Using Electric Griddles
Hi Everyone,
This is probably obvious to you all but not to me i'm afraid. I would like to by a 1500w electric griddle to use in France. A lot of the sites there are 6amp only which is not enough for 1500w. However, when on a 6amp site, if I use a medium setting on the griddle will that reduce the wattage being drawn from the supply and thereby avoiding tripping the supply?
CM
Comments
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I imagine the 1500 watts is the maximum usage for that appliance so using it at a lower power could take it below the 1500 watt maximum but it won't be a precise measurement unless it has marked settings. Even at full power it's only about six and half watts so you are borderline anyway. Don't forget that other things in the van will also be on at the same time like the fridge and charger so you have to factor that in as well. Some connections can be quite tolerant of going slightly over the nominal ampage but you are in experimental area there!!! Just make sure you have access to the site bollard to reset the breakers.
David
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If the griddle is controlled by a thermostat and one element then it could well be that it is the on/off control by the 'stat' that will determine the heat output, therefore its wattage may well be permanent (ie always 1.5kw) but switched.
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I suggest you look for a lower wattage one to make it usable.
There may be someone along any minute who can recommend one. My late aunt had one that took ages to cook anything so I suspect it may have been less than 1kW. I shall look in my attic.
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From our experience of French '6 amp' sites, I suspect that this ampage is not strictly metered. (French campsites are not known for their professional electric installations). Similarly to Tammygirl, we have a dual-ring hob which has a 1000 watt ring and a 600 watt ring, and I have almost always been able to use both rings (and of course we still have the fridge on inside and outside the van). Problems will arise if you try to boil a kettle at the same time, or run your hairdryer, but otherwise we've usually not had a problem.
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Just noticed this thread, and Dave's advice which you should heed. Devices using thermostats use full power until the desired temperature is reached. The power taken is averaged over time eg 1500 watts for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds 'off' gives an average of 750 watts. Tripping of the supply depends how quickly the over-current breaker in the EHU takes to respond.
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