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48 Posts
Hey all,
We're considering putting a two-burner induction cooktop into our new van build. As with most folks, we're concerned about energy usage. There are wildly varying estimates of how much energy an induction cooktop uses, from theoretical ("cooking for an hour a day at full tilt") to hopeful ("I only make a quarter portion of oatmeal per day, Ill be fine"). We wanted to take a real look at how much energy we could expect to be used, cooking some of our standard meals, on an induction cooktop.
I'll preface by saying that I prefer cooking with gas. Its what I know, what I've used, and just feels more controllable. I'm still learning how to properly use induction, so these numbers will change over time, but should remain ballpark accurate.
For a stovetop, we used a Duxtop 1800w 2-burner. We found it pretty easy to work with, except that the power differs between each burner. A power level of eight on the right equals a power level of four on the left, and the right burner can never go over the left's five setting, even though both burners go up to ten. Minor quibbles. I turned off power to the cooktop after its cooling fans had finished running, post-cook.
For cookware, we used a variety of pans, mostly heavy stainless steel, but including a lighter nonstick.
To measure, we used an emporia smart plug.The plug connects to your phone, and graphs usage over time, as well as outputting total usage in a variety of formats, including amp-hours. I find it easiest to think in amp-hours, so thats what I used. Unfortunately, the app doesn't have a good way of telling you how much energy you've used in a "session" and instead is tailored to monitoring continuous usage over time. However, it does provide a "total usage" number which I've found to be reasonably accurate. To get my measurements, I subtracted the total usage number at the beginning of the cook from that at the end. Obviously, we're not including loss to inverter, or issues along those lines - this is a test of how hungry the stovetop is on its own.
For meals, we were always cooking for two hungry adults. We made a variety of meals that we depend on in the van (and some we don't, for fun). Generally, meals that include rice, pasta, or other drawn-out or high-power cooks were the most expensive.
Without further ado, our little spreadsheet (so far):
Over all, the meals we made were more than manageable from an energy consumption standpoint, in our eyes. We are going to move forward with using induction in the van.
Hopefully this can help someone else on here! Ill try to update with more real-world numbers after we have everything built up, and can measure real world usage from a shunt.
EDIT:
To avoid confusion, I've added a couple columns: watt-hours, and 12v amp-hours.
Formulae used:
We're considering putting a two-burner induction cooktop into our new van build. As with most folks, we're concerned about energy usage. There are wildly varying estimates of how much energy an induction cooktop uses, from theoretical ("cooking for an hour a day at full tilt") to hopeful ("I only make a quarter portion of oatmeal per day, Ill be fine"). We wanted to take a real look at how much energy we could expect to be used, cooking some of our standard meals, on an induction cooktop.
I'll preface by saying that I prefer cooking with gas. Its what I know, what I've used, and just feels more controllable. I'm still learning how to properly use induction, so these numbers will change over time, but should remain ballpark accurate.
For a stovetop, we used a Duxtop 1800w 2-burner. We found it pretty easy to work with, except that the power differs between each burner. A power level of eight on the right equals a power level of four on the left, and the right burner can never go over the left's five setting, even though both burners go up to ten. Minor quibbles. I turned off power to the cooktop after its cooling fans had finished running, post-cook.
For cookware, we used a variety of pans, mostly heavy stainless steel, but including a lighter nonstick.
To measure, we used an emporia smart plug.The plug connects to your phone, and graphs usage over time, as well as outputting total usage in a variety of formats, including amp-hours. I find it easiest to think in amp-hours, so thats what I used. Unfortunately, the app doesn't have a good way of telling you how much energy you've used in a "session" and instead is tailored to monitoring continuous usage over time. However, it does provide a "total usage" number which I've found to be reasonably accurate. To get my measurements, I subtracted the total usage number at the beginning of the cook from that at the end. Obviously, we're not including loss to inverter, or issues along those lines - this is a test of how hungry the stovetop is on its own.
For meals, we were always cooking for two hungry adults. We made a variety of meals that we depend on in the van (and some we don't, for fun). Generally, meals that include rice, pasta, or other drawn-out or high-power cooks were the most expensive.
Without further ado, our little spreadsheet (so far):
| Meal | Usage (120v amp-hours) | Usage (watt-hours) | Usage (12v amp-hours) | Notes |
| Brown buttered eggs over easy (3 eggs) | 0.54 | 64.8 | 5.4 | |
| Brown buttered eggs over easy (4 eggs) | 0.696 | 83.52 | 6.96 | |
| Brown buttered eggs over easy (4 eggs) | 0.8 | 96 | 8 | |
| Oatmeal | 0.836 | 100.32 | 8.36 | |
| Enchilada filling | 1.857 | 222.84 | 18.57 | |
| Pork tacos | 1.9 | 228 | 19 | |
| 6 tortillas, 2 quesadillas | 2.5 | 300 | 25 | |
| Caramelized onions and smash burgers | 2.51 | 301.2 | 25.1 | |
| Pork bowls with sautéed veggies and rice | 2.6 | 312 | 26 | |
| Sesame soy beef bowl with carrots and rice | 2.7 | 324 | 27 | |
| Shrimp creole and rice | 4.4 | 528 | 44 | |
| Mashed potatoes | 4.6 | 552 | 46 | |
| Spaghetti with chicken breast and tomato-balsamic sauce | 5.01 | 601.2 | 50.1 | Chicken was seared then baked to finish |
Over all, the meals we made were more than manageable from an energy consumption standpoint, in our eyes. We are going to move forward with using induction in the van.
Hopefully this can help someone else on here! Ill try to update with more real-world numbers after we have everything built up, and can measure real world usage from a shunt.
EDIT:
To avoid confusion, I've added a couple columns: watt-hours, and 12v amp-hours.
Formulae used:
- watt-hours = amp-hours * volts
- amp-hours = watt-hours / volts
- watt-hours = Ah(120v)*120
- 12v amp-hours = (Ah(120v)*120)/12
FWIW I expect real expenditure of spaghetti energy to be lower, as I used a larger stock pot (and more water) than one typically would in the van.
