Should You Put an Induction Cooktop in Your ADU Instead of Gas?

By Buz Artiano, BuildX | November 2026

Watch: The Future of Home Appliances, Energy, Design and AI with Crane Appliance (BuildX Podcast #33)

Your parents have used gas for cooking for decades. They trust it because they can see the heat. Then someone says that the new ADU should be all electric, then someone else tells you that using induction will be more expensive. A decision about the kind of kitchen to have that seemed simple now deals with your parent's safety, their comfort when cooking and part of your construction budget and nobody has done any comparisons side by side.

My name is Buz Artiano, founder and CEO of BuildX. We have built dozens of ADUs across Massachusetts, with our work mostly on the South Shore and in Plymouth County. All of that work had to use the same local rules: a septic check, limits of the lot, the by-right ADU state rules, and the energy code that a new building has to go by to pass. We do the design, permits, and construction all in one place, so what kind of cooktop you should have will be something we will help you decide.

We use induction in our ADUs, and our reason begins with who's going to live there. When we had our meeting with Brendan Crane and Bianca Brummerloh at Crane Appliance in Teaticket on Cape Cod, their perspective was the same from the buyer's side. The decision is based on three things: burn safety, energy cost, and what a lifelong gas cook gives up.

Is Induction the Better Choice for Your ADU Kitchen?

Yes. When the person cooking in your ADU is an aging parent, induction is the cooktop we use and there are two reasons for that answer.

The first reason is safety. Like we said in our discussion with Crane Appliance, the goal for an older person is less chance to put a hand down on a hot surface. Using induction will get you closest to that goal, because the cooktop itself doesn't produce the heat. The pan does, which reduces this risk of a burn but it doesn't eliminate it.

The second reason is the energy code. Most towns in Massachusetts let you use gas, and you can put it in an ADU. We said it plainly in our conversation: "If you really want gas, you could do it, but it's going to hurt the rest of the way through." The fuel you choose can change the energy goal that your ADU has to come up to, so putting in a gas stove can cost more for parts of the ADU that don't have anything to do with cooking.

Why Does Induction Matter So Much for an Older Parent?

The difference between the three cooktops is about the heat. A gas burner has an open flame under cast iron grates, and those grates will hold heat after the flame goes out. A standard electric cooktop has a heating element that warms the glass itself. An induction cooktop uses a magnetic field to heat the pan and the areas energize only what a certain kind of pan sits on them. The glass isn't the source of the heat, but heat transfers from the hot pan into the glass, and that zone stays hot enough to burn after the pan comes off. Manufacturers install an indicator for residual-heat for just that reason, and their instructions warn not to touch a cooking zone while it's lit.

In an ADU built for a parent, we deal with the cooktop as an accessibility decision. A parent who reaches across a pan or puts their hand down while cleaning will face less exposure with induction, because only the part under a pan heats up. The goal is less exposure to a hot surface, not zero exposure, so the residual-heat light is worth talking about the day your parent moves in.

Those who've always cooked with gas like the instant response of a flame. Induction heats immediately when the setting changes, more like gas than a standard electric element, which takes time to cool.

What Does Gas Cost You Under the Massachusetts Energy Code?

In towns that use the Massachusetts Stretch Code, an ADU that's dealing with HERS has to be tested by a HERS rater. HERS stands for Home Energy Rating System, and a lower number means a more efficient building. The 2025 code has limit on the HERS score of 52 for a mixed-fuel ADU and 55 for an all-electric ADU, before you get any credits for your solar. Lower is harder, so an ADU that uses mixed-fuel has to do better on the score. Towns that use the Specialized Code still use these same ADU limits and then add more requirements on top of those. You can find the information in 225 CMR 22.00 at mass.gov. DOER proposed residential revisions in 2026, so check the latest one with your building department.

The cooktop by itself doesn't decide the category. The code determines a building is all electric only when it doesn't have any fossil fuel combustion that's used for heating, hot water, cooking, or drying. For HERS, a gas cooktop makes an otherwise all-electric ADU into mixed-fuel, and the house has to make up the difference somewhere in its energy rating. We decide the choice of fuel before we finalize the energy model and the specifications, because the shell and the mechanical systems are where that difference ends up. Whether that will cost more than the cooktop depends on the project and that's why it needs to be in the quote.

Some towns go even further and ban gas outright. Brendan said that Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard doesn't allow gas in new construction, with certain stipulations. Aquinnah is one of ten communities accepted into the state's Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Demonstration Project, that lets participating towns make new construction and major renovations be fossil-fuel-free. The participating list is published at mass.gov.

What Are Buyers Asking for at the Appliance Counter?

Bianca Brummerloh, who has 11 years at the appliance counter, said induction first when asked what trend she sees. She pointed to three reasons: buyers want energy efficiency, there's been articles in the news about gas and health, and building codes are also involved. The health issue is her report of news coverage, and we aren't making any health claims here.

She also talked about how buyers arrive. Many come in with an order from their builder, having already talked about cost and feasibility, and they are leaning toward electric at least.predisposed to electric at least. Some don't know induction exists until they come to the store. That gap should be closed early, because a family that only knows about electric can end up with a standard glass cooktop and miss the lower burn exposure.

Brendan added something else. He doesn't think sales of gas have fallen, because a homeowner replacing a gas range in an existing house will put gas back in. The change is happening with new construction and your ADU is new construction.

How Do Gas, Standard Electric, and Induction Compare in an ADU?

The table below shows the three options for each of the four criteria that decides which kitchen an older occupant should have. The third one is from the Massachusetts energy code treatment of mixed-fuel and all-electric buildings that we talked about above.

Induction is the only option that will limit surface heat to only where a pan has been and supports the all-electric path. Standard electric is the same on the code row and has the glass for the heat source. Gas is the winner on the cookware option, which is the easiest of the four to fix.

What Should You Settle Before You Choose a Cooktop?

Keep a list before you build your kitchen. Four things will settle the decision:

• Decide who's going to be cooking in the ADU and how steady they are at the stove today and five years from now.
• Check which energy code your town uses and if it participates in the fossil-fuel-free program.
• Test your parent's cookware with a magnet, because induction will only work with pans that a magnet will grip.
• Ask your builder for a specific price on your ADU for gas and for electric, including the impact that the energy rating will have on the whole ADU.

There is one answer that you should treat as a red flag. If a builder quotes a gas range and doesn't explain what it does to your ADU's energy rating, the quote is incomplete. On some projects, gas can add compliance and extra costs to the ADU on top of the appliance, and the only way to compare them is to get a price for each option for your own ADU, before you agree to any plan.

When Does Gas Still Make Sense for Your ADU?

We prefer an induction cooktop, so you'd expect us to steer every family toward that option. The honest answer is that gas still has a place. If your parent won't cook on anything else, and a cooktop they won't use means they'll stop cooking for themselves, then gas could be the right choice. It's allowed except in fossil-fuel-free towns, and we can build it. Make sure you begin by knowing the energy code cost and price it into the project from the start.

Standard electric has a place too. It supports the same all-electric code as induction does and it will work with any flat-bottom pan. The tradeoff is that its glass is the source of the heat and that's the exposure we're trying to reduce for an older person. If the person living in the ADU is younger and the burn risk is low, that tradeoff is less important.

Ready to Settle Your ADU Cooktop Before the Plans Are Final?

For an ADU that's being built for an older parent, the cooktop is a decision about safety and an energy code decision as well. You should make it during design, while every option is still open.