[Tuckie]

I was watching a video of a van build, and I took note of the induction cooktop. 120V and greater than 1800W (2300W!): Amazon.com

They get around the 1800W limit by requiring it to be hardwired.

It comes in a more compact (but more annoying controls) vertical option, and a slightly more spacious (with probably better controls) horizontal option. Only annoying bit is it looks like the temp option displays in celsius.

Has anyone heard of the VEVOR brand? It would be interesting to see how it stacks up against the others.

Edit: just realized it is 110 vs 120.... I wonder if that matters in practice. I also found that they offer a 120V version, but it has knobs (for better or worse): VEVOR Built-in Induction Cooktop, 11 inch 2 Burners, 120V Ceramic Glass Electric Stove Top with Knob Control, Timer & Child Lock Included, 9 Power Levels with Boost Function for Simmer Steam Fry | VEVOR US

 

[gregoryx]

110/120 are generally the same - at least here in the US. Spec is technically 120V, but very frequently less at the outlet side, so we-all refer to it as 110V. I suspect that's so people don't plug something in, see 110V and complain that they aren't getting their money's worth of electricity. 😏

Having used a couple different brands in our last rig, I ordered three brands from Amazon and tested them all before installing in the current van. Vevor wasn't one of them; but True Induction, Empava and Duxtop were. Empava looked like the best - specs were great but didn't work as well as the others. Duxtop had the lowest background power-draw. True Induction was pulling something like 50W when it was off - which was what we'd run and experienced in our Sprinter as well. But the Empava that claimed to be 1800W pulled a max of ~1200W and a bit of a background draw as well. The other two were true to spec on the top-end. Duxtop was the best top and bottom.

FWIW, we went with the Duxtop for our initial single-burner install; then changed to True Induction in the rebuild (removed our propane so replaced the single-burner with a dual-burner) because it fit best and had the best operation.

WRT the power... have you used one? The only time we /ever/ use the full-power is to boil water - basically as a test. For everything else, half the power is plenty. We cook eggs in a cast iron skillet and use the "3" setting (of 1-9 options).


EDIT: LOL! I just realized you linked to my initial post on them.

 

[Tuckie]

We've been rocking a wolf induction cooktop that I love, and that thing can draw up to 50 amps. I use the boost function quite a bit too. That being said, I would probably regret making smashburgers the way I normally do in such a small space 😁.

 

[Christa N]

Following as I was told that we had to upgrade our entire electric build to have induction, so very interested to see what others have to say on this.

 

[Dberdinka]

Following as I was told that we had to upgrade our entire electric build to have induction, so very interested to see what others have to say on this.

Agreed that I never use the full 1800w of my True Induction cooktop, as I tend to only boil water for coffee in a 700w hotpot. I wired it through a switch, so when its off, its off, zero power draw. Induction in the van is amazing, clean, quick, precise. Not sure what you're using now or how much upgrade your electrical system would require. But presuming more batteries, larger inverter, additional charging capacity I imagine that upgrade could get extremely expensive for wants ultimately a marginal increase in utility.

 

[IsleofMan]

Following as I was told that we had to upgrade our entire electric build to have induction, so very interested to see what others have to say on this.

Did they think you were asking for a full sized kitchen range? I've seen people blacken beef with one of these plugged into a small Jackery.

 

[Tcaschy021]

Has anyone heard of the VEVOR brand? It would be interesting to see how it stacks up against the others.

Vevor in general is like China's Habor Freight IMO. They have just about EVERYTHING. Quality is I think hit or miss depending upon the item. I've bought a bunch of stuff directly from their website TOUGH TOOLS, HALF PRICE | VEVOR US. Its legit however I haven't had to deal with them for support or anything so I cannot attest to that aspect of the company.

 

[Christa N]

Did they think you were asking for a full sized kitchen range? I've seen people blacken beef with one of these plugged into a small Jackery.

Sweet! We are probably buying a decent sized Ground Zero or some time of portable charger so I will do a test run at home.

 

[gregoryx]

We've been rocking a wolf induction cooktop that I love, and that thing can draw up to 50 amps. I use the boost function quite a bit too. That being said, I would probably regret making smashburgers the way I normally do in such a small space 😁.

I'm with @IsleofMan: I'd bet you'd do just as well with the lowest end of these. The high settings will get a cast-iron pan REALLY HOT. As for the clean-up... YUCK!

