This group-buy campaign makes it easier to switch to induction cooking

Word is getting out about electric induction ranges. More and more chefs say the appliances cook just as well as or better than their gas counterparts. The stoves don’t burn climate-warming fossil fuels or release harmful indoor air pollutants like gas ones do. And because they’re vastly more efficient, they also reduce monthly energy bills.

Yet many induction-curious households face upfront sticker shock. While the range itself might cost the same as a new gas variety, installing it often requires an expensive electrical upgrade: Swapping out a traditional 120-volt, three-prong outlet for a more powerful 240-volt one can run into the thousands of dollars.

Now, a new program is offering a way around that problem for customers in parts of North Carolina and Georgia. A group-purchase campaign in Atlanta and three metro areas in the Tar Heel State will provide a discount on a novel type of induction range that doesn’t require costly renovations. 

Designed and manufactured by Electra, based in New York City, the range has an innovative 5-kilowatt-hour battery, which sips electrons from a three-prong outlet and then delivers a jolt for tasks like boiling water or searing meat. The battery can also power cooking up to five meals during a grid outage.

At $3,999, the appliance is undoubtedly pricey. But it could still be about $3,000 cheaper than the all-in cost of switching from gas to another type of electric range — induction or otherwise — that requires a 240-volt outlet. Thanks to the group-buying effort, participating households will get $300 in savings. Plus, they could qualify for government rebates that can further reduce out-of-pocket expenses.

The initiative is undergirded by Let’s Go Electric, whose online platform connects trusted contractors, government and nongovernment partners, and participants. 

“Our community-based programs are designed to help make going all-electric more affordable and accessible,” Don Moreland, founder and CEO of the company, said during a webinar to roll out the Electra group-purchase effort. ​“We take a lot of the guesswork out of it.”

Let’s Go Electric, which first cut its teeth on group-purchase campaigns for rooftop solar, is now running four initiatives to help people switch to electric appliances: Electrify Decatur for the suburb just outside Atlanta; Electrify Asheville-Buncombe in western North Carolina; Electrify the Triad for the Winston-Salem and Greensboro region; and Electrify the Triangle for the metro area encompassing Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.

Those ongoing campaigns provide consumers advice on electrification and guidance for accessing rebates for all types of appliances, from heat pumps to water heaters to EV chargers. The discount on Electra induction ranges, however, is good through Nov. 30.

“We’re setting conservative goals. We think we can get 30 to 50 people into the group purchase,” Bert Muthalaly, Electra’s CEO, said during the webinar. Right now, the small company has ​“very fast” fulfillment times, he added. ​“If we get more than 50 people, those fulfillment times will stretch out a little bit. So if you’re trying to get a stove soon, get in on the early side.”

Muthalaly said he’s been pleased to see the young company’s ranges ​“fit in” to all types of homes, from tiny apartments to sprawling ranch houses. But the new group-purchase effort arose because Electrify the Triad was devising a plan to decarbonize multifamily affordable housing units in Winston-Salem, said Will Eley, green economy program director with the local nonprofit Piedmont Environmental Alliance.

“We identified challenges that reminded us of what the New York City Housing Authority and municipalities in California had been solving for years: limited electrical capacity in buildings and alarming volumes of gas kitchen ranges,” Eley said. 

Shortly thereafter, Eley ran across a Canary Media article about Electra and reached out to the company. A tour of its Brooklyn headquarters ensued. ​“It was clear from the start that a partnership between Electra and our Electrify programs across the Southeast would be a perfect match,” he said.

The Electrify campaigns come after the Trump administration and congressional Republicans eliminated tax credits for home solar and efficiency, but as popular electrification rebate programs created by the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act endure. Days into Trump’s second term, North Carolina was the first state in the U.S. to roll out the rebates, which can total up to $16,000 and are available to middle- and low-income customers buying high-efficiency appliances and making other energy-saving improvements. 

For households in North Carolina who want to electrify but still face a funding gap, there’s also the Clean Energy Fund of the Carolinas, a nonprofit bank that provides competitively priced loans for home energy improvements.

“We finance a whole range of products that make homes more resilient,” Matt Shuneman, a senior program manager at the organization, said during the webinar.

Of course, those considering the switch to induction ranges might worry that their preferred cookware won’t function on their fancy new gadget. But that, Muthalaly assured webinar participants, is mostly a nonissue. 

Since the induction cooktop uses magnetism to heat pots and pans directly, the main rule of thumb is that if a magnet clings to your beloved Dutch Oven or other favored pan, it will perform just fine.

“Your cast-iron will work. Your Le Creuset will work. Your stainless pans will work. Your nonstick pans with a steel base will work,” he said. Aluminum and copper pans will not, he added. ​“But the benefits are better cooking than [traditional] electric, and a better cooking experience than gas.”