[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home. There is a lot to know though. We've got you covered. This is around the house. Welcome to the Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information education while. Little bit of fun every week.

[00:00:36] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining me in our midweek special today. Well, I would be amiss if I'm not talking about the controversy that came out Tuesday about the US Federal Agency trying to ban gas stoves here in the United States, and this is something we've. Talked on before and I wanted to make sure and touch on it again here cuz I mean, I don't care what news source [00:01:00] I'm turning around, there's a lot of people on both sides of the fence on this and I wanted to give some practical information about this so people can, can navigate this.

[00:01:09] Eric Goranson: And here's, here's a little background on it. So, you know, one of the things with gas stoves is you're burning something, right? So it's giving. Fumes. It's giving off chemicals, it's giving off, you know, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, all that stuff's happening. Absolutely. Now, if you cook on electric for instance, you have either a round coil element, like, you know, your grandmother had that round metal element, or you have the glass top ones which has the halogen, uh, you know, or an element below the glass surface, and then you have magnetic in.

[00:01:49] Eric Goranson: Now as far as the facts on cooking, mag magnetic induction is a more efficient cooking method than gas. So if I sit there [00:02:00] and say, okay, I'm gonna take two equal size stock pots, I'm gonna put 'em on a big, huge stock pot burner. And I'm gonna put one on a magnetic induction burner, made for a stockpot right next to it, and I fill 'em up with the exact same temperature of water, and I put 'em on high every single time.

[00:02:21] Eric Goranson: That magnetic induction is going to boil water significantly faster than the gas. No doubt about it. And for one of the reasons of that is, is that the magnetic induction, if you haven't heard of this, it's looks like a smooth top glass, top countertop. But what it's doing is it's taking the iron particles in the pan and make it a move, which creates resistance, which creates heat.

[00:02:47] Eric Goranson: Now, the advantage of magnetic induction is that you can sit there and you can control that, so you have a really fine control of that heat, where gas, you're just turning the gas up and on, and that's what you're. [00:03:00] What do I have in my house? I have a gas cooked up. You know, in full disclosure, I have a 40 inch range, a 48 inch range with six burners and a griddle down the middle, and it works fine.

[00:03:12] Eric Goranson: But now the discussion is, is the Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering banning all gas stoves, which is a source of indoor pollution that they're saying is linked to childhood asthma. So let's back up. Before we dive into this news story, there is one thing that is barely touched on in this story that I'm gonna have to call out right off the bat.

[00:03:41] Eric Goranson: You will not have a major health concern inside your house if you are using a properly tuned up range and that vent hood. It should be above that range that should be used every time you're cooking it, and that vent hood should [00:04:00] always vent outside. If we break this story down, this is a ventilation issue and not a natural gas stove issue period.

[00:04:17] Eric Goranson: Because, The argument that they're making about the pollutants and stuff. You take away some of those pollutants when you take away from the gas, but you will still have other carcinogens and things coming off the food that you're cooking or burning inside the pan, inside the house. If you are using an electric or a magnetic conduction cooktop, you are still putting things out.

[00:04:44] Eric Goranson: If you've got a frying pan with grease, and I'm gonna fry on my favorite fried chicken on a magnetic induction, I am still putting a lot of stuff in the air that is linked to poor indoor air quality [00:05:00] that will increase the chance of childhood asthma, having an issue with that. So there's the first problem.

[00:05:09] Eric Goranson: We have a large problem in the United States with Ventil. In my state, in many states across the United States, it is required that you put in a rain hood that vents all the way outside that is properly sized. However, there are plenty of states out there that say, oh, as long as you have a window in that space that opens, you can do one of the recirculating vent hoods.

[00:05:37] Eric Goranson: Those recirculating vent hoods are garbage. They do not work. They should, they shouldn't be used. And, uh, you've heard me rant probably here before that there is no way that those things should be used or even sold in the home centers. There's no reason for it because they don't work, and that's the problem.[00:06:00]

[00:06:00] Eric Goranson: Now, micro hoods, again, I'm not a fan of microwave range hoods. Those are the ones that you put over the top of the cooktop and you see 'em kind of in lower end. That you put that up there and they've got the vent hood that should vent all the way outside and they've got the microwave there. The problem with those US is that when you're cooking, most of the stuff still runs up the front because there's no capture area.

[00:06:24] Eric Goranson: If you think of a range hood, it's almost got like that area up there, like the bottom of umbrella, for instance. That catches all of that. When it comes up, it captures it there, so it could actually push up and get sucked up into the fan and out of the. So what you're seeing there is with none of that, it's relying on the fan to grab all of it at once.

