Induction hobs
Can you use an induction hob in a camper van when hooked up on a site ? The model that I am looking at is 450-2100 watts. Thanks for your help.
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Betty57
I have moved your post here from the Ask the Expert Section.
David
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First of all,I am a massive fan of Induction Hobs and I have fitted at least three of them over the years.
But the lowest ampage induction hob on the market is 3kw which is around 13 amp ,so I take it from your post you are looking at each ring or ring,when you say 450w ,so theorectically yes you can fit an induction hob,you just have one, two,three rings on at a time,but that does not leave you much from the sites 16amp supply.so use of heating,kettles,water heaters,microwaves ect must be restricted.
If you have found a 2100watt induction hob could you please send details. "Normal" induction hobs require a 32a supply.This requires another directly circuit from the consumer unit.
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Hello,
Firstly, thanks for putting my query in the right place. My husband and I (I sound like the Queen!), are new to this and are first time Motor Home owners.
The hob I am thinking of buying is the Tefal IH201840 with one hot plate. The specifications say that the wattage is from 450 to 2100. I cannot find any other reference to ampage etc. I assume the variation is because it has different settings for boiling water, slow cooking etc.
As you can tell I don't know the difference between watts, amps etc. Does this clarify things?
Many thanks
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We have that very hob at home and find it excellent. I have a suspicion mind that the lower wattage settings are simulated. By that I mean it is on full power but cycles itself on and off to simulate a lower setting, I may be wrong mind. Just a thought based on my experience of using it and that I've never witnessed induction hobs cope well with a true simmer, that is a constant and steady low heat cooking method.
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My van is a continental with only gas hobs, Yes, we did take it with us once but used it only a couple of times over a few weeks trip, I then questioned the need and extra weight so haven't bothered since. When I did use it I just plugged it in, made sure everything else electrical, apart from the fridge, was off and only used it then on the 'lower' settings. All worked well at that time. I did then look at the Maplins mini hob but was aware of the need to buy new small pans to work with it and didn't bother buying it due to the costs involved and limitations.
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We use the Tefal in the caravan. We leave it on the default setting, which is 450watts and the EHU copes perfectly well with this.
Even on that setting it is much quicker to boil water than the solid plate on our caravan cooker and, of course, it uses the site electrics and not or gas.
Don't forget that you need specific pans; they must be metal rather than copper or aluminium.
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It appears my suspicions were correct. Talked with a domestic appliance engineer yesterday who told me these hobs work like a microwave to achieve 'lower settings', this means that they have on off cycles on full power to 'replicate' these. As a result you may have to be aware of the surging this will cause and limit the other appliances which are running at the same time.
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I have been using one bought at Aldi or Lidl for 2 years now and think it has a max wattage of around 2000. It has about 10 settings and I think the display goes up in 200w increments. I have used it all over Europe & here in the UK on camping sites and never had a problem or fused the mains supply. If my understanding is correct of the power settings I find that it is very hot, compared to a traditional electric ring, at 1000 - 1400 so don't recall having to use it on full power to cook with but have had it on full to heat water quickly without problem. I love it for camping. Hope this helps.
Regards Roy
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To Bretty57
Late reply only just returned from a extended BH trip away in van.
Yes sorry for the confusion.For some strange reason I had thought it was to replace the gas hob.It was past my bedtime!
Normal Club sites are 16amp supply which will give you around 3800 watts (or 3.8kw) the maximum you have stated is 2100watts so yes it can supply it ok on maximum,but if used with say heating on, and other electrical appliances in use just go careful otherwise you could trip the supply.
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We bought a portable hob from Aldi earlier this year for £30. It is rated at 2000w with 10 power settings but the default start-up is 1600w. Because it seems to be so efficient we usually have to turn it down within only a few seconds so the power usage is actually very low. We've never used it on the full 2000w setting. We've found it ideal for cooking things like steak or stir-fries that tend to spit a lot as we can set it up outside. We even use it this way at home as it saves a lot of mess. We had to check all our pans for suitability (will a magnet stick to it?) and found that several that we already had were OK. More pans do now seem to bed suitable for induction. Bought a new griddle pan today from Sainsburys for just over £10. One not of caution, even suitable pans can be too big. Check the maximum size that can be used on the hob before purchasing a pan. Ours is up to 26cm, about 10". Weight wise ours is 3kg so not a big chunk off the payload availability.
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If you haven't bought a Maplins one yet Pippa, I have, based on this thread and it's not all roses. I tried it at home, boiling a measured half litre of water and it took 10 min 48 sec to reach 97.5 deg. After which it was losing heat as fast as it gained it and wouldn't increase further. Not a problem in real life. By comparison my domestic hob took 4min 29sec to100deg, though it will boil even faster on its power thirsty 'turbo' setting, but that's not a fair comparison. The Marlins hob has only three settings, low, high and off. So amazingly cheap though it is, and thrifty at just 500w, compared to the variable nest setting, single hot plate installed at 800w, I'm not sure how well the maplins hob really works. I did both tests in my kitchen using identical pans.
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