Possible to run an induction stove?
- Thread starter Beerdy
- Start date
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Absolutely, the only stove in Ndele Luka is an an induction cooktop. http://diplostrat.org Earthroamer now use an induction cooktop as their standard stove, charging extra for the diesel stove.
Now, that said, it helps to have a healthy battery bank (mine is 600ah) as the cooktop will draw between 50A and 200A when running and you should expect 15 to 30 minutes running time per meal. If you don't have an adequate battery bank, then you will need to run a genset or your engine (assuming it is wired correctly) while cooking.
Now, that said, it helps to have a healthy battery bank (mine is 600ah) as the cooktop will draw between 50A and 200A when running and you should expect 15 to 30 minutes running time per meal. If you don't have an adequate battery bank, then you will need to run a genset or your engine (assuming it is wired correctly) while cooking.
Last edited:
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
How many batteries?
A single induction burner is anywhere from 1200 to 1800 watts. You'd be sucking amperage like mad.
A single induction burner is anywhere from 1200 to 1800 watts. You'd be sucking amperage like mad.
It depends on how you are configuring your batteries, and what voltage you are running. The amperage becomes less of an issue with a 24 volt system for example. If you ran 4 6v L16 400Ah AGM batteries series / parallel you would have an 800ah bank. The same batteries in a 24 volt bank would be 400Ah, but you'll draw less amps, and can run smaller wire. It is somewhat more efficient, but power is power.
It's done though, a very educational & fun which also shows the induction cooking & power consumption is here.
http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/boondocking-video
It's done though, a very educational & fun which also shows the induction cooking & power consumption is here.
http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/boondocking-video
mhiscox
Exp. Leader Emeritus
The built-in cooktop in my Sprinter camper is a 1500 watt induction unit:
It works very well. No worries, of course, off of shorepower. It also runs fine off my ProSine 2.0 inverter/charger connected to a 300 AH AGM battery bank. The issue is, of course, that the rate of discharge from your battery bank to run a high-wattage appliance (be it cooktop, microwave, heater, A/C, etc.) is way over what's deemed desirable. My run time for the cooktop is usually 5-10 minutes at a time, so I am not running the battery bank too low, but I probably am shortening the life of the batteries by some significant, but not intolerable, amount.
I do have a portable gas cooktop that I carry for times when I'd need to do more than incidental cooking when away from AC power. My view is that the induction cooktop is brilliant if you'll largely have shorepower available, but that propane would be preferable for extensive boondocking unless you have a quite large battery bank.
It works very well. No worries, of course, off of shorepower. It also runs fine off my ProSine 2.0 inverter/charger connected to a 300 AH AGM battery bank. The issue is, of course, that the rate of discharge from your battery bank to run a high-wattage appliance (be it cooktop, microwave, heater, A/C, etc.) is way over what's deemed desirable. My run time for the cooktop is usually 5-10 minutes at a time, so I am not running the battery bank too low, but I probably am shortening the life of the batteries by some significant, but not intolerable, amount.
I do have a portable gas cooktop that I carry for times when I'd need to do more than incidental cooking when away from AC power. My view is that the induction cooktop is brilliant if you'll largely have shorepower available, but that propane would be preferable for extensive boondocking unless you have a quite large battery bank.