GoKawiilStoves come in three basic types: gas, electric and induction. There are significant differences among them, which we've outlined in this guide to stoves. For me, it's never been a question; gas was the only fuel professional chefs in the kitchens I worked in growing up used, ergo gas was the only stove I ever considered. That all changed when I bought my first house.
Moving into a new home with an aging stove forced me to ask a question I thought I knew the answer to. My instinct, honed by years of experience with gas, was to stick with what I knew. But my day job complicated things. As a home tech reporter who covers large appliances and the health risks tied to cooking with gas indoors, I couldn't ignore what I'd been writing about.
I switched to a smart induction stove, and I couldn't be happier. Samsung/CNET
I've had asthma my entire life, one of the conditions thought to be aggravated by gas stove emissions, particularly in children. And my new kitchen, somewhat cut off from the rest of the house, made ventilation less an afterthought and more an urgent concern.
Ultimately, I opted for induction -- Samsung's feature-rich smart induction stove. After more than a year of use, peace of mind about air quality is just one of many reasons I'm happy I did. It's faster, safer, cleaner and more energy efficient to boot.
Here are the five big reasons I made the switch with no intentions of going back.
1. Air quality was the biggest factor
I was a gas stove purist -- until I wasn't. Alessandro Citterio/Getty Images
What pushed me to move on from gas has nothing to do with cooking. Study after study has shown that natural gas stoves pose a real risk of environmental contamination. While the scuttlebutt over whether gas stoves are safe and what regulatory guardrails should be in place has largely quieted, the science remains.
Gas stoves are shown to leak more than previously thought, and those leaks have been shown to cause respiratory issues, particularly in children. As a lifelong sufferer of asthma and the owner of a new but not-so-well-ventilated kitchen, it didn't seem worth the risk, even if most agree that more research is needed.
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