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Old 11-27-2009, 01:47 PM   #1
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induction cooktop

My wife was doing some black friday shopping and thought she came across a good deal. She purchased an induction cooktop she thought we could use in the SMB. Would these save any energy over the standard electric flat plate? Do you guys use an electric cooktop when on battery/ boonies?

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Old 11-27-2009, 02:18 PM   #2
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Re: induction cooktop

Induction cooktops are VERY efficient, but it will use a lot of juice, and you have to use iron-based cookware (use a magnet to test).

Saw an ad for an induction cooktop at Tuesday Morning, but they were gone before I got there.


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Old 11-27-2009, 02:42 PM   #3
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Re: induction cooktop

That is the one she purchased. She said they were flying out of there. As she was talking to the clerk about them the people were snatching them up, so the grabbed one of the last. Seems like it might be good on shore power, but boonies I dont know.
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Old 11-27-2009, 07:02 PM   #4
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Re: induction cooktop

For the most part, electricity is not a good choice for heating, cooking, water heating, or space heating when powered from a battery. Induction might be logical with shore power but then you'd need another source while in the boonies...
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Old 05-24-2012, 08:03 AM   #5
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Re: induction cooktop

Quote:
Originally Posted by yvrr
For the most part, electricity is not a good choice for heating, cooking, water heating, or space heating when powered from a battery. Induction might be logical with shore power but then you'd need another source while in the boonies...
Don't entirely agree, but not all induction units work on a modified sine wave inverter!

We designed our van with an amount of solar & batteries consistent with four season free camping in the Pacific Northwest where we live. In order to have manageable electrical loads we have a 700 W microwave and put a rheostat on our 1500 W 2.5 gal water heater to limit it to 700 W. Recently we replaced our 1500 W tea pot with an induction cooktop for use whenever we want hot water for coffee, etc. The induction cooktop has variable power settings and can be used at about 700 W. We consider our built-in propane stove as a back-up system. Especially when winter free camping (and enough sun!), using these electrical applicances eliminates the CO, moisture and venting issues of a propane stove.

We basically "follow the sun" in the sense that when we can we use these devices we do and can actually have all three on at the same time given the Tripp Lite 2000 W modified sine wave inverter (more for being idiot proof than from need).

The induction cooktop was the first thing we have used on the inverter that initially caused problems due to the Tripp Lite NOT being a pure sine wave inverter (I continually kick myself for not getting such during the initial build). After doing research, including calling Tripp Lite (not very helpful), I did not find any strong advice against using an induction cooktop. However, the first one we bought from Amazon (SPT 1300-Watt Induction Cooktop) did not work in the van. It had a bunch of really nice features including cooking by temperature, time, power level all at the same time! We ended up purchasing an Aroma brand from Costco which has a timer and variable power level. It also comes on by default at a power level of 4 out of 6, which is perfect for battery operation. Oh, and remember the cookware has to be magnetic!
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Old 05-28-2012, 07:37 PM   #6
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Re: induction cooktop

can you elaborate more on the rheostat you installed for the water heater? interesting idea. i was going to rely on:

shut everything off thats on the the A/C circuit.

flip on the water heater (using a switch that controls its outlet).

flip it off once water is hot (20 mins or so) and have 4 gallons at my disposal.

resume whatever i need on a/c side.

the heater i chose uses 12.5 amps at max. im on a dedicated 20 amp circuit and my a/c inlet is wired to a 15 amp breaker in the van to keep things from tripping inside the house where i park.
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Old 05-29-2012, 09:51 AM   #7
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Re: induction cooktop

I wrote about the rheostat on the water heater a while ago at http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/vie...hp?f=13&t=7949. Hope that helps. If commenting, use that thread to keep this one on track!
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Solar: 540 W of Kyrocera w/ Blue Sky 3024iL, 3x100 AmpHr AGM's
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Old 05-30-2012, 06:48 PM   #8
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Re: induction cooktop

Quote:
Originally Posted by coyotearms
I wrote about the rheostat on the water heater a while ago at http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/vie...hp?f=13&t=7949. Hope that helps. If commenting, use that thread to keep this one on track!
overlooked it thanks! roger that.
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Old 05-30-2012, 09:53 PM   #9
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Re: induction cooktop

We use a Coleman liquid gas stove for cooking. Specially when boon-docking and trying to save electricity for lights and stuff. No we do not have solar panels. The Coleman stove puts out a max of 14,000 Btu's or 4,100 watts. We normally don't crank it wide open though. 700 watts would take about 10-12 minutes (I think) to boil a quart of water. All depends what you want for food choices while boon-docking.
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Old 05-31-2012, 11:28 AM   #10
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Re: induction cooktop

Well, maybe not what is eaten but how long you have to wait, yeah ugh! Should point out we are outside whenever possible using our portable propane campstove (one burner + grill, 20,000 BTU/hr, http://www.rei.com/product/799796/colem ... rill-stove). That sucker makes toast possible too(!). But when trapped indoors (read winter camping) we like to play with the electrical stuff as described.

Propane stuff certainly works. But we like the convenience of an all electric refrig, and even the fan on the propane heater (if you want the safety of a built-in one) starts making solar attractive when all the "lights and stuff" are taken into account. Once you drink the go-solar Kool-Aid and get comfortable what it can do, the other stuff just starts happening. We can easily gobble up 90 AH by the time we wake up in the morning and start praying for good sun---I know, kind of geeky. I should also mention, we do plug in, but about the only is when time winter camping at some Pacific Ocean campground to read books and watch storms. A little electric space heater keeps us warm and having all that extra electrical stuff makes it even more cozy. We think with a little luck in the PNW we can boon-dock for a week in winter, the limit being propane for the heater, but have not got trapped somewhere to be forced to do it!
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Cruiser II Top, 6'7" inside, full-time upper bed w/ kind'a EB50 layout, cozy 4-season rig
Solar: 540 W of Kyrocera w/ Blue Sky 3024iL, 3x100 AmpHr AGM's
Electrical: 4 cf fridge, nuker, water heater, compressor
Propane: stove top, furnace Travel: https://www.lugnutlife.wordpress.com
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