Curious About Induction Cooking? Try It for Free

As many of us plan our holiday meals, you’re probably thinking more about what you’ll cook rather than how you’ll cook it.   

California is moving toward electrifying buildings to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, and lower utility bills.  

This includes state building codes that encourage installing electric appliances, such as induction cooktops which are twice as energy efficient as natural gas stoves.  Induction cooking also heats food faster, offers better temperature control, is easier to clean, and safer than gas and electric resistance stoves.

Still, it’s probably no surprise that many home cooks are resistant to switching from their gas stove to electric. 

To give our customers an opportunity to try induction, PG&E has a loaner program to test drive an induction cooktop and pan at no cost. Customers can use it for up to two weeks in their own home. 

So, I asked a coworker and her foodie husband to try it and report back. 

PG&E’s Induction Cooktop Loaner Program was simple to use. Setting up an account online only took a few minutes. The program offers two models and the one they chose arrived at their home within a few days.  

The unit came with a small pan, but no instructions. That’s because the user manuals are online along with the following instructional videos: 

• Reserving the cooktop 

• Benefits of induction cooking 

• Unboxing the cooktop 

• Returning the cooktop 

The home cook tried it out with something simple — a veggie and cheese omelet. In the first attempt, the pan temperature was too high, and the butter burned. But after a second attempt, the temperature was right, and the omelet cooked quickly and evenly and slid right off the pan. 

Cleanup was a breeze. Just wipe off the cooktop and rinse the pan. 

“It was a little tricky at first to figure out the heat setting needed, but overall, it was easy to use, and I like that it’s more energy efficient,” said my coworker.  

They were pleasantly surprised by the safety features. After removing the pan from the cooktop, the power stopped flowing to the unit. The surface cooled quickly as well, so they didn’t have to worry about burns or fires. 

Returning the unit was easy too. They put the unit and pan back in the same box and shipping materials and slapped on the pre-paid shipping label. They dropped it off for shipping at their neighborhood UPS store. 

Overall, the couple enjoyed giving the PG&E Loaner Cooktop Program a test run, and thought it was a free and no-hassle way to explore a new way to cook and consider the benefits of home electrification for the future.  

For those interested in exploring induction cooking stoves, visit PG&E’s Energy Action Guide to get started. You may also qualify for rebates here. You can also learn more about home electrification at pge.com/electrification.   

About the author

Adrienne Moore joined PG&E’s Marketing and Communications team in 2023. A busy mom of two boys, she is passionate about helping customers save energy and money, sharing energy efficiency tips and tools, and making bill support programs easy to understand and accessible for all. Her goal is to ensure customers feel supported when managing their energy needs.