Feasibility of electric oven/microwave

[alaskanviking]

With a big battery bank or maybe generator, What is the feasibility of an electric oven?

I've been researching but haven't found anything that really addresses this. Coming up for a galley rebuild so it's time to put more effort and thought into this.

I haven't seen a cook top I really like. The Dickenson Mediterranean is $2700. I like the Wallas diesel stove, but it's eurosize and the oven is a little small. The cooktop takes a bit to heat up. And the exhaust is likely difficult underway on my boat. Kinda want to get away from propane, but not fully onboard with all electric.There have been people that have switched to an induction cooktop, so that appears feasible, but what happens when power is out? I have seen combination microwave & wall ovens but they are wider. A wider oven is possible if I rebuild part of the cabinet. I'd like a big oven.

Was thinking maybe I could build a gimbled cabinet for a wall oven install a diesel cook top on top, then have a wood top with an induction top to cover it. Gives me diesel to cook with if I am unable to use ac power.

Wondering if there is any solutions or anyone else thinking this way

[EngineerRetired]

Induction cook top, the only way to go if you are rebuilding your galley. There are well priced microwave/convection/air fryer combination ovens that really can do it all. Its a new world when it comes to cooking technology with minimum power consumption.

[tkeithlu]

What size genset? Using old technology, a 30 amp stove can be carried by a 6.5 KW genny at 220 V. But, it's more common to switch to propane. It has no problem at all supporting a sizeable range and oven. We converted a 24" apartment stove to the boat, which largely involved my welding up a rack to keep pots on the burners and a latch for the oven door.

[rslifkin]

If you've got a reasonable size generator, it's easy enough. Just run the generator when you need the oven (or other major cooking loads) and that'll warm up your hot water at the same time. Otherwise, you'd need a large battery bank and a whole lot of solar unless your cooking needs are very light.

[Chotu]

This is the way I went. I have an electric convection oven. When you really look at it, even if you are on the hook baking bread all the time, you’re not using the oven that much. It can coincide nicely with running a generator.

I did choose propane for the cooktop, because I prefer it over induction, even though most people prefer induction. Also, the cooktop is in use all the time. Many times a day. I don’t want to start a generator for that.

[sailcrazy]

The Admiral very much prefers electric cooking to a gas range. We changed out to a Force10 gimbaled electric stove(4 burner) and oven about 19 years ago! We also have a m/w installed. As our refer system is also AC, we have built our boat and cruising lifestyle around using the genset. We have a 2000w inverter, and a 675amphr(6 T-105s) batt bank w/ solar and windgen, but rarely use the inverter. We run the genset ~45 min in the morning....make coffee, pull the refer/freezer down, do any cooking required, and recharge the batts as reqd. In the evening, we run it for ~ an hour, cooking, pull the refer down, make water if needed(watermaker is also an AC motor, by choice), etc. I should also note-our boat was built for Asia, and wired for 230v (3-wire), 50Hz power, and that's what the 6.5kva genset puts out. But the refer motor and appliances are all US(60Hz). It's only been about 20 years-but so far, no issue! To answer your question-yes...very doable, NOT an issue! But do make sure your genset is not a noisy one-your harbor-mates will thank you. PS..an induction cooktop is a really good thing,...fast, no heat in the galley, works good.

[Jack C]

Originally Posted by alaskanviking

With a big battery bank or maybe generator, What is the feasibility of an electric oven?

I've been researching but haven't found anything that really addresses this. Coming up for a galley rebuild so it's time to put more effort and thought into this.

I haven't seen a cook top I really like. The Dickenson Mediterranean is $2700. I like the Wallas diesel stove, but it's eurosize and the oven is a little small. The cooktop takes a bit to heat up. And the exhaust is likely difficult underway on my boat. Kinda want to get away from propane, but not fully onboard with all electric.There have been people that have switched to an induction cooktop, so that appears feasible, but what happens when power is out? I have seen combination microwave & wall ovens but they are wider. A wider oven is possible if I rebuild part of the cabinet. I'd like a big oven.

