Natural Gas Cooking Safety


Natural gas is a commonly preferred source of energy for cooking such as on a stovetop. This is because natural gas offers many benefits including quick startup, even temperature, and reliability during outages.

Natural gas can also be a very safe way to cook.  Both the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) do not consider gas ranges a major contributor to negative indoor air quality (IAQ) or a health hazard for consumers. 

APGA encourages all natural gas consumers to take proper precautions when using natural gas.

Several recommendations for cooking with natural gas are below:

Make sure your gas range, oven or cooktop has been design-certified to the ANSI Z21.1 standard which includes requirements for proper operation and limits on emissions.

Make sure your gas kitchen appliance is installed in accordance to local installation codes: The International Fuel Gas Code or the National Fuel Gas Code.

Keep your gas range maintained in good working order and periodically inspected by a qualified contractor.

Install an exhaust for all electric and natural gas ranges, cooktops and ovens to eliminate the normal byproducts of cooking such as steam, smoke, grease, and heat. 

For any cooking equipment, a traditional overhead exhaust fan that runs through a wall or ceiling can be used. Other types feature “downdraft” exhausting, which uses a fan to draw cooking byproducts down from the cooking surface to the outdoors. Downdraft exhausting is appropriate for equipment installed in an island if the homeowner does not want a traditional oven exhaust hood in the center of the room.

Indoor gas grills should have an exhaust system.

Always try to use the appropriate pot or pan size when cooking.

Never use your gas cooking appliance for domestic space heating.

Never cover your oven bottom cavity with aluminum foil.