ASHRAE Journal - June 2023 - 60

LETTERS
Cooking with Gas?
I read with interest Max Sherman's recent column
" Still Cooking With Gas? " in the May 2023 issue of
ASHRAE Journal.
As much as a very much respect Max's vast amount
of knowledge and experience, I was shocked he failed
to mention that gas stove use
produces carbon monoxide every
time a pot is placed on a burner
and very often during oven use.
He also failed to mention methane
leakage from the installation, and
the 40-year technical availability
of a burner that does not produce
NOx when in use that is not
marketed to the public.
Just when the public finally
has some idea that gas cooking
is not the best fuel, especially in
new construction and with the
availability of induction cooking,
the column does not appear to
support a switch when it makes
financial sense. It almost sounds
like it was written to appease the ever present and
powerful gas industry.
William A. Turner, P.E.,
Life Member ASHRAE
Harrison, Maine
SHERMAN RESPONDS
William rightly points out that there is presumably
carbon monoxide production in the burning of
natural gas, which like nitrogen dioxide can be a
serious contaminant. In the May 2022 issue of ASHRAE
Journal, my colleagues and I published a detailed
analysis, " Impacts of Unvented Space Heaters, " of the
emissions of unvented gas equipment that considered
both those contaminants. That analysis was part of
the reason that ASHRAE has now prohibited unvented
combustion heaters in a Standard 62.2-compliant
dwelling. The key difference here is that 62.2 requires
that there be a range hood, and thus cooking is not
really unvented. The increase of carbon monoxide
in the space, if any, would be quite small. Something
can always go wrong with any piece of equipment,
60
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of course, but that is a key reason that Standard
62.2 independently requires a carbon monoxide
alarm. Thus for a 62.2-compliant dwelling, there is
insufficient reason to prohibit a technology that some
people get great value from-gas stoves.
William is also concerned about methane leaks,
presumably because of their impact on global climate
change. There are many sources
of methane release into the
atmosphere; gas infrastructure
as whole is part of this release. I
did not cover methane release in
my column because the amount
of methane directly attributable
to gas-stove leakage is a negligible
part of total methane release into
the air. There are much better
and more effective policy options
to reduce methane releases
than banning gas stoves-such
as banning cows because tofu is
available.
If people choose to use induction
cooking, or find a more costeffective
solution, by all means
they should be able to do so. They should be able to
use any option that does not have such a substantial
health, safety or environmental impact that it must
be banned for the public good. Unlike the case of
unvented space heaters in 62.2, gas stoves simply
do not pass that test and should not be banned as a
matter of policy.
Max Sherman, Ph.D.,
Fellow/Life Member ASHRAE
Moraga, Calif.
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ASHRAE Journal - June 2023

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