Growing up, I distinctly remember my grandmother’s gas stove and oven. It was weird to see the flame and I was always afraid that the thing was going to blow up. In our house, we had electric appliances but a gas hot water heater. I guess I was never concerned about the hot water heater because I couldn’t see the pilot light as I walked by.
I know that at that time, gas was less expensive than electricity and so the case was always made that gas appliances were better. However, times have changed and I don’t know that that is still the case. Right now, our local power company is really pushing its customers to install solar hot water heaters so perhaps the days of the gas appliances are coming to an end. This is just conjecture on my part, as I don’t really know.
A new study may affect the use of gas appliances. A study was conducted in Spain that looked at the nitrogen dioxide and its possible effect on the cognition and attentional issues in preschool children.
The researchers report that children who lived in houses with a gas stove and other gas-fired appliances in use were more likely to exhibit inattention behaviors and scored on average 5 points lower at 4 years of age on a standard battery of tests that measure memory, verbal abilities and motor skills than children living in houses with no gas applicances. Verbal function and executive function – involving the coordination of complex behaviors such as attention and memory – were mostly affected. [Source: Environmental Health News]
The study had 398 participants. It would be interesting to see if the same statistics hold up with a larger sample.
Photo by Breelynne
