Whole-home electrification: Integrating cooking appliances into decarbonisation strategies

Peer-reviewed paper 7-243-26

While policy frameworks for buildings increasingly support low-carbon heating and fabric upgrades, they largely overlook cooking technologies. This omission has significant consequences. Gas cooking appliances are less efficient than electric alternatives, emit pollutants linked to asthma symptoms, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, they prevent full-home decarbonisation by locking households into the gas network and requiring continued payment of gas standing charges.

This paper examines the consideration of cooking electrification within European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) building decarbonisation policies and instruments. It identifies the persistent absence of cooking from major retrofit frameworks and argues that integrating cooking would enhance social equity outcomes and improve alignment with net-zero and public health objectives. Electrifying cooking enables full disconnection from the gas grid and maximises the economic and social returns of publicly funded heating retrofits.

Social housing retrofit programmes, which play a central role in addressing decarbonisation and energy poverty across Europe, offer a practical entry point for advancing cooking electrification. The paper presents empirical findings from a pilot project in Manchester, where gas cookers were replaced with electric alternatives in homes that had already undergone heat pump retrofits. Results demonstrate high tenant acceptance, minimal technical barriers, and strong receptiveness to health-framed messaging, challenging assumptions that cooking electrification is disruptive or unsuitable for low-income households.

The paper concludes with lessons learnt and recommendations for incorporating electric cooking into EU and UK social housing decarbonisation strategies, aligning retrofit programmes with whole-home electrification, net-zero objectives, and just transition principles.