5 ms·

An induction cooker may be more efficient, but if you're burning gas (or coal) to generate electricity to then operate an electric stove, it's more efficient to

by rob74 4y ago

An induction cooker may be more efficient, but if you're burning gas (or coal) to generate electricity to then operate an electric stove, it's more efficient to burn the gas directly in the stove.

lmz 4y ago
Doesn't that depend on the delivery mechanism? City gas would be fine but LPG tubes would probably use up more fuel in transport vs existing power lines.
cmcconomy 4y ago
I imagine there is also loss involved in gas transport to hundreds of thousands of homes versus a single pipe to a power station
- britneybitch 4y ago
  There's also losses when transporting electricity. A pipe can be made perfectly airtight, but a wire cannot be made perfectly efficient* *Yes I know about superconductors, that doesn't apply here
pitaj 4y ago
Burning gas on a stovetop burner is nowhere near as capable of extracting energy from the resulting heat as a gas turbine power plant or even a modern furnace.
unethical_ban 4y ago
Literally, with no context, externalities, and in a lab setting, you are correct. With the broader societal goal of "never burn fossil fuels when an alternative exists" and "never have to build new infrastructure for residential gas again", it becomes clear we should move away from residential fossil fuel consumption. We must work to cutover individual tools from fossil to electric, and in parallel work to cutover electric generations from fossil to renewable. The same principle applies to vehicles. I don't care that the electricity for a Tesla comes from coal today - it soon won't. I hear the rebuttal "ICE engines are very inefficient but a gas burner is different". Yes, but the replacement need is the same, and on the timeframe that people buy large appliances, it would be best if people moved to electric ASAP. --- That all said, from an air quality concern perspective, I agree the focus should be on proper venting. It is disgusting to me that so few houses and almost no apartments have true external venting for bathrooms and kitchens - why this was done in houses 50 years ago but not today should be an embarrassment to every homebuilder outfit.
SamBam 4y ago
That's simply not true, because you aren't accounting for the large losses in energy between the flames and the food. Induction is significant more efficient at getting the heat to the food.

by rob74 4y ago

An induction cooker may be more efficient, but if you're burning gas (or coal) to generate electricity to then operate an electric stove, it's more efficient to burn the gas directly in the stove.

lmz 4y ago

Doesn't that depend on the delivery mechanism? City gas would be fine but LPG tubes would probably use up more fuel in transport vs existing power lines.

cmcconomy 4y ago

I imagine there is also loss involved in gas transport to hundreds of thousands of homes versus a single pipe to a power station

britneybitch 4y ago
There's also losses when transporting electricity. A pipe can be made perfectly airtight, but a wire cannot be made perfectly efficient* *Yes I know about superconductors, that doesn't apply here

pitaj 4y ago

Burning gas on a stovetop burner is nowhere near as capable of extracting energy from the resulting heat as a gas turbine power plant or even a modern furnace.

unethical_ban 4y ago

Literally, with no context, externalities, and in a lab setting, you are correct. With the broader societal goal of "never burn fossil fuels when an alternative exists" and "never have to build new infrastructure for residential gas again", it becomes clear we should move away from residential fossil fuel consumption. We must work to cutover individual tools from fossil to electric, and in parallel work to cutover electric generations from fossil to renewable. The same principle applies to vehicles. I don't care that the electricity for a Tesla comes from coal today - it soon won't. I hear the rebuttal "ICE engines are very inefficient but a gas burner is different". Yes, but the replacement need is the same, and on the timeframe that people buy large appliances, it would be best if people moved to electric ASAP. --- That all said, from an air quality concern perspective, I agree the focus should be on proper venting. It is disgusting to me that so few houses and almost no apartments have true external venting for bathrooms and kitchens - why this was done in houses 50 years ago but not today should be an embarrassment to every homebuilder outfit.

SamBam 4y ago

That's simply not true, because you aren't accounting for the large losses in energy between the flames and the food. Induction is significant more efficient at getting the heat to the food.