Induction Cooking and AC on DC

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by ColdEH

Built my own , glad to get the gas out !

Did you have any issues with those Pantin burners?

The only review on Amazon got one star.

Also, they're listed as only 800W. 1800W is more usual for an induction cooktop. Is that correct?

[mojoman2]

There are 54 different types of propane cooking gas bottle fittings in use in the world. If you start sailing internationally, you quickly find that it can be a real problem getting cooking gas bottle refills in some countries. I have had to throw away several good bottles because the country that I was in at the time could not fill them and I didn't have room to store them. I haven't made the jump to induction but I am starting to really think about it as a solution to this headache.

[Dieseldude]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Is going all electric supposed to prove something? Isn't it like trying to force a square block in a round hole?

Considering direct cooking efficiency and safety only, an induction top makes perfect sense. Sure would be great to be rid of gas explosion hazard. But to make it work, you need to have plenty of house battery capacity. A single element induction top draws 1800 watts. If your system can handle this, in addition to other loads that must be run at same time, the decision should be easy. But if you would be unhappy with a single element, you will need 3600 watts available to run a duel element stove.


For charging efficiency, an auxiliary generator would likely be needed. It would be quite inefficient to run the propulsion engine to charge the house battery due to the increased demand of electric cooking. Cooking efficiency gains would be lost on charging efficiency. Sufficient inverter capacity would be needed to run the induction top at same time as other equipment, so this could increase overhead cost of electrical system. If you already have the required electrical capacity, your only cost is the induction top itself. If you need to upgrade major electrical components, the cost vs. benefit is a consideration. If capacity must be upgraded, adding an auxiliary generator, more house bank, and higher capacity inverter could be quite costly.

On more consideration is ruggedness of the appliance. Induction tops are glass. Will this stand up to the rigors of a marine environment? Internal construction of the appliance is another factor. Will the circuit boards, transformers, etc. stand up to constant vibration and mechanical shocks ? Typical appliances are made for sitting still on land, not bouncing around aboard boats. Will paying for a high quality unit really get one that will withstand the marine environment? Are rugged marine units available? Setting one on rubber isolation pads might help, but would this really avoid vibration damage over years of service, or would constant failures make induction impractical? This would be an experiment whose results could be different for every model of induction top that might be used.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by Dieseldude

A single element induction top draws 1800 watts. If your system can handle this, in addition to other loads that must be run at same time, the decision should be easy. But if you would be unhappy with a single element, you will need 3600 watts available to run a duel element stove.

In other words, if you're a crotchety old curmudgeon, living on a boat so you don't have to deal with people, electric will do fine.

If you're the sort of person who entertains, and whose idea of entertaining means cooking gourmet meals for groups, it won't.

Me, I'm more in the former group.

If I'm entertaining, it'd either be in a restaurant or campfires on the beach.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Dieseldude

A single element induction top draws 1800 watts. If your system can handle this, in addition to other loads that must be run at same time, the decision should be easy. But if you would be unhappy with a single element, you will need 3600 watts available to run a duel element stove.

Only if you're running the burners at full power. Most induction units can actually reduce power rather than just cycling on and off at full power. And some of the multi burner stoves have a max total power, so if you're using both (or all 3) burners you may not be able to go to full power on both.

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Jdege

Did you have any issues with those Pantin burners?

The only review on Amazon got one star.

Also, they're listed as only 800W. 1800W is more usual for an induction cooktop. Is that correct?

They work fine . cheap so i carry a spare and they are easy to swap out if one fails .



I also have a 1800 watt Cooktek the Pantin takes 35 percent more time to bring the same amount of water to a rolling boil.


I have two inverters on board , 2400 watt and a 3200 watt which is just for the cooking

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by ColdEH

They work fine . cheap so i carry a spare and they are easy to swap out if one fails .

I also have a 1800 watt Cooktek the Pantin takes 35 percent more time to bring the same amount of water to a rolling boil.

I just got an answer on Amazon that these are actually 800W. Pantin also sells an 1800W, but these are truly 800W.

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Jdege

I just got an answer on Amazon that these are actually 800W. Pantin also sells an 1800W, but these are truly 800W.

These 800 watt units work fine for all our on board cooking , unless your trying to make pasta for 10 people.

[369thegoose]

Keep it simple, induction soaks up energy

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Jdege

Looking at their website, IKEA seems to have a number of induction cooktops in 30" and 36" widths, and one portable that's 10" wide. My current oven/range is 21" wide, so my idea of building a custom box to fit in the space would only work with the single burner portable.

I suppose I could use two single-burner portables. I have a Origo 1500, though, and I've though about installing that as a backup.

