Alternative is batterypower or generator. Battery will need to be able to draw 200+amps x cook time in AH. Then those used AH need to be replaced via either solar, wind, water or genset/engine.
Being gimballed is a safety/usability issue. Unless you never use the stove while under passage or at a rolly anchorage, Induction cooking might be the go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pas63
I have no aspirations of world cruising, crossing oceans or going to the furtherest reaches of the world. I do on the other hand plan to take off in November for the Bahamas and further south. I look at the size of my Force 10, the hassle of getting propane, the danger no matter how minimal of propane, especially in the tropics and question the benefits. Is this just another hold over of tradition with limited real need today, especially when the vast majority of boats are rarely ever out for extended periods of time.
Don't get me wrong, living aboard since 2007 in a marina I've cooked up feasts in my galleys, but now that I don't plan to be tied to the marina with ready access to a car and propane, look at this huge volume of space the stove occupies that could be better used as storage with a small portable Japanese style stove. Those of you cruising, especially in the Caribbean, what are you doing?
Personally, if you already have the Force 10 installed I would suggest going with it. Good stove. Why change? It is not much of a hassle to get propane almost anywhere. Safety is a non issue with a few basic precautions. Anything that draws lots of electricalpower has its own safety issues too. Ask any marineinsurance adjuster and they will tell you that electrical fires are one of their biggest sources of claims. Some friends lost their boat due to an electrical fire created from onboard charging going wrong. Propane in its tank just sits there and is perfectly safe when not in use.
I am an Australian and absolutely love my barbecues / cook ups. And more importantly, my BBQ is outdoors, not in the galley. From many aspects, a gimble gas cooktop / oven is not a fan of mine. And from trusted sources, induction cooktops are efficient and great. My only hesitation is the good old roast or baking. Yes we have microwaves which may operate like an oven, but I haven’t taken that leap of faith.
Electric induction cooktop look great, but they are energy hogs. If you aren't already set up with LiFePO⁴ (and have the inverter power and solar to handle the job, plan on upgrading to the tune of $10K+.
I think we did it for about £2k ($2k). A new gas cooker was £600. Delighted with the electric choice.
And I have 400 amps of lithium and am installing 4 x 220 was solar panels. How do you cook oven style? Airfryer. How many want a propane oven on in the tropics?
Solar has not yet been installed? 880W of solar is likely to be a little shy of what you need from what other posters have said. But that much solar on a 35 ft boat is likely to be a less than ideal configuration (ie, some shading). Before you make irreversible changes, you might want to see how that solar supports daily liveaboardcooking.
But if your Force10 is in good condition and you pull it out, I might be interested in buying it. I'm only 50 mi south of you.
OP has a 35' monohull. He lives aboard full time (not sure if at anchor or marina?) I assume on a 35' boat he has no generator. He is intending to install 880W if solar and completely remove all fuel based cooking, and then "go south." It would be good to hear from those who have done it if enough solar can be put on his boat to actually go full electric cooking. If the end result is he has to run his engine, or (ugh!) a portable gas generator to make electricity, or use unsafe portable fuels to cook on with portable stoves, it's a non starter.
So, can 880W of solar supply enough energy for full electric cooking (recognizing he has pretty non-gourmet cooking standards)?
Personally, I'm upgrading my solar to 800W bifacial and am crossing my fingers that it will cover all my needs -- and we cook on propane!
OP has a 35' monohull. He lives aboard full time (not sure if at anchor or marina?) I assume on a 35' boat he has no generator. He is intending to install 880W if solar and completely remove all fuel based cooking, and then "go south." It would be good to hear from those who have done it if enough solar can be put on his boat to actually go full electric cooking. If the end result is he has to run his engine, or (ugh!) a portable gas generator to make electricity, or use unsafe portable fuels to cook on with portable stoves, it's a non starter.
So, can 880W of solar supply enough energy for full electric cooking (recognizing he has pretty non-gourmet cooking standards)?
