Our favorite efficiency conversion has been changing from a gas stove and oven to an induction stove and electric oven. For many years, we had been tricked by the gas companies’ myth that gas stoves were the only serious option for home cooks. Once again, we found out that European cooks have been using and loving induction stoves for many years while enjoying the health benefits of not having trace amounts of gas constantly leaking into their homes and then burning it to cook. And this was the final step in our long journey to finally shut off any gas coming into our unit of our side-by-side two-family building. There was a $500 Mass Save® rebate that was the icing on the cake, as they say.

It’s easy to check for induction-compatible cookware, and we were lucky that most of ours already was. We donated a couple of our favorite pots and pans that weren’t induction compatible to others who could make use of them, including our friend who took our old gas stove when his failed and he was not ready to buy a new one just yet.

Heating with the induction stove is quicker and more powerful compared to gas stoves, much like electric cars are to internal combustion engines. We literally couldn’t believe how quickly pasta water would come to a boil and stay steady during cooking. The glass cooktop is incredibly easy to clean, and the burner controls are both precise and responsive. Because the heat is created by magnetism, when we reduce a setting that’s too high, it drops immediately, and it’s quick to heat up when we go from a lower to a higher heat setting.