 

[SierraHiker]

Agreed that I never use the full 1800w of my True Induction cooktop, as I tend to only boil water for coffee in a 700w hotpot. I wired it through a switch, so when its off, its off, zero power draw. Induction in the van is amazing, clean, quick, precise. Not sure what you're using now or how much upgrade your electrical system would require. But presuming more batteries, larger inverter, additional charging capacity I imagine that upgrade could get extremely expensive for wants ultimately a marginal increase in utility.

Sweet! We are probably buying a decent sized Ground Zero or some time of portable charger so I will do a test run at home.

Christa, maybe this helps doing your own calculations. It's very simple math. Give yourself some margins for inefficiencies in the system and losses because of e.g. converting battery 12 V to 110V in the inverter.

I don't have an induction or electric coffee pot which draw a lot of power (Watts), but typically only for a short time.
My system is very basic but could handle it if I'm careful.
I would have to buy and install an Inverter and a thick cable from battery to the Inverter.

My quick back of the envelop calculations.
A 1800 W induction plate requires at least a 2000W inverter to run at max capacity. That takes ~170 Amps at 12 V out of your battery bank and requires beefy cables.
Watts (power) is Volts x Amperage. Energy is Watts x hours.

Your battery bank capacity is defined in Amp hours (Ah). Mine is relatively small 200 Ah at 12 Volts, so I have 200 x 12 = 2400 Watt hours of Energy. It's not a lithium battery, so in real life I can only use 50% = 1200 Watt hours of the battery before recharging. Use more, I would break the battery quickly.

Sticking to the Watts and hours.
How long will you be cooking?
Guessing 10 minutes Full power 1800 W and half an hour simmer at 200 W. Add up to Energy (Watts X Hours) one would need = 1800 X 10/60 + 200 X 30/60 = ~266 Wh
That is 266 / 1200 = 22% of all I can use before recharging the battery. I need to calculate also the energy needed for Fridge and waterpump. Lights and phone chargers are not big users.

I hope this helps.

 

[GapRunr]

Only annoying bit is it looks like the temp option displays in celsius.

Oh bummer. So it works anywhere in the world except the US and Liberia?

 

[Christa N]

Christa, maybe this helps doing your own calculations. It's very simple math. Give yourself some margins for inefficiencies in the system and losses because of e.g. converting battery 12 V to 110V in the inverter.

I don't have an induction or electric coffee pot which draw a lot of power (Watts), but typically only for a short time.
My system is very basic but could handle it if I'm careful.
I would have to buy and install an Inverter and a thick cable from battery to the Inverter.

My quick back of the envelop calculations.
A 1800 W induction plate requires at least a 2000W inverter to run at max capacity. That takes ~170 Amps at 12 V out of your battery bank and requires beefy cables.
Watts (power) is Volts x Amperage. Energy is Watts x hours.

Your battery bank capacity is defined in Amp hours (Ah). Mine is relatively small 200 Ah at 12 Volts, so I have 200 x 12 = 2400 Watt hours of Energy. It's not a lithium battery, so in real life I can only use 50% = 1200 Watt hours of the battery before recharging. Use more, I would break the battery quickly.

Sticking to the Watts and hours.
How long will you be cooking?
Guessing 10 minutes Full power 1800 W and half an hour simmer at 200 W. Add up to Energy (Watts X Hours) one would need = 1800 X 10/60 + 200 X 30/60 = ~266 Wh
That is 266 / 1200 = 22% of all I can use before recharging the battery. I need to calculate also the energy needed for Fridge and waterpump. Lights and phone chargers are not big users.

I hope this helps.

Yes for sure. We have done the calcs and won't probably go induction, but just interesting to follow. Thanks!

 

[RickT]

I love my duxtop, it may pull power on full, but it's very efficient heat transfer to the cooking surface and in lower power settings for normal cooking it's fast and accurate. In the summer the heat goes into the food and not the van. I have a Victron inverter charger so in campground it provides 110 from the 30A. Also, I can take it to the camp table and cook outside.

I use it for 3 minutes every morning for coffee with my cast iron tea pot. It's pretty sweet.

 

[jkmann]

There are a few nice-looking induction cooktops around 1400 watts. I don't need more power than that, so would prefer an appliance with a lower top-end that also doesn't take up too much space. We will be using an Instant Pot for most things.

