Induction Cooking and AC on DC

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Jammer

....


I got the best efficiency from a cheap plastic electric teakettle. Induction burner can't touch it.

I figured the plastic electric kettles would be more efficient but haven't tested yet. The plastic covering would prevent significant amounts of heat loss to the environment and the only inefficiencies would be heating the mass of the kettle.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Jammer

This is by and large industry bunkum. Induction burners have fan cooled transistors that give off enough heat to reduce the overall efficiency so that it is about the same as resistance coils. There are also harmonic losses in the wiring because the power consumption is not linear.


As I posted upthread, you can get wildly different results depending on which pot you use and other aspects of the test regime.



I got the best efficiency from a cheap plastic electric teakettle. Induction burner can't touch it.

Soon after we hooked up our induction hob I tested boiling 500ml of water in a pot and our small silicone electric kettle. The induction hob boiled twice as fast but used about 10% more power than the kettle.

When cooking on induction the greatest difference with electric resistance and gas that we noticed is the preheat - with induction there is virtually none. And once the pan/pot is at temperature the induction hob can be turned right down and cycles 90% and 5% during cooking. Eg, for rice or pasta the initial boil takes less than 30 seconds on full power (9), then simmer for absorption at setting 2 out of 9. The energy required is easily handled by LFP batteries even at 12V.

[alctel]

What induction hobs does everyone use?

I've been looking for the smallest possible one for my new boat, the one I had on my old boat was pretty big and a huge pain to store.

[PirateFoxy]

Originally Posted by alctel

What induction hobs does everyone use?

I've been looking for the smallest possible one for my new boat, the one I had on my old boat was pretty big and a huge pain to store.

I haven’t tried it but IKEA last I looked had one that seemed promising - nice form factor for storage, like a large book. We currently have a NuWave that works well but is an obnoxious size/shape and a cheap one I can’t remember the name of (it’s one of those brand names made up to sell stuff on Amazon that no one’s heard of) that is more along the lines of the IKEA one in size/shape (but thicker) but it has a fan in it (I think) that is amazingly noisy. Works ok if you don’t mind the noise though.

[kiwin]

GN-espace have purpose made marine induction stoves

[alctel]

Originally Posted by PirateFoxy

I haven’t tried it but IKEA last I looked had one that seemed promising - nice form factor for storage, like a large book. We currently have a NuWave that works well but is an obnoxious size/shape and a cheap one I can’t remember the name of (it’s one of those brand names made up to sell stuff on Amazon that no one’s heard of) that is more along the lines of the IKEA one in size/shape (but thicker) but it has a fan in it (I think) that is amazingly noisy. Works ok if you don’t mind the noise though.

Ordered the IKEA one, thanks. Looks like a great size.

[PirateFoxy]

Originally Posted by alctel

Ordered the IKEA one, thanks. Looks like a great size.

Let me know how it works for you. I gave it a poke a bit back at IKEA and was satisfied it didn’t seem to be constructed too cheaply, but of course it wasn’t plugged in for testing and we’d just gotten the cheap no-name one to try.

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by Adelie

I was able to very accurately measure the efficiency of converting on-board storage to hot food. This allowed me to create a way to estimate how much electrical capacity would be needed to cook meals in the manner the people are already accustomed to. And I was able to do this without knowing what they cook nor how much cooking they normally do.

Yes, but the point is, the energy storage mediums are completely different. Electric can be recharged onboard. Solar ovens require the sun to be out. Fuels each have various storage requirements that are not equivilent in features. Putting an efficiency number for each method of cooking is like comparing various fruit for how many calories is in each one and how much the body can metabolize it and declaring which fruit is the best one to eat.

It is clear that most people chose a relatively inefficient system (propane) They would make it much more efficient by cooking much much slower with a very small flame, but this is not how most people use it, so efficiency of fuel is not at all a primary concern of most people.

Certainly having multiple means of cookings offers the most convenience as you can choose the most suitable one depending on the circumstances.

The solar oven is incredibly convenient when the sun is out. I can put a potato in and close it and it's done in 30-40 minutes. Convenience of a microwave just slower, but without power drain.

Then you have fuels like alcohol where there are a variety of stoves with different trade offs. Some require measuring the fuel, some require pumping, and some consume a lot more than others to cook the same thing.

There is wood which is a little more work but in many areas the cheapest fuel available, or even free. It is very convenient if already using it for heat.

As for induction vs just resistors. If you use a vacuum insulated electric pressure cooker it is going to generally beat an inductive stove. I use vacuum insulated container with resistors to heat water, this is < $20 to make and more efficient than inductive. Also, most inductive cooking uses AC power which has losses in the inverter.

[Stewie12]

Myself and my wife went cruising to get away from it all. We lived very simply on the yacht and enjoyed every moment of it. Never missed all the mod cons. We wanted to spend more time sailing than maintaining solar panels and generators etc. About the only luxury we had was a calorifier for hot water. Worked well for all the years we cruised. Seems to me that, that is what cruising is all about. Getting away from it all.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

I may have to rethink induction cooking. What about an oven? Toaster oven?

I'd been thinking about a combination microwave/convection oven, after watching Delos install theirs.

When I went looking for what was available, though, I settled on a combination microwave/air fryer. There was only one that was small enough to fit into a custom box that would fit in my boat's existing oven space, so that's the one I bought.

It's still in my kitchen, not on the boat. But I cook with it every day, and I very much like it. I've run it off my Bluetti Power Station's inverter without issue, and from crunching the numbers it should be fine.

It pulls a lot of power when running, but I only run it for a few minutes.

There are things I could cook in it that would take an hour or more, but they're not things I usually cook.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

On the electric propulsion topic, the one person I've seen do the conversion did it because of having a boat with an engine that was in need of either serious work or a repower. So he figured why not put together an electric setup and see if it can be made to work sufficiently. So far, it's worked quite well for him. Only downside is that it doesn't have as much range as a tank full of diesel so longer trips take a bit more careful planning as you can't just motorsail the whole way if the wind is light.

Sailing Uma on YouTube went electric several years ago. Since they “SAIL” almost always it works well for them. Their first version they bought used a motor that was previously on a forklift. The second version was a unit with a sail drive. They are currently using one that has some regeneration of power at speed. They have crossed the Atlantic and spent quite a bit of tie in remote areas ABOVE THE ARCTIC CIRCLE! They did purchase a small portable gas generator they occasionally use since their is very little light to charge the batteries through their solar panels. They say they are very happy with their choice.

Dragonfly Trimarans offers induction cooking and electric propulsion as options. If you can make it work it is a great way to go.

[The Sun King]

Why not have electric galley AND propulsion? I've done it for years and it works great. All solar. Next boat will have more electric. It p.o. the Coast Guard that I sometimes don't carry a fire extinguisher, but it is not required in this case. Everything is simpler and safer.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

I've been looking for a good convection microwave for my boat. Going by what's available in the US, convection oven / microwave combos pretty much all

I was looking for something that would fit into a custom box that could replace the existing non-functional propane oven.

I ended up with this:


Cuisinart AMW-60 3-in-1 Oven Airfryer Microwave, Black

[ColdEH]

Built my own , glad to get the gas out !

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by PirateFoxy

I haven’t tried it but IKEA last I looked had one that seemed promising - nice form factor for storage, like a large book.

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.