For people with asthma, switching from a gas stove to an electric one might be a breath of fresh air. The combustion that creates the flame of a gas stove or oven releases pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide, which can trigger asthma symptoms. After a research-backed electric stove replacement, people reported more symptom relief than is often achieved with asthma medications.

“We were really surprised at how large the benefit was,” says Ashwini Sehgal, a clinician who studies community health at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden administration, Sehgal and colleagues spearheaded a project to install electric stoves in Cleveland households that had at least one person with asthma.

Eighty-five participants who had poorly controlled asthma were given a questionnaire a few months after the switch. They reported symptom improvement that was roughly two to three times as large as what’s typical with medication.…