Changing gas hob to induction plus gas

[Helen Ariel]

Hello hive mind. I wonder if you can help me with working out if my idea for upgrading the cooking facilities in our motorhome will work.

We currently have a very weedy 3 burner hob and various bits are playing up. Ingnitor has broken off one burner, one is really hard to get to stay lit and makes funny noises on low. We've had it serviced once but didn't last long as I cook loads in the van for months at a time so it's asking a lot. I know they can be fixed but we recently upgraded to lithium, 3 solar panels and b to b and move around regularly so I feel we could benefit from induction now. I wouldn't want to only have induction though so was looking at hybrid hobs as mentioned to me by Lenny HB.

They are horrendously expensive! Like £600 but I've seen a twin induction that looks good for £200 and wondered whether this could be combined with a single decent sized burner?

Happy to pay a chippy to fit these into the current work top space nicely.

This was one I was looking at.

Sterling Twin Front & Back Campervan Induction Hob IHFB (built in)

Experience Ultimate Comfort and Convenience with the Sterling Twin Front & Back Campervan Induction Hob IHSBS When embarking on your next adventure, whether it’s a weekend getaway or a cross-country journey, the quality of your travel gear can make all the difference. For those who cherish both...

vanjunkies.co.uk

Does this look feasible power wise and does the idea of creating our own dual system seem a good idea? If anyone has recommendations for brands of induction or gas hobs that are better than the bog standard one we have please comment.

Thanks!

 

[MisterB]

i would see if there is potential to actually remove the current worktop and fit a new one with the new hob and potentially sink? you could always then replace the 'new' worktop if you wanted to ....?

 

[Helen Ariel]

I definitely don't want to start taking the kitchen apart as it's all really solid and nicely fitted just want to lift out old hob and put new ones in the hole maybe with a bit of adaptation of the size or shape of it.

 

[Lenny HB]

I. None give never hear of at by red induction hob.

If you are going the induction hob route you will need a serious upgrade to your 230ah Lithium you will need to at least double it preferably more. That new inverter is nowhere near big enough it won't even run a small single induction hob.

I've just bought a single induction hob for cooking outside.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Can't understand your 1st sentence. We are great for battery hardly touched the battery level during our 2 weeks in Scotland ( still at 80 percent end of the day) and most trips will be in much sunnier places. We aren't power hungry really as kettle is on gas, gas oven, fridge and BBQ, no hairdryer etc, don't watch lots of TV or run fans or Aircon.

I was under the impression the inverter was 2000w max so thought that we could have at least one induction hob. It's only going to be used once a day and at the end of the day for making dinner so if the weather hadn't been good or we'd not driven anywhere and we were low on battery we would use gas instead. If the proper induction hob is a no go we were certainly thinking of getting a stand alone plug in one and then perhaps we can upgrade the gas hobs to something better.

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[Helen Ariel]

Something like this? not expecting to run it full blast if not on hookup. https://www.currys.co.uk/products/t...ffr33ShOy8CaU7ZyrJhoCtn8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Lenny HB]

Neither can I that was predictive text, meant to be hybrid.

Your inverter is 2000va which is 1600 watts.
Most induction hobs are 2000 watts and you were talking about dual induction hob.
On full power a 2000 w hob will draw 184 amps at 12v but to keep the temperature they pulse on and off so if they used 50% of that power if you ran the hob for 20 min you would use 30 amps out of you battery.

 

[funflair]

Something like this? not expecting to run it full blast if not on hookup. https://www.currys.co.uk/products/t...ffr33ShOy8CaU7ZyrJhoCtn8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We use this one also Tefal, the spec says 2100 watts maximum but it has 9 power levels and I usually use it on 3 or 4 and it pulls around 800 watts and cycles on/off so 2kw inverter would do it if you are sensible, as for battery its going to be pulling around 100 amps so you need something that allows that, as for capacity it simply depends on how long you use it for, I have done Chilli for 8 with ours and that took about 15% of 640ah, cooking for two takes a lot less.

 

[funflair]

Neither can I that was predictive text, meant to be hybrid.