Was thinking maybe I could build a gimbled cabinet for a wall oven install a diesel cook top on top, then have a wood top with an induction top to cover it. Gives me diesel to cook with if I am unable to use ac power.

Wondering if there is any solutions or anyone else thinking this way

_____________________

If you can put up with the generator costs of purchase, install, maintenance etc. and the noise, and inconvenience of remembering to run it, and the valuable space it takes, the cost and space of fuel etc. then the electric world is open to you.
Today, solar, wind batteries etc. will be marginal and expensive.

Propane, with safety systems is an easy affordable solution.

When we bought our MayFlower 48 a few years ago, we removed the new generator which was located above the engine and was impossible to maintain because of no access unless we removed the sound proof case. We revamped the propane system with a remote solenoid and wired in propane sensor.

We are making do with the non gimballed stove top and old stove, both propane.

We are looking at putting in a Force 10 Oven. As we already have gas an induction stove top (hob) is not needed although we could run it off our 2kw inverter. We have a small microwave and toaster oven which we can run off the inverter and main bank when not on shore power. For toast on gas we have a stainless steel flame spreader we put on the gas burner.
But why would we use electric appliances when not on shore power? We would be adding discharge cycles to our expensive batteries even when our solar panels are generating 40 amps at 12V.

Bottom line, unless you have the money and want to deal with a generator, it makes sense to use propane.

[Adelie]

To do an electric galley without a generator you would need an extra 300Ahr of battery capacity and the minimum total bank size should be about 700Ahr.
You would need an extra 300-400W of panels.
Inverter to run it should be at least 4,000W pure sine wave.

If you know how long a tank of propane normally lasts you I have a chart somewhere that tells you what you daily electrical
Usage for cooking is likely to be.

To do this you would need induction burners and a convection oven.

[Culwatty]

I've got 200ah 12v lifepo4 house bank, I have electric oven and single induction cooktop used daily 300w of solar, I run the generator for maybe an hour every other day to top the battery up (charging at 100a) as I build the frame over the rear of the boat for more solar I will need the generator less and less.

Summer I don't hardly use the generator, winter I was using an hour a day to keep up with demand (uk winter isn't great for solar)

The lifepo4 is the game changer! I can cook a complete meal oven and hob without a worry at all. I'm expanding the battery bank and a bigger charger as eventually I will rewire at 48v for electric propulsion(it is a sailboat after all)

Go all electric, get a combination oven grill mickywave air fryer thing. I've got convection oven but really wish I'd bought the combination one now!

[Capt. Ray]

On my 97' Dutch gaff-rigged ketch my galley is entirely electric. When my 24v battery bank is full from solar or other methods I have to charge, there is no problem cooking for a crew of 8 with the 2-ring induction cooktop supplemented by Instant Pot, electric kettle and occasional use of a small oven from a 3kW full-sine inverter dedicated for the galley. If batteries are low I start a Predator 3500 generator which brings two 13 amp cords into the galley with wall sockets well labelled behind the cooktop. I plan to bring a battery management remote display into the galley so the cook can monitor the voltage. If I want to do vacuum cleaning and run the laundry at the same time as cooking, I fire up one of my 20kW diesel generators... But it is very possible to run a galley with just a single 13 amp supply and turn out good meals. When voyaging, I plan to make heavy use of the Instant Pot for hearty stews that keep hot 24 hours a day for watch crews, I will make a wooden base to hold it steady.

[Capt. Ray]

Siince the Original Post is asking about electric, your entire reply is spurious. There are many of us who make an electric galley work.

Originally Posted by Jack C

_____________________

If you can put up with the generator costs of purchase, install, maintenance etc. and the noise, and inconvenience of remembering to run it, and the valuable space it takes, the cost and space of fuel etc. then the electric world is open to you.
Today, solar, wind batteries etc. will be marginal and expensive.

