When Shaila Parvin bought an induction cooker last week, it was not a lifestyle upgrade. It was a response to a problem that had been building for months.

Gas pressure at her home had been weak for some time. Then, after one of Bangladesh's two floating LNG terminals went offline following a technical failure, the situation deteriorated further. Cooking over a gas stove became unpredictable, sometimes impossible.

"I've suffered enough with low gas pressure for months. But over the past week or so, we hardly had any gas at all," said Parvin, a mother of two. "I had no option but to adapt."

Her family's experience reflects a broader shift taking place across Bangladesh's cities, where prolonged gas shortages are pushing households towards electric cooking appliances. 

Induction cookers, infrared cookers, multicookers and rice cookers are seeing an unusual surge in demand as families search for ways to prepare meals without waiting hours for gas pressure to recover.

The latest disruption came after the shutdown of Excelerate Energy's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), removing roughly 600 million cubic feet of gas a day from the national grid. 

The outage compounded an existing supply deficit of around 700 million cubic feet, intensifying shortages that had already become a part of daily life in many neighbourhoods.

The impact is visible in electronics stores across Dhaka.

In Mirpur, one of the areas hardest hit by low gas pressure, retailer Sani Ahmed said customers have increasingly been seeking alternatives.

"Mirpur has been facing severe gas shortages, so demand for alternative cooking appliances has increased," he told Daily Waadaa. "People are buying more LPG stoves and rice cookers, while sales of infrared cookers have also picked up."

Dealers are placing larger orders as retailers replenish stocks, he said, although higher prices have discouraged some potential buyers.

At Transcom Electronics' Khilgaon branch, demand has outpaced supply.

"We had around 35 induction cookers in stock. They sold out within two days, and we've already brought in another 10," said branch manager Sanarul Islam.

Most customers, he said, are purchasing induction cookers as emergency backups, while others are choosing rice cookers and multicookers to prepare basic meals during prolonged gas outages.

"People don't really have a choice," he told Waadaa. "They're buying these appliances because of the gas shortage."

Manufacturers say the pattern extends well beyond individual stores.

Talking with Waadaa, Rashedul Islam, head of business at Transcom Electronics, said nationwide sales of induction and infrared cookers have risen sharply over the past week.

"Our sales have increased four to five times compared with normal levels," he said.

The company had already seen steady growth in demand over the past two years as gas shortages became more frequent. The current crisis, he said, has accelerated that trend.

According to the company, sales of induction and infrared cookers during the first six months of this year were three to four times higher than in each of the previous two years.

"Five to seven years ago, these were niche products bought mainly by premium customers," he said. "Now middle- and lower-middle-income families are buying them because they can't rely on piped gas."

The company plans to expand its range of electric cooking appliances in anticipation of continued demand.

Others in the industry are less certain that the shift will last.

Dr Mohammad Naveed Ahmed, managing director of Miyako Bangladesh, said sales had risen as consumers looked for alternatives to unreliable gas supplies, but he expects demand to ease once the crisis passes.

"Sales have increased because people turn to electric cooking when there's no gas," he said. "But I would say demand has risen two to three times, not four or five."

Many households, he argued, still prefer gas because it is familiar, economical and better suited to everyday cooking.

"The demand will remain as long as the gas shortage continues," he said. "Once gas supply returns to normal, many consumers are likely to switch back."

For families like Parvin's, however, the question is less about changing long-term habits than coping with the present.

“We had no other options,” she said.

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