Your inverter is 2000va which is 1600 watts.
Most induction hobs are 2000 watts and you were talking about dual induction hob.
On full power a 2000 w hob will draw 184 amps at 12v but to keep the temperature they pulse on and off so if they used 50% of that power if you ran the hob for 20 min you would use 61 amps out of you battery.

Lenny 184 amps at 50% for 20 minutes would be 30ah and our induction has never got near to 2000 watts.

 

[Helen Ariel]

The new set up is working brilliantly Lenny HB , and I can’t thank you enough for all of your help with it.
Max power being drawn currently is when we use the toaster - it’s pulling 1400w continuously and does drain the battery quite quickly but this isn’t an issue as we are never parked up for more than a couple of days. A short drive soon gets it back to fully charged! The B2B is awesome. I’m loving watching what’s happening on the Fogstar & Victron apps in real time! Another gadget to keep me occupied.
From what I gather reading about other people’s experiences with this inverter they can use 1800w hobs successfully because they don’t really use them on full power for that long - the inverter can produce 2200w for about 2 minutes in their experience, then needs to be turned down. We’ll probably look to get a hob that’s rated at 1800w max.
I’ll be in touch to pick your brains no doubt!

If I don’t see you before you go this week, have a great trip!

Paul

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[Lenny HB]

Lenny 184 amps at 50% for 20 minutes would be 30ah and our induction has never got near to 2000 watts.

Bit early for me brain not in gear yet, I'll edit it.
Yes that's more manageable for the batteries, problem is the inverter we fitted to Paul's van is 2000va so only 1600 watts.

I only bought my hob a couple of days a ago I'll have to plug it into my power meter and report back.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Careful you don’t wake The Boss up with all this typing in bed Lenny HB !

 

[funflair]

Bit early for me brain not in gear yet, I'll edit it.
Yes that's more manageable for the batteries, problem is the inverter we fitted to Paul's van is 2000va so only 1600 watts.

I only bought my hob a couple of days a ago I'll have to plug it into my power meter and report back.

I understand the 1600W is a worst case relative to 2000va but an induction hob is a pretty clean load as far as I know so will the Victron then run closer to it's best case 2000W.

 

[funflair]

Real life test,

Power level 4 of 9 and pulling 1006watts up to the boil very quickly, dropped to to 2 for simmer and it’s pulling between 850 and 250.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Real life test,

View attachment 950449

Power level 4 of 9 and pulling 1006watts up to the boil very quickly, dropped to to 2 for simmer and it’s pulling between 850 and 250.

Have you got a link to the model please?

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[funflair]

Have you got a link to the model please?

Yes this is it, I put it on earlier as well. Actually just noticed that it says from 450 to 2100 watts but I know ours goes lower.

Tefal Everyday Induction Hob IH201840 | Costco UK

Fast and simple cooking every day! With the Everyday induction hob, enjoy fast, simple cooking every day. Featuring 6 diverse functions - manual, hot milk, soup, stew, stir fry, fry - it makes cooking easy, while 9 power levels adapt to all your cooking needs, from 450W to 2100W. Suitable for...

www.costco.co.uk

 

[Andy_Elddis125]

I have the Stirling IH1 single hob 1800W with a 2000w inverter and a 220Ah battery. To boil a kettle I use setting 7 ( maximum is 8). It is pretty quick and uses about 4% of the battery. Cooking a meal for 2 can use about 15%.

 

[Wizz]

Just for info, we have had this one in the van for a couple of years now and its been excellent. We generally use it outside the van, and when on EHU. It's also available in a twin/double. Power 800watts.

 

[Hoovie]

As far as cooking using battery power goes, for anyone thinking this might be for them, there is an interesting section in this book from Victron Energy - Victron Energy Unlimited - that details how much power (in real life) was used in the various stages of cooking a meal.
Your meals will be different of course, but that will give a good flavour of what to expect and if the idea is feasible in your setup.

Personally, I don't use the gas oven in my Motorhome as it is incredibly slow. Instead I use the Microwave (w/grill) and/or the Air Fryer for 'oven' duties and I have a pair of 500W portable Induction Hobs which I can use instead of the Gas Burners, plus an "Instant Pot" type multi-function Pressure Cooker, but to be fair not really use that much at all.
You don't need a massive Inverter to be able to cook using electricity. I have a Victron EasyPlus 12/1600/70, which means just a 1350W Inverter but all the above work on it (not at the same time, of course!).

