# 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.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/emitters/induction-cooktop
- Collection: Sources & emitters
- Record id: `emitters:induction-cooktop`
- Status: provisional
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/emitters/induction-cooktop
- Also known as: induction hob, induction stove

## Key values

- **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](https://emfbase.com/quantities/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.

## Sources

- `icnirp-2010` International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (2010). *Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Time-Varying Electric and Magnetic Fields (1 Hz to 100 kHz)*. https://www.icnirp.org/en/publications/article/lf-guidelines-2010.html — guideline, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.