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Elegant, Energy-Efficient & Low Carbon-Footprint Cooking

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One gorgeous and elegant way to reduce your use of the energy that causes climate change is by switching to an induction cooktop. These use a high-powered magnet to heat food, not an electric heating element.

They use half the energy of a gas stove and even less than half that of an electric stove top.
When turned on, a magnetic field transfers energy to just the pot and its contents.  Only the cookware heats while the cooktop stays cool.  According to the department of energy, 84% of the energy required is converted to heat to cook the food versus 52% for a standard electric burner and 40% with gas.

Put another way, an induction stove uses less than half the energy of a gas or electric stove. For example, to boil 2 quarts of water would take only 4 and a half minutes and 745 kilojoules of energy using an induction stove, compared to twice as long, using electric or gas.

To do the same would take an electric stove 1,220 kilojoules for nearly ten minutes and a gas stove 1,340 kilojoules for just over 8 minutes.

Saving half the energy that you now use for stove-top cooking obviously saves you money and cuts your carbon footprint in the long run, but in the short run induction cooktops can be quite an investment. Prices range from $1,600 to over $4,000.

The pots and pans you’ll use on it do need to be made of magnetic materials like cast iron and stainless steel to work. That’s something you can test yourself with a magnet: if the magnet sticks to your pot it will work on an induction cooktop.

Image: Luxury Launches
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