Personally, I'm upgrading my solar to 800W bifacial and am crossing my fingers that it will cover all my needs -- and we cook on propane!
I would be curious as well and it goes along with my thinking that only large monos and cruising cats have enough square footage to build a solar array that can handle all the electric requirements of going with an induction burner, convection micro and all of the house loads. I have a 41 foot boat with 450 watts and maybe could do another 300, but that might be my limit.
It would be good to hear from those who have done it if enough solar can be put on his boat to actually go full electric cooking. If the end result is he has to run his engine, or (ugh!) a portable gas generator to make electricity, or use unsafe portable fuels to cook on with portable stoves, it's a non starter.
We have some recent numbers from 18 days away sailing along the south coast of England (50'North) late Aug into Sept.
We did fit an analogue kWh counter to the 240v inverter output to record how much we used for cooking and using the plastic portable twin tub washing machine separately from the total power used on board. Power used for cooking whilst sailing was quite low, but far more for days at anchor or on a mooring buoy, pontoon. Baking cakes and using the washing will play a part in this. For comparison a similar fortnight in June revealed we didn't need DC>DC charging at all.
Weather was variable but often light winds. We did plug in briefly one morning just to use the hoover on board as its 2kW, also the maximum rating of the inverter, so rather not push our luck. A Dyson is the longer term solution.
We did use 8 hours of engine charging via a 30A DC>DC charger when we were motor sailing anyway. Given our latitude and being in Sept, overall we judge the full electric cooking a complete success.
I had to Google the latitude for Annapolis, but at 38'N you should have stronger sunshine and with 800w of solar sufficient to cover most electric cooking needs.
We did try a 180w portable solar panel new from Amazon and it failed miserably so sent it back (best output was 84w). Now replaced with a rigid 110w panel for hanging on the life lines and may add another in due course giving us 810w plus another older 110w portable panel that does work.
To live at the dock one can use a plain electric stove. But on the water underway I think it is mostly propane butane. Unless you have a very stable boat and a genset.
We have some recent numbers from 18 days away sailing along the south coast of England (50'North) late Aug into Sept.
Well, that answers that! A similar (actually smaller) boat on a more northern latitude, that is essentially above water with 100% electric cooking. I trust Pete and his report -- but I've still got a touch of disbelief in the back of my mind... LOL. Seriously, his report is credibly presented and certainly first hand.
Going back to the original post:
* Propane may be losing ground to a solid solar based electric cooking system.
* Gimbaled will never be obsolete for monohulls that sail. It's certainly obsolete for catamarans. It is arguably of little use for dock queens that never have need to cook underway. But for any boat that sails over lunch, or wishes for cup of hot something, a gimbaled stove of some sort is far from obsolete.
To live at the dock one can use a plain electric stove. But on the water underway I think it is mostly propane butane. Unless you have a very stable boat and a genset.
b.
Nobody sells a gimbaled induction stove, but Force 10 does make a gimbaled electric (resistance coil) stove / oven combo. So as long as you've got a way to power it you could use that underway. Or you could take an old, beat up gimbaled gas stove and re-use the housing and gimbals with a new cooktop, etc. to build a gimbaled whatever kind of stove you want.
Regarding power consumption, electrical cooking and solar…
I calculated how much extra power I would need for cooking based on three or four years of living aboard. I had very solid data on lpg consumption and when converted to equivalent electrical use it was consistent with the observations of those that had recorded their electrical power consumption for cooking.
(I have, of course, very good data on the power needed without including cooking.)
I don’t know for sure yet, because we haven’t moved aboard the new boat, but I am pretty confident 800 Watts of solar (and no generator) will be adequate for us where we plan to sail (East coast of Oz and the South Pacific.). I’ll try for 1kW though, because I like a bit of a margin.
I will share power data when I have it because I think it is one area where people get worried about electrical cooking, with good reason.
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