The smallest one I could find is a Vargo Sizzle with 2 x 800w rings, though we opted for a single Sterling Power hob in the end as its 1500w tops compared to many at 2000w.

https://www.vango.co.uk/gb/camping-e...le-double.html

https://sterling-power.com/products/induction-hobs-1

[PirateFoxy]

Originally Posted by Jdege

Looking at their website, IKEA seems to have a number of induction cooktops in 30" and 36" widths, and one portable that's 10" wide. My current oven/range is 21" wide, so my idea of building a custom box to fit in the space would only work with the single burner portable.

I suppose I could use two single-burner portables. I have a Origo 1500, though, and I've though about installing that as a backup.

Here’s a purpose-built 21” one, tho it’s expensive and 240V only. https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/B81335.html But apparently they do exist in a variety of sizes?

At any rate, we just use the portable ones at the moment. When we redo our house kitchen we’ll probably put in a proper built-in indication cooktop there, but for the RV (or a boat, I imagine) the portable ones work quite well as you can move them around depending on the best place to cook/workspace available. Sometimes it’s on the counter, sometimes on the dinette, sometimes outside, etc. (Obviously a boat has more issues with needing to secure everything in place, but I imagine something could be set up with perhaps a gimbaled platform in the galley?)

One particular thing we like about it being portable is that while they do cool off faster than traditional electric elements, they do warm up just from heat transfer from the pan, and it’s nice to be able to just move it (with gloves) somewhere safe to cool down that’s out of the work area, freeing up workspace again. If you have one of the neat rectangular ones (the NuWave we have is a weird round shape) you can even set it up on end like a book on a shelf as long as you’re putting it someplace safe from the heat with reasonable ventilation. In a boat you’d have to think more about securing it than in a stopped RV, obviously, but the potential is there.

Best thing though is being able to take it outside when it’s warm. MUCH better to be generating heat and steam and so on *outside* the living space in the summer. So on a boat that’s definitely something I’d be trying to work out if I could do safely. I do the same with the Instant Pot - due to insects and wind I tend to do all the prep indoors but any heating up of the pot happens outside. Then just leave it sit until it’s cool enough to safely move back indoors for storage. (Though in the RV we have big outdoor storage spaces so if we’re staying put for a few days I just stick it in there to save hauling it in and out.)

[sailorxyz]

A solar oven works well. That's what I use in the summer (plus an induction hotplate) in winter I have a Dickinson Adriatic stove...

[PineyWoodsPete]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Is going all electric supposed to prove something? Isn't it like trying to force a square block in a round hole?

Well, not quite - more like putting a Euro-sized home fridge-freezer and an all-electric galley in a 33' motor cruiser, solar cells on the cabin top, a 48V 11.5kWh lithium bank weighing only 165 lbs, and a water-cooled 7/5 kW motor/gen in-line with the 165HP diesel, giving about a 15 nm range at dingy speeds around the harbor, and 5kW charging @ 2000 RPM.

I've done my time carrying heavy propane canisters in third-world countries during our sail cruising days in the 90's...

The future is now!

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by sailorxyz

A solar oven works well.

In places that have sun...

[Medic 4 U]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Is going all electric supposed to prove something? Isn't it like trying to force a square block in a round hole?

Well, if done right, using pure sine wave inverters, and being somewhat responsible for your use of energy, its not difficult to go electric. Yes, there's a fee up front buying enough battery bank to fit your life style. But in my case, I'm getting by with two sets of four AGM Oddesey brand group 31 batteries that get charged each day off my two 5.7 L Mercruisers. I outfitted them with 110 amp alternators, and each has its own starting battery, with a battery separator between it & each battery bank.

I have removed the 6.5 Onan gen set that came with my boat, as it was a huge amount of weight (that allowed me to add the 8 batteries, & not weigh the boat down. I do have a smaller, super quiet Honda generator that I can put on my swim platform if needed, but haven't needed to yet. I can run both AC SYSTEMS off each inverter for 10-11 hours, or continuous off shore power or engine power or generator power. But silence is golden.

I can power my hot water heater, microwave, oven, stove, TV, stereo, you name it. I have a third inverter that is connected between the two banks, so it draws equally from the two banks.

I have also created a circuit that is seperate from everything else, with its own small inverter that powers the fridge. It detects when shore power has been disconnected, & automatically starts the inverter, & switches the fridge over to the inverter, so my food never gets warm. (I am working on getting a patten for it).

It's all simply a matter of accepting the fact that electricity is the way the WORLD is going, and should have a long time ago.

Now, the company I work for is the largest Hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer in the world, but I'm not going to try & power my boat with one of those just yet...