▁style " ▁today . ▁ ▁Gas ▁ ▁A ▁major ▁improvement ▁in ▁fuel ▁technology ▁came ▁with ▁the ▁advent ▁of ▁gas . ▁The ▁first ▁gas ▁st ov es ▁were ▁developed ▁as ▁early ▁as ▁the ▁ 1 8 2 0 s , ▁but ▁these ▁remained ▁isolated ▁experiments . ▁James ▁Sh arp ▁pat ented ▁a ▁gas ▁st ove ▁in ▁North am pton , ▁England , ▁in ▁ 1 8 2 6 ▁and ▁opened ▁a ▁gas ▁st ove ▁factory ▁in ▁ 1 8 3 6 . ▁His ▁in vention ▁was ▁market ed ▁by ▁the ▁firm ▁Smith ▁& ▁Phili ps ▁from ▁ 1 8 2 8 . ▁An ▁important ▁figure ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁accept ance ▁of ▁this ▁new ▁technology , ▁was ▁Alex is ▁So yer , ▁the ▁ren owned ▁chef ▁at ▁the ▁Reform ▁Club ▁in ▁London . ▁From ▁ 1 8 4 1 , ▁he ▁converted ▁his ▁kitchen ▁to ▁consume ▁pip ed ▁gas , ▁arg uing ▁that ▁gas ▁was ▁che aper ▁overall ▁because ▁the ▁supply ▁could ▁be ▁turned ▁off ▁when ▁the ▁st ove ▁was ▁not ▁in ▁use . ▁▁▁ ▁A ▁gas ▁st ove ▁was ▁shown ▁at ▁The ▁Great ▁Ex hib ition ▁in ▁London ▁in ▁ 1 8 5 1 , ▁but ▁it ▁was ▁only ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 8 8 0 s ▁that ▁the ▁technology ▁became ▁a ▁commercial ▁success ▁in ▁England . ▁By ▁that ▁stage ▁a ▁large ▁and ▁reliable ▁network ▁for ▁gas ▁pipeline ▁transport ▁had ▁spread ▁over ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁country , ▁making ▁gas ▁relatively ▁cheap ▁and ▁efficient ▁for ▁domestic ▁use . ▁Gas ▁st ov es ▁only ▁became ▁w