Terry Blanton <hohlr...@gmail.com> wrote: Hmmm. Imagine just the cost of rewiring residential and commercial > buildings for the subject matter...not to mention where we get the > replacement energy. >
They are only talking about removing natural gas from stoves, where it causes health problems. There is no need to remove it from water heaters or furnaces, because they have chimneys. Most gas is used in space heating or water heating. In a kitchen with a ventilation hood over the stove, there would be no need to convert to electricity. I think new construction regulations ensuring adequate ventilation will solve most of the problems. (I think many gas ovens are vented. Not sure about that.) Very little replacement energy will be needed because an electric stove uses only a little more energy than gas. Modern electric stoves use induction rather than direct heating, which is more efficient than resistance heating. When the electricity comes from a natural gas fired generator, it is obviously less efficient than direct use of natural gas, but a lot of electricity these days comes from other sources such as wind or solar. The only rewiring involved would be installing a 220 VAC connection to the kitchen. In most U.S. houses there is already a 220 VAC connector to the clothes dryer. Anyway, this would be for new construction. I do not think anyone is considering a ban on gas stoves in existing houses. In new construction it would cost nothing to put a 220 VAC connector in the kitchen.
