Even regular cooking or baking can release harmful gasses (your smoke alarm isn't wrong when it goes off, even if there isn't a fire), but a gas range or stove can easily cause an indoor space to be more toxic than outdoor air pollution standards allow for.
Studies have started to come out connecting higher asthma rates with rates of gas ranges and some communities have started to restrict the use of gas ranges in new construction.
I first realized this might be an issue when dealing with toxic wildfire smoke and reading govt recommendations that suggested refraining from cooking during a wildfire event. 😬
Always use the vent over your stove and ideally keep a window open. I always have my air filters running on auto, and they turn an angry red whenever it’s dinnertime, no matter how innocent the process is. (But while your
Update: Wirecutter covered this in Jan 2023
And they included a highly rated CO2 monitor, which I think is probably a tool worth investing in. It works as a proxy for stale air/air that has circulated through humans (relevant not only for Covid exposure but for other airborne diseases), it will indicate at which point the CO2 itself might cause temporary cognitive impairment, and generally is just a great tool for reminding you to open a window.
If I still ran an office, I would opt for the pro (available on their website) to monitor multiple spaces simultaneously.
Update: we love this little device; it’s great for calibrating your intuitions and we even bring it along when we travel. If it were cheaper, it would be a major player on this year’s Christmas list.
If I had a gas range at home, I would seriously consider getting a portable induction burner, not only for reducing indoor air pollution, but also to take advantage of all the benefits of induction without needing to swap out my entire range.
