Electric Stoves

[buxomwench8]

We live aboard our sailboat in Coronado, CA. Our stove is CNG & needs replacing. Looking into LPG conversion...Are there electric stoves that could be powered by our inverter & solar while cruising? We live in a slip now w AC. Thanks!

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by buxomwench8

We live aboard our sailboat in Coronado, CA. Our stove is CNG & needs replacing. Looking into LPG conversion...Are there electric stoves that could be powered by our inverter & solar while cruising? We live in a slip now w AC. Thanks!

You would need a generator.

Just do the calculations. How many amps does a 120v stove draw? Multiply that by 10 to determine how many amps would be drawn out of your 12v batteries to get a very rough idea.

You would be able to use a microwave while running the engine if you had a sufficiently powerful inverter.

[Dockhead]

An electric induction cooktop doesn't use all that much power. A lot depends on what kind of cooking you do -- is the stove going for hours every day? What does it do to your power budget?

It would be a good solution on our boat -- large-scale cooking on the stove doesn't usually happen to much of any extent except once a day, and this can correspond with a generator run which we need to do anyway. Heating up the odd pot or frying the odd egg would hardly be noticed by our battery bank.

Gas on a boat is a PITA, and LPG (butane, propane) is dangerous. I like the idea of electric cooking, but you have to be sure you have room in your power budget. If you don't have a genset and/or you run the stove for hours a day, it might not work.

[SunDevil]

A George Foreman electric grill uses about 1500 W

A microwave uses between 1000-1500 W.

What kind of battery bank do you have and what size of inverter?

[Cheechako]

But the Microwave will only run for a minute or two. The Foreman a half hour.....

[Vasco]

An electric stove in a sailboat is not a good idea. We met a couple many years ago who had an old Morgan which came with an electric stove. They were reluctant to even brew a pot of tea as they had to run the generator every time they used the stove. And if your genny conks out it's no soup for you! At least no hot soup. If you do not cook then a microwave would do but watch the amps!! The little microwave we have burns 90 amps so even five minutes worth takes about 8 amps off your battery bank.

[buxomwench8]

We have a 3000 watt inverter & 3 AGM batts. Deisal Yanmar engine. No solar or generator yet. Just exploring our options! I rarely bake. Use pressure cooker to make bread, stews,etc. Want to buy a solar oven, too.

[Stu Jackson]

It'll work for you at the dock, but when (if?) you leave the dock you'll wish you'd gone to propane.

I see a lot of trawlers (and most powerboats) that have electric stoves. Seems that they all have generators they need to run to even make coffee.

Newer trawlers have gotten smart and include propane.

Think about it, it'll be a major decision.

[buxomwench8]

Right! We are looking at casting off in 3 yrs. I do NOT like the sound of a motor running...that's why we have a sailboat!

[mrm]

Even when you consider recharging with solar, for energy storage you are basically looking at energy density of different energy carriers (be it fuels or rechargeable batteries). Have a look at this: Energy density - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and compare.

Now calculate how much energy you will need per day of cooking on the average and see if the numbers make sense at all.

[Cheechako]

If you dont use the oven a SS 3 burner propane cooktop is about $120. A small bottle and setup wouldnt be too much. You could still do the solar oven etc....

[zeehag]

buxom--you will be soooo sorry if you do this---i had electric stove on a power boat and wished it were propane. if you are in the moorings, ask david on b-3 where he gets his cng. and say hay to my ericson on b5 for me. ty. good luck.

if you choose electric stove, you will find youe electrical system while cuising willnot be able to keep up with your stove much less added fridge. propane is easily found. cng not so easily found. i cruise with propane. i LOVE it.

[Pete7]

British armoured vehicles were fitted with BVs (boiling vessels) because its quite difficult to cook if the enemy are shooting or chucking gas at you.

The diesel engine on personnel carrier fitted with a huge great 24v alternator would slow down when the BV was switched on, but it can be done.

Here's a fred discussing fitting to landrovers which were also 24v FFR (fitted for radios).

How do you use a Boiling vessel in a landrover / other veh's - Page 2

Pete

[buxomwench8]

My thanks to all of you for the insight! Might just opt for an 2 burner electric hotplate while still plugged in. We'll research best options for converting to LPG. For those of you w CNG I have a contact in LA. John at Gas Solutions. 909-910-1090. He can custom build CNG regulators & supplies CNG to Pearson Fuel in San Diego. $32 a cannister.

[Reefmagnet]

I've seen combination gas and electric stoves. I think they are more for RV's but would probably adapt to a boat.