Can batteries bring induction stoves to the masses?

Originally published in E&E News by Politico

The same batteries found in electric vehicles are powering a new generation of induction stoves in a bid to expand access to the electric cooking technology.

A battery-powered induction range from the California-based startup Copper is already in “hundreds” of homes across the U.S., while another California startup, Impulse Labs, will start shipping its battery-powered induction cooktop in March.

The stoves have risen in popularity — if not accessibility — as part of former President Joe Biden's push to electrify homes through the Inflation Reduction Act. The stoves are eligible for a federal tax credit covering 30 percent of their cost; they also qualify for some regional and local incentives, such as up to $500 rebates in California. 

Yet induction stoves, which use electromagnetic energy to generate heat, have struggled to go mainstream. They are in just 3 percent of American homes as of 2022, according to Consumer Reports. That's in part because they require a large amount of power.

The wattage of a typical induction stove can range from 1,000 to 5,000 watts, while a gas stove ranges from 100 to 600 watts. In the past, homeowners had to upgrade their kitchen’s electrical system to make the switch, as a traditional induction stove can only plug into a 240-volt outlet. But adding a lithium battery allows an induction stove to plug into a regular 120-volt outlet, since it can pull energy stored in the battery when needed.

“It’s one of those technologies that’s going to change the market — it’s going to change how people think about cooking with electric,” said Chef Chris Galarza, an advocate for decarbonizing kitchens who founded Forward Dining Solutions, a firm focused on electrifying commercial kitchens.

Battery-powered induction stoves could be “game changing” for home electrification, said Chef Rachelle Boucher, a senior lead at the Building Decarbonization Coalition. Gas stoves are the main reason why people still have gas lines in their homes, advocates say.

“No one cares how you heat your home. No one cares how you dry your clothes. No one cares how you heat your water. But they care how they cook,” Galarza said. He added that there’s a common misconception that “gas is king,” but “the truth is, nothing you can do in a gas kitchen cannot be replicated in an electric one."

Both the Copper and Impulse Labs induction stoves can supply enough power for all-day cooking, since it pulls energy from the battery as needed during cooking and charges the battery during breaks. The batteries for both the Copper and Impulse Labs stoves have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years, and the batteries are replaceable.

Impulse Lab’s cooktop also functions as a sort of “powerwall." Its built-in bidirectional inverter can convert the DC power of the battery (used for electronic devices) into AC power (used to transmit energy over long distances), allowing it to supply power to other appliances in your house.

“We're able to share that battery power with the rest of the house and with the grid in a way that lets us actually build this giant distributed power plant out of all of these disparate individual batteries stored in devices,” said Sam D'Amico, CEO of Impulse Labs.

Induction cooking is more powerful, more precise and more efficient than cooking with gas, according to advocates.

When cooking with gas, only about 35 to 40 percent of the energy consumed actually goes into the pans, with the rest of the energy heating the surrounding air. But with induction cooking, 85 to 90 percent of the energy goes directly into heating the pans, Boucher said.

Gas remains popular as a cooking fuel, appearing in about 38 percent of American homes as of 2020, according to census data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And it got a boost from President Donald Trump, who on his first day in office signed an executive order protecting the "freedom to choose” gas stoves and water heaters, among other home appliances targeted by energy efficiency and electrification advocates.

Meanwhile, 31 percent of U.S. households hadn't heard of induction stoves, according to the 2022 Consumer Reports survey.

Safety Standards

Since the technology is still so new, safety standards haven’t yet been updated to cover battery-powered home appliances.

UL Solutions, which develops testing certifications for appliances, has not yet certified any battery-assisted or -operated induction cooktop or range. The safety company is currently developing new standards to cover battery-powered cooking equipment, but it has yet to set a date to vote on these requirements, a spokesperson said in an email.

“Several manufacturers of battery-assisted cooktops and ranges have expressed interest to us in expanding into the home-electrification market,” said Robert DellaValle, a principal engineer focusing on ranges and cooktops at UL Solutions, in an emailed statement.

He added that UL Solutions is developing a new task group alongside the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers “to explore the requirements to address the hazards associated with supplemental battery power for major appliances, including ranges and cooktops.” Impulse Labs said that they’re working with UL Solutions on developing these standards.

“We think it’s incredibly important to be a mover, not just on the technology side, but also to make sure that the regulation and the compliance requirements for new technology are keeping up,” said Lyn Stoler, climate and policy lead at Impulse Labs. “So that not only is this new technology possible to deploy, but it’s safe and it’s accessible for everybody that wants one in their homes.”

The Impulse Labs cooktop will be the first UL-certified battery-powered cooking appliance, D'Amico said, though a UL Solutions spokesperson could not confirm the safety company’s project roster due to confidentiality agreements.

Any potential hazards are being addressed by evaluations of the battery cell, battery module levels and battery management system to prevent “overcharge, overcurrent, overtemperature, under-temperature and over-discharge,” according to DellaValle. He added that there are also several proposals to provide clarification for battery-powered appliances in safety codes such as the International Fire Code and International Residential Code.

There is no difference in risk between using battery-powered stoves and traditional stoves, said a spokesperson for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, adding that “any foreseeable risk is being addressed in the [safety] standard updates.”

Copper has tested their range to existing UL certification standards, such as those that apply to battery storage systems and auxiliary power systems, said Sam Calisch, CEO of Copper.

Copper’s range and Impulse Labs’ cooktop are both powered by a lithium iron phosphate battery, which is safer than a lithium-ion battery, as they’re less likely to overheat, catch fire or explode.

Both the Copper range and Impulse Labs cooktop start at $5,999 each. Customers will also need to purchase induction-compatible cookware, which is any kind of magnetic cookware, Boucher said.

Calisch said that while Copper’s main customer base has been large building owners, their range is available for anyone to order online. Copper is currently under contract to supply 10,000 stoves for low-income housing in New York City.

Both Copper and Impulse Labs are exploring the production of other battery-powered home appliances, such as water heaters.