US researchers have found that gas stoves let off pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide. Even when they are off, gas stoves leak methane, a greenhouse gas.
And there’s a good reason to use your rangehoods – a few minutes after gas hobs were switched on, unventilated kitchens contained enough pollutants to exceed international air quality standards.
Gas is a fossil fuel so if we want to reduce the impact of the housing sector on climate change, we should be looking to reduce reliance on gas use in homes. There are growing calls for gas appliances to be phased out, which the Climate Change Commission suggesting phasing out the use of piped natural gas and LPG bottled gas over 30 years, starting with the ban on new connections from 2025.
Beacon has long recognised the health issues with unventilated gas in homes, particularly focusing on unflued gas heaters. These emit noxious gases as well as considerable moisture into a home.