooker costs $500 to $1,000, while the size of the induction cooker costs $800 to $2,000.
Even if the climate is not a problem, it makes sense to change induced cooking because gas stoves are polluting our homes.
Over the past decade, more and more scientific evidence has shown that gas stoves emit pollutants such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
When you cook, those invisible contaminants can easily reach illegal levels outdoors, but the Clean Air Act is not at home.
Scientists linked gas stoves to asthma attacks and hospital admissions.
In 2008, scientists at Johns Hopkins University urged doctors to advise parents of children with asthma to throw away their gas stoves or at least install powerful exhaust hoods.
Asthma is a rampant discriminatory disease that strikes children and communities of color the most.
For health and climate reasons, we don't think people who are now capable of switching need to wait for prices to fall.
Find a good contractor, replace the gas appliance with a heat pump and cover the gas pipe line.
At the same time, a national incentive plan should be designed to ensure that all households can achieve this transition as soon as possible, regardless of their income.
The sooner you switch, the sooner you show your neighbors your sleek new induction cooker and let them know all about it
Electric life is back, not too fast.
Bruce Niles is the managing director of the Rocky Mountain Institute, where he launched a project for building electrified.