The Future, of home

A follow-up on what Toronto's 2040 net-zero climate commitments mean for our homes and how we invest in them.

Cooking With Gas…

A recent kitchen renovation in our own home had us take a long hard look at whether to replace our old gas stove with a newer model -- or to go with an environmentally-conscious high-end induction model.

Many cities have already banned the use of natural gas for new home building, including Quebec City and Vancouver. Toronto's ambitious commitment to hit net-zero by 2040 has dictated a rapid and significant reduction in natural gas use.

These existing parameters and our desire to help slow climate change made the cooking with gas decision easy for us. The bottom line is that the use of natural gas is being phased out in cities all over Europe and North America.

In addition to the carbon emissions from burning gas research has discovered there are additional health risks of indoor air pollution from gas stoves that is contributing to lung diseases like asthma, especially in children.

So even though getting rid of our gas stove felt like the worst kitchen betrayal imaginable - it was abundantly clear it was the right choice. Our induction stove was ordered 4 months ago and has yet to arrive. Pretty soon, we will be Putting out the Fire (sorry David Bowie, not with gasoline)

Looking forward to moving boldly into the future.

NEXT UP on the future of our homes: We explore heating and cooling; heat pumps, hybrid systems, installation, costs and more.