 

[BillandHelen]

Well, another real life example, just cooked our first off grid meal using both our electric convection oven and one induction hob, powered by 3000w inverter.
Oven cooked the dish at 200c for 35 mins and the hob boiled the water then simmered the veg for about 7mins.
Wattage was pulsing up and down for both, hit a max of just over 3000w for a second or two, made me a bit nervous!
All successful, meal lovely, used 95 amps (gulp), thankfully due to be sunny in Cambridge tomorrow so will see how the solar gets on.

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[jumar]

Portable Induction hobs are great for inside or outside cooking...ours is 1800w.

 

[funflair]

Well, another real life example, just cooked our first off grid meal using both our electric convection oven and one induction hob, powered by 3000w inverter.
Oven cooked the dish at 200c for 35 mins and the hob boiled the water then simmered the veg for about 7mins.
Wattage was pulsing up and down for both, hit a max of just over 3000w for a second or two, made me a bit nervous!
All successful, meal lovely, used 95 amps (gulp), thankfully due to be sunny in Cambridge tomorrow so will see how the solar gets on.

I reckon you could cut the time down a bit on the veg we have used about the same power this evening cooking tea (on induction) and charging the bike up..

EDIT I will add that we have had a couple of sunny days here in France (yesterday was better) yesterday we made around 148ah and were back to 100% today we used quite a bit of power for hair drying, breakfast and then coffee before we went out on the bike, saved a bit when we got back by having a beer instead of a cup of tea but then cooked tea, we only made 125ah but as we move on tomorrow anyway we will be fine, actually more than fine as we are still at 82% and another sunny day forecast on top of driving, BillandHelen we have 540watts.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

When off grid we usually start our evening meal veggies off at 10am. Fresh or frozen.bring to the boil and place in a dumpy flask. Potatoes the same .. by tea time they are cooked and just need a refresh boil up. Then cook up your meat dish or whatever to accompany the veggies.saves gas/ electric .

 

[Brendan]

This is the induction hob I use, cost a whopping £50.

I don't imagine they make their own, so it's probably badged as various things possibly including some mentioned here.
It seems to be a sort of hybrid when it comes to operation, there are 10 selectable levels of power.
From what I can see L5 and above increases the wattage so more amps for a shorter time, below L5 it runs at what I assume is it's lowest power setting and pulses on and off to further reduce.

I use it with my victron multiplus 2000 (va), so 1600w.
I tend not to use it beyond L8 which is less than 1600, although I suspect I could for a short while but never found it necessary.

 

[Hoovie]

This is the induction hob I use, cost a whopping £50.



I don't imagine they make their own, so it's probably badged as various things possibly including some mentioned here.
It seems to be a sort of hybrid when it comes to operation, there are 10 selectable levels of power.
From what I can see L5 and above increases the wattage so more amps for a shorter time, below L5 it runs at what I assume is it's lowest power setting and pulses on and off to further reduce.

Interesting combination of different running styles between L1-4 and 5-10. Not seen that before. Handy.
The closest to that I had was with a 2000W Maplins Induction Hob which would cycle on and off to make an average of the selected power, like yours in modes L1 - L4, but I observed that if I selected a power under 1000W, it would cycle from off to 1000W to make the average, but if I chose over 1000W, it cycled between off and 2000W. I ran that via a Multiplus 12/3000 so was fine with that anyway.

I use it with my victron multiplus 2000 (va), so 1600w.
I tend not to use it beyond L8 which is less than 1600, although I suspect I could for a short while but never found it necessary.

FWIW, the Victron Inverters and Multiplus units will accept an overload upto a certain power for upto 30 seconds. The are designed to be able to handle motor and compressor surgers (not sure off hand what the 2000VA overload limit is, but my 1600VA has a continuous power of 1350W and an overload of 3000W, for example).
I find I end up using this when I run the Bosch Tassimo Coffee Machine. It is officially rated at 1300W (so within the limit of the Multiplus 12/1600) but actually surges to 2000W a couple of times during a run. The Inverter flags an overload condition but carries on as the duration is short.

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