Propane, with safety systems is an easy affordable solution.

When we bought our MayFlower 48 a few years ago, we removed the new generator which was located above the engine and was impossible to maintain because of no access unless we removed the sound proof case. We revamped the propane system with a remote solenoid and wired in propane sensor.

We are making do with the non gimballed stove top and old stove, both propane.

We are looking at putting in a Force 10 Oven. As we already have gas an induction stove top (hob) is not needed although we could run it off our 2kw inverter. We have a small microwave and toaster oven which we can run off the inverter and main bank when not on shore power. For toast on gas we have a stainless steel flame spreader we put on the gas burner.
But why would we use electric appliances when not on shore power? We would be adding discharge cycles to our expensive batteries even when our solar panels are generating 40 amps at 12V.

Bottom line, unless you have the money and want to deal with a generator, it makes sense to use propane.

[NPCampbell]

Originally Posted by alaskanviking

Wondering if there is any solutions or anyone else thinking this way

A microwave is about 50% efficient in boiling water. It's less efficient with food that has low moisture content.

An electric stovetop is about 70%.

An induction oven is 85%.

Propane burns efficiently but when used to boil water in a pot, most of the heat escapes from around the pot. Propane is around 40% efficient at boiling water but the energy density is so high that sometimes the convenience of carrying propane is worth it.

Personally, if I had enough solar and battery, I'd have both a microwave and induction cooktop and wouldn't use a fuel burning stove.

Water boiling efficiency

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by NPCampbell

A microwave is about 50% efficient in boiling water. It's less efficient with food that has low moisture content.



An electric stovetop is about 70%.



An induction oven is 85%.



Propane burns efficiently but when used to boil water in a pot, most of the heat escapes from around the pot. Propane is around 40% efficient at boiling water but the energy density is so high that sometimes the convenience of carrying propane is worth it.



Personally, if I had enough solar and battery, I'd have both a microwave and induction cooktop and wouldn't use a fuel burning stove.



Water boiling efficiency

During our recent electrical refit we got rid of our propane stove and oven and replaced them with a 3.5KW 2-ring induction top and a 2.6KW countertop convection oven. I measured the time and wattage of boiling water on our induction stove against a small electric kettle. The induction hob was twice as fast at boiling the water and used about 20% more power to do so than the kettle. It is a small kettle with 800W power.

For general cooking the induction hob is ridiculously efficient and fast. It cycles on and off so the overall draw is not too bad. The oven takes more energy to preheat but because it’s rather small (22l - it’s a Breville Smart Oven Pro) it does that quickly and after that also cycles. Baking a loaf of bread consumes 20Ahrs at 12V.

With our previous propane stove, and the regular electric stove we had in our land house, when cooking we used preheat time to prepare the food for cooking. With induction stove, we need to prepare the food for cooking before preheating as it’s so fast.

I’m dubious about the usefulness of a microwave on a live aboard cruising boat as you have time. The quick reheat capability of a microwave is just not needed. Plus the cost and weight of a combination microwave/convection oven is much more than a convection oven alone.

[Chotu]

What about the “it can’t break” aspect of propane at least for the cooktop?

It’s some hoses and a valve. You’re still cooking even if the inverter dies.

[NPCampbell]

Originally Posted by fxykty

I’m dubious about the usefulness of a microwave on a live aboard cruising boat as you have time. The quick reheat capability of a microwave is just not needed. Plus the cost and weight of a combination microwave/convection oven is much more than a convection oven alone.

On land I use a microwave/convection. Yes, it is more expensive than either alone. There are however, a ton of things that are just more convenient with a microwave vs a stovetop or oven. Steamed veggies, poached eggs in a cup, warming hot towels, reheating food in the bowl you eat out of rather than dirtying a cooking utensil, etc ... but to each their own.