 

[rustythorn]

We've been rocking a wolf induction cooktop that I love, and that thing can draw up to 50 amps. I use the boost function quite a bit too. That being said, I would probably regret making smashburgers the way I normally do in such a small space 😁.

50 amps at 120 volts? 6000 watts?

 

[rustythorn]

nice little unit, would be better with a bridge element, however, they seem close enough any how. you'd just need to practice getting them at the same output level but with a cast iron dutch oven that would not be much of an issue

 

[Tuckie]

50 amps at 120 volts? 6000 watts?

240V 😊 (as you can guess, this one is currently used in the home)

• 2 - 2,100 W element
• 2 - 2,100 W Element with 3,700 W Boost
• 1 - 2,600 W element with 3,700 W boost

 

[timreg2]

My experience so far with our Duxtop single burner is that we don't care at all how much energy it draws at the highest setting. Here's why: We only ever use the highest setting for boiling water, and would adjust that setting based on our available power. Most all of our cooking is done at 1/2 power or less (often at 1-3 on a 1-9 scale). It's shocking how fast the pan gets hot, and how hot it is even at low settings.

FWIW, I found that the cookware makes a huge difference for our use.

Our carbon steel pans got really hot really fast over the induction ring, but the heat never really spread to the outer edges of the pan. The result was uneven cooking.

Cast iron took longer to get hot, and a lot longer for the heat to even out over the pan surface, but it eventually did. If I used cast iron I would polish the bottom of the pan so it didn't scratch the cooktop.

Our multi layer stainless (Magma cookware) did the best for the way I cook. Got hot quick and maintained an even cooking temp over the entire surface. I think that's because the stainless/aluminum/stainless sandwich holds and spreads the heat fast.

While I prefer to use carbon steel at home (gas range), it was the worst performing on our van induction cooktop. Cast iron is too slow and heavy for my van use. I think the stainless worked the best for me. It heated up fast and evenly, and allowed us to use a lower power setting for the shortest amount of time.

Based on this experience, I would not hesitate to get a lower power consumption induction cooktop, if a weaker power system demanded it.

 

[rustythorn]

My experience so far with our Duxtop single burner is that we don't care at all how much energy it draws at the highest setting. Here's why: We only ever use the highest setting for boiling water, and would adjust that setting based on our available power. Most all of our cooking is done at 1/2 power or less (often at 1-3 on a 1-9 scale). It's shocking how fast the pan gets hot, and how hot it is even at low settings.

FWIW, I found that the cookware makes a huge difference for our use.

Our carbon steel pans got really hot really fast over the induction ring, but the heat never really spread to the outer edges of the pan. The result was uneven cooking.

Cast iron took longer to get hot, and a lot longer for the heat to even out over the pan surface, but it eventually did. If I used cast iron I would polish the bottom of the pan so it didn't scratch the cooktop.

Our multi layer stainless (Magma cookware) did the best for the way I cook. Got hot quick and maintained an even cooking temp over the entire surface. I think that's because the stainless/aluminum/stainless sandwich holds and spreads the heat fast.

While I prefer to use carbon steel at home (gas range), it was the worst performing on our van induction cooktop. Cast iron is too slow and heavy for my van use. I think the stainless worked the best for me. It heated up fast and evenly, and allowed us to use a lower power setting for the shortest amount of time.

Based on this experience, I would not hesitate to get a lower power consumption induction cooktop, if a weaker power system demanded it.

i'm no expert with heat up times or even a very good cook. but i got an extremely cheap [<$30] single element induction unit to play with and yes the pan makes a big difference, but i seems to me that my cast iron gets real hot real fast. i just have a couple of 10" lodge cast iron pans

 

[timreg2]

i'm no expert with heat up times or even a very good cook. but i got an extremely cheap [<$30] single element induction unit to play with and yes the pan makes a big difference, but i seems to me that my cast iron gets real hot real fast. i just have a couple of 10" lodge cast iron pans

Cast iron is poor conductor of heat but a great retainer of heat. Maybe there is some property of induction heat that changes that, but I don't think so. Cast iron always prefers to be heated slowly. That's even more important on induction because there is no residual heat in the air that moves beyond the induction ring, like there is some on electric, and lots on gas.

There's lots of great info online about cast iron on induction, and the best way to heat it up. But it seems like the consensus is "low and slow". Regardless, I'm assuming it takes more energy to heat cast iron to temp than it does carbon or stainless. However it takes less energy to keep it hot once it gets there.