I’m trying to get an idea of whether it would be viable for us to upgrade our PV and switch from propane to electric for cooking.
Is anyone else cooking on PV-powered electric, and do you have a rough estimate of the kWh used for it?
Once one gets the right cookware (mostly cast iron) the main disadvantage of induction cooktops is the fan noise, for me. I use one on a daily basis. Additionally I have an instapot pressure cooker, which is super handy. I also use an electric water boiler. And it all runs off the solar panels on the roof. It’s awesome!
I used a small crock pot pretty frequently on solar power to cook for my partner and I. The one I had drew around 200 w/hr on high. I’m not sure what the peak draw was though.
There isn’t a heat pump oven (yet) so the biggest improvement to electric cooking efficiency has been those portable induction cooktops. They are all rated at around 2000w.
I would still keep a small propane or multi fuel burner just in case.
I can’t look at the exact usage details day to day (and I’m not offgrid) but my electric stove, a Copper stove, has a 5 kWh battery in it and their marketing claims you can cook 3-5 meals during a power outage. Hopefully that’s a useful data point
I was looking at that stove a while back but didn’t see any pricing at the time. Definitely interested since it could charge up and work separately from my main PV and not dip into its battery or draw a lot of current from it. I also like that it only needs 120v and gives you 220v performance because it makes up the difference from the battery.
Guessing it’s going to be a tad on the expensive side, lol.
I wish I had access to the state of charge stats or anything, cause ive always been curious how much of the battery it uses. all I can say is that it’s a decently nice stove, the oven is great, but that I wish they had made at least one ofthe induction pads large enough to fully heat a 12 inch skillet. They’re all the same size, I think 8 inch? So big pans are hotter in the middle, and the outer 2-3 inches are noticeable cooler and never boil. For that reason I don’t recommend it, given that its like 6 grand or something, gimme a full size induction coil
They’re all the same size, I think 8 inch? So big pans are hotter in the middle, and the outer 2-3 inches are noticeable cooler and never boil … gimme a full size induction coil
Oof, yeah that’d be a dealbreaker for me, too, with any cooktop.
given that its like 6 grand or something
Yikes. They didn’t come with an oven and cooktop attached, but I just spent 5 grand on a pair of 48v 16 KWh batteries (32 KWh total), so I guess I’ll just keep planning to use those to power my current range haha.
I’ve got a couple of induction stove tops. They mostly use 2kw max, but pulse on and off to emulate lower power levels. So if you can’t supply 2kw, you’ll not have a good time.
I have run one on a 2kW inverter and an AGM battery.
https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-hob-1-zone-white-40493509/
They are dirt cheap, so not a huge risk if it doesn’t work.
My wife cooked lunch today. Beef stew and toasted bread. The stew in a pressure cooker, vegetables and bread in a air fryer. Some of that was the kettle boiling too. We don’t use a conventional stove for anything. The regular bumps through the night is the fridge/freezer, it runs on solar permanently.
Green in incoming PV from 6 panels. 5kW inverter. Yellow is power draw. Just don’t start two appliances that both draw more than 2kW at the same time, and you’re good.
It takes a lot of power cook food. Even if you are using a microwave or induction burner. Just start looking at the power consumption figures of microwaves. they start at 1000 watts.
Maybe consider a tiny marine wood stove instead.
https://www.practical-sailor.com/belowdecks-amenities/galley/navigator-wood-stoves-provide-classic-heating-and-cooking-onboard/Back in the day, my grand parents cooked with a wood stove that also heated the house.
In the summer they would put two poles under the stove and carry it out to the back porch to use it in the summer kitchen on the back porch.
Also depending on your living situation. there is also the rocket stove.
https://fireandsaw.com/what-is-a-rocket-stove/
There also are the more traditional wood stoves that my grand parents used they are still made today.
https://www.lehmans.com/category/rangesEdit: There are also masonry cook stoves.
https://insteading.com/blog/masonry-cook-stoves/Cooking is really high draw for a relatively short time. Fry some eggs - 600-800w for about 5-7 min. Bake a cake - 3500w for 10 min to preheat, then the oven cycles on and off for 30 min or so.
It’s possible, but you’ll need a good sized solar array, and a battery bank and inverter that can provide the juice. Another challenge is having enough power for everything else and cooking off season - unless you’re close to the equator. It’s not hard to get an appropriately sized inverter, and lithium handles the draw pretty easily especially in a decently sized bank. 25 years ago I had friends who were fully off grid using electric, but it was supported by a proper windmill; 5kw if I remember. Even in mild breeze the 500watts all day and night helps; when it got windy there was a real concern about boiling the batteries.
I have a 1 element induction cooktop with a 2000 W rating, so roughly 2 kWh at max setting, but I think it is really fast as it doesn’t waste energy heating the air around it. Breakfast would take 10min to set up on propane, but now if I doze off, I might burn my food
edit: If you want, you could also build your own solar stove if it makes sense in your region