[00:06:46] Eric Goranson: And the fan is low power, so it doesn't want to grab it. And that's why I don't like the vent hoods. The microwave hoods over the top. Is it better than a ventless hood? Absolutely. Is it better than [00:07:00] nothing? A hundred percent of the time have I designed kitchens with them? But every single time I've designed a kitchen with 'em, I turned around and said, are you sure you really want to do this?

[00:07:11] Eric Goranson: And we have this conversation and then that homeowner can make their choice with that. You are much better off putting in a rain hood that's properly sized and then putting in a microwave down below. It's also safer too, cause you don't have to reach across a hot cooking surface to grab. So if I go over here to CNN Business, and I'll give them credit for this story that I'm reading here.

[00:07:37] Eric Goranson: Um, they're basically saying here that, uh, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's been considering action on gas stoves for months. Now December 22, study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found indoor gas stove usage is associated with an increased risk of current asthma among children.

[00:07:58] Eric Goranson: They found a study [00:08:00] found that almost 13% of childhood asthma in the US is attributable to gas stove use. They also told Bloomberg Agency plans to open public comment on gas stove hazards. And, uh, besides having a ban, they could set standards on emissions from the appliances. That's not gonna fix it, in my opinion.

[00:08:22] Eric Goranson: And then, uh, it says 35% of the households in the United States use a gas stove. And then in California, New Jersey, it could be 70%. Other studies have found that these stoves emit significant levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide in fine particulate matter. And again, this comes down to ventilation.

[00:08:45] Eric Goranson: It says short-term exposure to N oh two is linked to worsening asthma children. I totally get that. This can be, in my opinion, we're gonna get off the script here from what they're saying. This is one of those things that is, [00:09:00] and I, I, I have no problem with electric. But this is a hundred percent ventilation problem.

[00:09:05] Eric Goranson: And if someone's gonna sit here and tell us that it's not, that's a gas stove issue. I'm sorry. You are gonna have particulate matter. Like I said earlier, in other stove it'll be different particulate matter, but you will still have that same issue of small particulates that will be an asthma issue with kids with any other cooking surface as well if you don't have the right ventil.

[00:09:29] Eric Goranson: It's really that simple. So, um, it's interesting. The American Gas Association had pushed back against the natural gas ban in December saying it makes housing more expensive as electric homes require expensive retrofits. And here's an issue here, a ban on cooking appliances, gas, cooking appliances would remove all an affordable and preferred technology used in more, more than 40% of homes across the country said that industry spokes.

[00:09:58] Eric Goranson: So this is something that [00:10:00] I agree with them that says a ban of gas cooking would fail to address the overall concern of indoor air quality while cooking. So I'm agreeing with that. So yes, I'm on all sides of this, but at the same point, let's call this what it is. It's a ventilation issue. All right guys, we got a lot more coming up here this weekend and around the house we're gonna have fun.

[00:10:21] Eric Goranson: One, we're gonna be talking pests. So I've got a secret expert coming on the show to talk about bugs, mice, rats, and all of those things. And then, uh, we've also gonna be talking about, and that's our two. We're also gonna be talking with the Institute for Justice. And about a, uh, a new thing that's happening in Seattle that they've taken the city of Seattle to over permit.

[00:10:45] Eric Goranson: So this could, uh, be something for you if you want to add onto your house. This is something that's gonna start to go nationwide and they're trying to stop it in Seattle. So as you as a homeowner, that's a big deal. As well as we're gonna talk about the craziest things I saw at CES on their [00:11:00] virtual stuff, and there is some wild things that you're not gonna wanna miss all coming up on Saturday.

[00:11:05] Eric Goranson: All right, everybody. I'm gotta go back to, uh, doing my TV show here. Getting ready for that, uh, debut on February 18th. So we've been doing filming and getting that stuff ready, so, uh, enjoy it out there. Make sure you listen to last weekend's episode with the, uh, generation and power generation. That is a great episode.

[00:11:22] Eric Goranson: As well as the 10 G that we talked about with Comcast. Uh, both of those, and here's a little secret, if you're thinking about buying a generator, there is a discount code at the end. Of the episode there, of the, uh, ones with our power equipment direct or electric generators direct in the last episode there.

[00:11:42] Eric Goranson: So you don't wanna miss that if you're trying to think of one, uh, 50 bucks. Hey, that's a good discount code you don't wanna miss. All right, everybody, have a great rest of the week and thanks again for Listening to around the house.[00:12:00]