Why gas cooking and hot water systems could be on the way out of Australian houses

Gas stoves, ovens and hot water systems could become a thing of the past as the world struggles to cut emissions to mitigate the climate crisis.

Once touted as a low-emissions alternative to power-hungry electrical appliances, gas has now been surpassed, QUT senior lecturer in energy Wendy Miller said.

“More than a decade ago there was a big move to go to gas because gas was seen as a more efficient means of heating, if that was for cooking or water or space heating, it worked better than existing electrical systems at the time,” Dr Miller said. “The greenhouse gas emission per unit of gas was less than the equivalent per electricity.

“But since then, a number of things have changed, which now makes gas not the best option.”

Dr Miller said induction cooktops were much more efficient than the older, solid element stoves, which waste energy while heating up.

“They’re relatively efficient,” she said, of induction stoves. “And then if the supply of electricity is coming from renewable energy sources, the greenhouse intensity of the electricity supply can also be good.

“But that depends on where you’re getting your electricity from.”

The idea that the humble gas stove may not be good for the environment is catching on with developers and planners.

In the Moreland council area in Melbourne, having no gas in new homes is a requirement to win the municipality’s highest tick of approval in design excellence.

While electricity sources in Melbourne aren’t yet totally renewable, council city futures director Kirsten Coster said there was an expectation they would be eventually.

“Our design excellence scorecard encourages gas-free electrified homes, as it is expected that electricity will transition to 100 per cent renewable sources, such as solar, over time, whereas gas is a non-renewable fossil fuel,” she said.

Moreland developer Milieu was the first to achieve the rating, and said where possible it would no longer be including gas in residential projects, co-director Shannon Peach said.

“We’re moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels,” he said. “It’s something we’ve researched and started to implement since late 2016.”

While he expected customers to be upset with losing the option to cook with gas in the two gas-free developments his company had launched so far, he said buyers understood once the sales team explained the reason for the exclusion.

“We thought that would have more pushback, especially with people coming from established homes,” Mr Peach said. “Just a small handful of people coming to [recent development] Briese Street questioned why there was no gas cooktop.

“I think potentially people are more conscious and more willing to change their ways in the areas where we’re doing our building. I’m sure it will become more common.”

Dr Miller said there were also other benefits to switching to electricity for household applications, other than potentially emitting less carbon.

“The first is indoor air quality. Burning gas inside a house emits air particles that can be bad for people who have asthma or other breathing difficulties,” she said. “It can make asthma worse. There’s a whole range of health studies about gas inside of homes.

“[And] both gas and electricity suppliers charge you a connection fee each day regardless of if you use them or not. If you go to electricity, you just have one fee.”