Induction cook-tops have been long hyped for being the next best thing in cooking technology. These cook-tops use electromagnetism and are faster, more precise and more efficient than conventional stove tops. They have a large advantage in that they have much lower residual heat and combustion emissions during and after cooking and gas after finishing cooking. Induction cook-tops have little to no additional effect on indoor air quality and include many safety features not found in other stove tops.
Yet, in the US, induction cook-tops have less than 10% of the market share. Compared to Europe, where they reached 35.9% in 2020 with these numbers projected to increase in the next 10 years. Perhaps the marketing has been poorly done in the US markets - or it is a lot more complex.
If you ever visit a small apartment in the Swiss Alps, or perhaps if you browse home sharing apps, you will more likely than not find that chalets have an induction cook-top. On one hand, the Swiss are attracted to the safe environment which induction provides. Additionally, both the climate policy and electricity resources in Switzerland make induction a better long-term choice, both economically and environmentally.
Two-thirds of the electricity in Switzerland is renewable hydro-electric from dams and the other third from nuclear. For this reason, most households have electric - and since 14% of the electricity used in a Swiss home is from stove-tops and ovens - an induction stove top just makes sense. 90% of the electricity consumed by an induction stove is used for cooking food. These are clear long term advantages and savings especially when compared to other electric cook-tops which are on average about 75% efficient. The higher price of installing an induction pays for itself, especially in the long-term.
This is hard to realize in the US. Most homes already have gas, and historically gas has been cheaper which meant less long-term savings. American homes simply don’t yet see the value of changing their cook-tops if the upfront cost is high.
However, consumer reports do foresee an increase in induction cook-top installations. There is a new wave of research showing the adverse health impacts of burning gas in the home. People are also becoming more conscious about the carbon footprint of their choices. All that to say, we expect to see the induction stove-top having a place in American households soon.
Read more here:
Try an Induction Cooktop in the comfort of your home for three weeks - for free!
https://www.ehomecooktops.com/
The Case for Induction Cooking: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/dining/induction-cooking.html
Induction Cooktops Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/induction-cooktops-market
Growth impacts of Swiss steering-based climate policies: https://sjes.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41937-019-0043-5
