Replacing Gas Stoves With Portable Electric Appliances to Improve Indoor Air Quality and Asthma Control

May 19, 2026 updated by: Ash Sehgal, MetroHealth Medical Center
The goals of this study are to determine if replacing gas stoves with portable electric hot plates and electric toaster ovens will improve indoor air quality and asthma control. Researchers will enroll participants with poorly controlled asthma and provide them with hot plates and toaster ovens to use instead of gas stoves. Researchers will measure indoor air quality about 1-2 weeks before and about 2-3 months after providing portable appliances. Participants will answer questions about their asthma symptoms and take lung function tests about 1-2 weeks before and about 2-3 months after using portable appliances.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Cooking on natural gas stoves is a major source of indoor air pollution and may contribute to asthma exacerbations. The investigators recently completed a single-arm trial in which gas stoves were replaced with electric induction stoves in the homes of 85 individuals with poorly controlled asthma. This led to 70% reductions in indoor NO2 levels and clinically important improvements in multiple measures of asthma control. Asthma Control Questionnaire scores improved by 1.1 points in this trial, which is twice as large as the average improvement seen with medical treatment such as inhaled corticosteroids and/or long-acting beta-agonists.

While these results are promising, the trial lacked a control group which limits the causal inferences that can be drawn. In addition, lung function was not directly measured. Moreover, the costs for stove installation and required electrical upgrades averaged nearly $10,000 per home. Most of this cost was related to the older housing stock of trial participants that often required upgrading the entire electrical panel in a house to install a new 240-volt kitchen outlet for the new electric stove. These costs can be a financial challenge for low-income households, limiting the scalability of a potentially effective solution for improving indoor air quality and asthma control.

To address these limitations, the investigators now propose a pilot randomized controlled trial using a delayed crossover design to evaluate the effectiveness of a low-cost intervention to improve indoor air quality, asthma control, and lung function. The investigators will leave gas stoves in place but will instruct participants to preferentially use two relatively inexpensive portable electric appliances that the investigators will provide. Cooking will be done with an electric induction hot plate and baking with an electric toaster oven. Induction hot plates use magnetic coils beneath a ceramic glass surface to send electromagnetic pulses directly to cookware. The investigators will provide induction stove compatible cookware because it is necessary to use cookware that has some steel or iron in order for the energy transfer to work.

The two portable electric appliances and induction cookware are estimated to cost approximately $600 in total and may provide a more affordable option for low-income households. If a household already has a microwave oven, they will be encouraged to use that as well. As the future scalability of the intervention will depend on its usage, the investigators will also evaluate usage and identify facilitators and barriers to consistent use of the portable devices.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Ash Sehgal, MD
  • Phone Number: 216-778-7728
  • Email: axs81@cwru.edu

Study Contact Backup

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Currently use gas stove for cooking or baking at least three times a week
  • Poorly controlled asthma as defined by an Asthma Control Questionnaire score of 1.5 or larger

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Impaired decision making capacity
  • Pregnancy

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate Intervention
Participants will receive electric hotplate and electric toaster oven immediately after enrollment.
Other: Portable cooking appliances
The investigators will leave gas stoves in place but will instruct participants to preferentially use two relatively inexpensive portable electric appliances that the investigators will provide. Cooking will be done with an electric induction hot plate and baking with an electric toaster oven.
Experimental: Delayed Intervention
Participants will receive electric hotplate and electric toaster oven six months after enrollment.
Other: Portable cooking appliances
The investigators will leave gas stoves in place but will instruct participants to preferentially use two relatively inexpensive portable electric appliances that the investigators will provide. Cooking will be done with an electric induction hot plate and baking with an electric toaster oven.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in asthma control
Time Frame: Baseline assessment 1-2 weeks before portable appliances given to participant. Final assessment 2-3 months after portable appliances given to participant.
Change in Asthma Control Questionnaire score from baseline to final assessment. Asthma Control Questionnaire scores can range from 0 to 6 with higher scores indicating poor asthma control.
Baseline assessment 1-2 weeks before portable appliances given to participant. Final assessment 2-3 months after portable appliances given to participant.
Change in indoor nitrogen dioxide levels
Time Frame: Baseline assessment 1-2 weeks before portable appliances given to participant. Final assessment 2-3 months after portable appliances given to participant.
Change in nitrogen dioxide level from baseline to final assessment
Baseline assessment 1-2 weeks before portable appliances given to participant. Final assessment 2-3 months after portable appliances given to participant.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)
Time Frame: Baseline assessment 1-2 weeks before portable appliances given to participant. Final assessment 2-3 months after portable appliances given to participant.
Changes in FEV1 from baseline to final assessment.
Baseline assessment 1-2 weeks before portable appliances given to participant. Final assessment 2-3 months after portable appliances given to participant.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

MetroHealth Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 28, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 19, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 19, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00001017

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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