This startup is adding a battery to induction stoves

Impulse’s innovation allows induction stoves to plug into regular outlets so buyers can avoid expensive electrical upgrades.
By Maria Virginia Olano

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Electrifying homes is an essential strategy for reducing the carbon emissions that cause climate change. That means replacing gas boilers and furnaces for water and space heating with heat pumps, swapping out cars with internal combustion engines for electric vehicles and — perhaps most contentiously — getting rid of gas ranges in favor of induction stoves.

But the electrical systems in many residences can’t support the increased electric load of running all these appliances, and installing them can require costly and complicated panel and wiring upgrades. Impulse, a San Francisco–based company that launched this week, aims to tackle this issue by bringing to market a newly designed induction stove. The startup joins a growing number of companies entering the home-electrification space.

Along with its launch, Impulse announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by Lux Capital. That brings the company’s funding to a total of $25 million after an initial seed round of $5 million led by the same investors in 2021. Other investors include Fifth Wall, Lachy Groom and Construct Capital.

There are already a lot of induction stoves on the market, so what’s Impulse’s value proposition? The startup has added a lithium-ion battery to the range, which means that at peak use, the stove will draw less power from the outlet. With the battery in place, the appliance can be plugged into a regular 110V plug, and homeowners can forgo panel upgrades. The product arrives ready to install using your existing electrical panel. Plus, an integrated battery means the stove always has backup power,” the company states on its website.

According to founder and CEO Sam D’Amico, the range draws less power than conventional models. 

The innovation addresses one of the main barriers to entry for consumers who may want to get rid of gas in their homes, but either don’t want or can’t afford to overhaul their electrical systems. It also means that the stove’s battery could potentially serve as power storage for the rest home and even feed power back to the grid in much the same way that solar panels do when paired with batteries.

Impulse has not announced a price for the range and is not yet taking orders, but as the cost of lithium-ion batteries has declined, products like this have become more feasible, especially with the the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a 30 percent tax credit for home battery installations. D’Amico said on Twitter that the range’s battery will have a capacity of more than 3 kilowatt-hours, so it may qualify for the new residential battery incentive.

Reduced emissions are far from the only benefit of induction stoves. A growing body of research shows the harmful impacts that burning fossil gas in homes has on human health, especially young children. Chemicals such as benzene and other air pollutants, which are linked to diseases such as cancer and greater risk of asthma, have been found to leak from gas stoves, but more than 40 million homes in the U.S. are still cooking with them.

Electrical loads aside, consumer preference has been another significant barrier to adoption. Electric stoves have long evoked disdain from both home and professional chefs who believe cooking with gas produces superior results. This is in no small part due to the efforts of the fossil fuel industry to sway public opinion. But there’s a growing movement underway to demonstrate that these new-generation ranges are better not only for the climate and human health, but also for making great food.

Ultimately, the success of this new consumer product will hinge on its cost-competitiveness with gas stoves as well as increased consumer demand for cleaner, more efficient and climate-friendly technologies. But for now, check out this video of Impulse’s stove boiling a liter of water in 40 seconds, which is pretty remarkable. 

Maria Virginia Olano is editorial producer at Canary Media.