Our vision is to build a resilient city for all current and future Denverites. The city is already experiencing the consequences of climate change. Extreme heat, drought, flooding, and worsening air quality are more common. Action is more important than ever. One way for you to take action in your home is to transition to an all-electric kitchen.
Electric cooking has many benefits. It avoids harmful gasses that you can inhale while you're cooking. You often get more control over your cooking.
Your kitchen already uses electric!
Take a look around the typical home kitchen and you will see lots of electric appliances:
- Toaster or toaster oven
- Waffle iron or sandwich press
- Air-fryer or rice cooker
- InstaPot or crockpot
Many electric appliances have an electric interface for automated cooking cycles that make cooking easier and less stressful.
The Last Holdout is the Surface Burner.
There is a misconception that gas cooktops are the best option available. But induction burners come with a huge list of benefits that you can’t get from cooking with fossil gas.
Induction burners offer an alternative heat source for cooking. Instead of gas or radiant electric heat, induction burners use electromagnetic energy. What does that mean? Simply put, the stove creates a magnetic field under the cookware. When this magnetic field interacts with the metal of the cookware, the cookware heats up. The induction burner causes the pan itself to heat up, rather than passing heat from a flame or electric coil. This means that induction burners tend to much more efficient than other types of burners.
Chefs all over the world use induction burners to create their food with precision and power.
History
Induction burners are tested and trusted technology.
- The first induction burner patent was issued in the early 1900s
- The 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago featured an induction burner demonstration
- In the 1950s Frigidaire had a touring show with induction burners to tout the "kitchen of the future"
Since then, induction burners have continued to advance. They remained more popular in Europe and are picking up popularity again in the United States. With features and benefits that many homeowners prefer, the market for induction burners is better than ever.
Induction burners provide many benefits over gas and radiant electric burners.
Induction Burners are Clean and Healthy
- Because they do not rely on natural gas, induction burners improve your indoor air quality.
- Induction stoves reduce the risks of respiratory issues such as asthma, particularly in children.
- They rely on electricity, which is increasingly generated by clean and renewable sources.
- They don't heat up the whole house when cooking! Most of the heat from gas burners goes into the surrounding area before the cookware can absorb it.
Induction Burners are More Powerful
- Residential gas burners are limited to around 20,000 BTU. This compares to about 35,000 BTU equivalent for induction burners.
- Induction burners can cook your food more quickly and efficiently. Boil a pot of water in a couple minutes!
- Because they are more efficient, more of the heat gets used for actual cooking. Induction burners are about 90% efficient, compared to about 40% in natural gas burners.
Induction Burners Create Better Cooking Results
- Most models have precision temperature controls. This means you have more control over how hot the pan gets at any time.
- You never have to eyeball the size of a flame like with a gas burner. This means a much more consistent cooking surface every time.
- You never have to deal with the coil switching on and off like with an electric coil burner. This means much more consistent temperature over time.
- You can create a much lower low-temperature cooking surface for delicate foods.
- You can get your pan much hotter much faster for intense high-heat cooking and searing.
- Because the burner heats the pan directly, your cookware heats up much more quickly.
- Because the burner heats the pan directly, your cookware gets a much more even distribution of heat.
Induction Burners are Safer
- The burner itself does not heat up, which means that your cooking area remains much cooler. The only heat on the burner comes from the residual heat from the pan.
- Induction burners need the cookware to be able to work. This means you can't accidentally turn on a coil that will get very hot or create a gas leak in your home.
- Most induction burner come with an emergency shut off. These trigger automatically if the cookware gets too hot.
Induction Stoves Lower Costs
- With natural gas and electric resistance burners, most of the heat goes into the ambient air instead of your food. Since induction burners keep most of the heat in the cookware, you don't need to spend as much energy cooling your kitchen during and after cooking a meal.
- You don't need as much air treatment or ventilation in your kitchen. This is because you are not working with natural gas, which is harmful if inhaled.
- The price of gas is volatile and unpredictable, whereas the price of electricity is well-regulated. This means that you can avoid huge spikes in your utilities bill.
We want to help Denverites get induction burners into their homes. To help us figure out the best programs to make that happen, we need feedback from YOU.
Over the next several months, we will be conduction community feedback sessions around Denver. These will help us understand your needs and what programs will help expand induction cooking across the city best.
Do you want to stay in the loop of upcoming events and feedback sessions? Signup for our newsletter to stay in the loop:
Sign Up Today