Global Action Plan and energy efficiency group CLASP are urging local authorities and housing providers to retrofit their properties with induction hobs, replacing gas cookers which are responsible for nearly 4,000 early deaths each year in the UK.
This follows a project that ran in Manchester between January and April of this year, in which 10 Southway Housing Trust properties agree to have their gas cookers replaced with induction hobs. After just one week, all said they preferred their new cooker to their gas appliance.
Despite the dangers of gas hobs being well known, they still make up 40% of sales and around half the homes in the UK use one.
The two organisations have today published guidance for local authorities and housing providers titled: ‘A gas to electric cooker retrofit in social housing.’
The guidance covers the topics of Planning, Logistics and Participant engagement, which proved to be a major factor in the project’s success. Many residents initially preferred gas cooking, often due to past negative experiences with outdated electric cookers. Sharing evidence about the environmental and health impacts of gas, alongside the benefits of induction technology, helped increase acceptance.
The guidance also recommends including cookware as part of the retrofit, along with post-installation follow-ups.
Simultaneously, Global Action Plan and CLASP have published ‘Policy pathways for the transition to electric cooking in the UK.’ This calls for a number of interventions such as setting a cut off date for the installation of new gas hobs and ovens of no later than 2035 and implementing the Future Homes Standard as soon as possible.
At the launch of the two papers, Larissa Lockwood, Director of Policy & Campaigns at Global Action Plan said: ‘Homes with gas stoves can have nitrogen dioxide levels up to 400% higher than those without – this is the same type of toxic air pollution that comes from car exhausts and is linked to a range of health conditions including lung and heart disease.
‘Transitioning from gas to electric cooking across the UK is a win-win: it will benefit public health through improving indoor air quality, as well as reducing household emissions and energy use. Today we are launching a robust policy roadmap that demonstrates how the UK can transition from gas to electric cooking by 2035, in line with Government home decarbonisation commitments and Climate Change Committee recommendations. We urge policymakers to ensure that UK households are not left behind in the transition to cleaner, safer, and more efficient cooking methods.’
CLASP Europe’s Director, Nicole Kearney, said: ‘As governments across Europe move to decarbonise heating, gas cooking remains a blind spot, a neglected source of indoor air pollution that keeps homes locked into using fossil fuels. The solution to bridge these gaps and make cleaner, healthier, and more efficient electric cooking accessible to everyone is available and ready for implementation. The UK Government should seize this opportunity and set a powerful precedent by championing an equitable transition.’
The guidance can be read here.
The Policy Pathway can be read here.
More information on the Manchester scheme can be read here.
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