For more than 30 years, Sleeping Dog Properties has been Boston’s leader in custom home creation. As a leader in home construction, Sleeping Dog Properties has witnessed several fads and controversies when it comes to the appliances inside of a home. Back in January, some comments made by the Federal Consumer Safety Products Commission commissioner sparked a debate that caught the attention of the national media. The commissioner’s words spoke to the potential risks posed by gas stoves, particularly to children who struggle with asthma. Some news outlets went so far as to claim that the government was coming for your gas stove. Today, Sleeping Dog Properties will look at the controversy and see whether the backlash was fair or fraud.
The first thing Sleeping Dog Properties notes is that most homes in the Northeast use electric stoves. About 40 percent of the homes in the United States use natural gas, and more modern houses have switched to electric long before the 2023 controversy. Sleeping Dog Properties notes that gas stoves causing health issues is not a fraud statement. Still, it is mostly a matter of ventilation. Harvard released a study in June that showed that poorly ventilated gas stoves cause health hazards inside a home. The same study showed that gas stoves have a slightly higher risk of causing breathing issues for children with asthma.
Sleeping Dog Properties believes that people utilizing a gas stove inside their house should always turn on their stove’s ventilation fan. As a builder, Sleeping Dog Properties notes that many homes they have remodeled don’t have proper stove ventilation or fans in place to recirculate air through a filter. As people have grown more aware of the amounts of nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants that hit the air when a stove is on, builders have made it a point to install proper ventilation systems.
Those with a gas stove can make things safer in their home or apartment by opening a window or ensuring that the stove’s fan is always turned on while cooking. This will dramatically reduce the emission levels of harmful chemicals inside the residence.
Sleeping Dog Properties notes that homeowners either responded to the news of gas stoves offering health risks with doubt or with fear. Many grew up with gas stoves and never noticed a link to coughing or other respiratory illnesses. Others just wanted to ensure they are doing everything possible to keep their family safe. Sleeping Dog Properties notes that those with gas stoves do not need to worry about the government coming for their property. Most rules and regulations will simply enforce that new construction requires electric stoves.
The truth of the gas stove controversy is that asthma concerns is secondary to climate change concerns. Sleeping Dog Properties notes that phasing out natural gas is something that environmentalists have been pushing for. The burning of natural gas contributes to carbon dioxide pollution. Different states have started to pass building code laws that require electric stoves moving forward. Sleeping Dog Properties notes that this trend is fair, but the idea that anyone is coming to rip out all gas stoves is fraud.
