Induction cooktop
Induction hobs work by driving a 20–100 kHz coil, producing intermediate-frequency magnetic fields that are strong at the hob edge and fall off steeply — and that most consumer gaussmeters cannot measure because their bandwidth stops at 2 kHz.
Provisional record — listed for completeness, excluded from the search index and sitemap until every value carries a primary citation. Last verified 12 August 2026.
Also searched as: induction hob, induction stove
- Category
- elf magnetic
- Emission bands
- Intermediate frequency (20–100 kHz)
- Environments
- home, workplace
- Duty cycle
- Only while cooking, and only with a pan on the active zone.
Field strength by distance
Mitigations, most effective first
- Use pans that cover the full cooking zone and keep them centred.
- An uncovered coil area radiates more; correct pan sizing is the main design mitigation.
- Stand back from the hob while it runs rather than leaning over it.
- Intermediate-frequency fields fall off very steeply with distance from the coil.
- Use a meter rated to at least 100 kHz; a 2 kHz gaussmeter will read near zero at an induction hob.
- Avoids a false negative from an out-of-band instrument.
Why no value is published at 10 cm
Levels at the hob edge depend strongly on pan size, pan centring and coil design, and are assessed against the ICNIRP intermediate-frequency reference level rather than the 50/60 Hz value. Model-specific measurement is required; no representative range is published here.
Measure with
- Intermediate-frequency magnetic field meter
Related records
- Magnetic flux density
The quantity an ELF gaussmeter reports, expressed in milligauss or microtesla, used to assess wiring, transformers and power lines. 1 µT = 10 mG.
Quantities & units
Sources
- icnirp-2010 Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Time-Varying Electric and Magnetic Fields (1 Hz to 100 kHz) — International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, 2010. guideline, link checked 2026-08-12.
Same record, other formats