When cooking drives cooling: a simulation study of energy consumption and carbon emissions of electric vs. gas residential kitchens in China

Li, Shichen, Li, Jiajun, Chen, Luyi, Luo, Zhiwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2082-3958, Wang, Haisheng, Zhang, Yao, Zhang, Zhongxiao, Cui, Guodong, Cao, Changsheng, Meng, Yongzhe, Li, Bing, Lin, Ziyin, Liu, Yanwen, Wang, Qiding, Gao, Jun and Zeng, Lingjie 2026. When cooking drives cooling: a simulation study of energy consumption and carbon emissions of electric vs. gas residential kitchens in China. Science and Technology for the Built Environment 10.1080/23744731.2026.2721919

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Abstract

Kitchens are energy- and carbon-intensive spaces in Chinese residential buildings and are increasingly served by dedicated air-conditioning, yet the city-scale implications of cooking electrification for kitchen cooling energy use and associated carbon emissions remain insufficiently quantified. This study integrates experimental measurements, CFD, and DeST simulations to characterize the coupled thermal–ventilation–temporal parameters of gas and electric cooking, and develops an operational carbon-accounting framework based on provincial grid factors and measured cooking-stage emissions. City-level simulations across 30 provincial capitals show that kitchens substantially amplify residential cooling demand relative to general-purpose rooms, with systematically higher impacts under gas cooking. Under the specified modeling and accounting boundaries, electrification reduces kitchen cooling load by approximately 25% on average and lowers cooking-related carbon emissions by approximately 40–50%. The kitchen-specific cooling season increases estimated cooling energy consumption by 1.7–22.8% for electric kitchens and 0.7–26.0% for gas kitchens; it also increases the estimated energy- and carbon-saving advantage of electrification by approximately 5%. The electrification benefit is shaped by regional climate and grid carbon intensity, with greater benefits generally observed in southeastern coastal regions and smaller benefits in northwestern China. These findings support quantitative assessments of kitchen electrification and residential decarbonization in China.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Architecture
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	2374-4731
Date of Acceptance:	9 July 2026
Last Modified:	05 Nov 2026 10:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/190680

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