Induction cooktop

[PeeBee]

What brands and size induction cooktops are people using whilst camping, powered off inverters? I am setting up my canopy and looking for idea. I have plenty of grunt avail, 2 off 3kw inverters and 400a/hr of lithium (800 in total if you believe the capacity spiel)

I have looked into options to join the inverters in parallel for a single 6kw supply however the units I have dont have that capacity. I have made contact with the manufacturer and they are actually considering it as an upgrade - anyway, not for me right now. I am pretty sure I cannot run two suppliers into the onle inverter, phase sync is an issue from what I understand, so can look at 2 separate units, say 2200w or similar I am guessing which would be ample flexibility for a meal in the bush.

Fire back people, the make and models would be good to know so I can have a look. There are units anywhere from $50 - 200 it seems for single units but who knows what is reliable and efficient.

[jff45]

I use a $49 Aldi Ambiano single plate with a 2000W Renogy inverter and 170Ah lithium. Battery max discharge is 150 amps so I limit the plate to pull 120 amps and it cooks well there.
I also run a cheap Kmart air fryer on the same setup but obviously not together.

87519

87518

[04OFF]

I have 200Ah capacity with 200Ah discharge rate , yet had a brand new Aldi one that would not run off my Renogy 2000W Inverter, we had 2 brand new Aldi cooktops the same, so i was able to confirm it was not a actual fault with a single unit (both work perfect off house power), mine were the model just released before the one John has shown, (but same brand) perhaps there is a difference in this model ?

Anyway, i went with advice from the 12V FB pages, and bought a Kmart one for $50, it works a treat , it even fell off my chair onto the concrete driveway and didnt break, then got left out in the rain overnight during a massive storm, it got drenched , still works no problem (lol)

I ended up also buying the Kmart $7.50 Kettle and $7.50 Toaster and the $29 toasted sandwich maker, they all work mint too, $100 gets you a full kitchen at Kmart :D

The Kmart Kettle actually pulls 2300W (according to my shunt/gauge) so the Renogy Inverter is obviously under rated , as its happy to boil Kettle after kettle.

[PeeBee]

Thanks guys, good feedback. I was looking at the westinghouse brand but also the $60 ones as well on ebay as going to run two for when I need to cook two eggs.

[jff45]

True about the Kmart stuff. I got the Kmart air fryer on sale for $39.

[04OFF]

True about the Kmart stuff. I got the Kmart air fryer on sale for $39.

Air fryers are the best invention, i probably don't have room for one , but out of interest, do you know what it draws on the highest setting John ?

[Winnie]

When we bought our house we had no stove top in the kitchen. I ordered a new Electrolux induction top which ended up taking ages to get around to installing it so in the mean time we bought a kmart plug in induction and and aldi one.
I absolutely hated the kmart one, it could not control temperature at all, the aldi one was only a little bit better.
I regretted buying the big one because of these but when I finally put it in I was pleasantly surprised with how great it was, I love it now.
I know it's a big difference between a purpose made inbuilt, hard wired top and a cheap plug in one but I would buy the best available. I'm going to keep the aldi one for the caravan but you're welcome to have the kmart one if you want to try it out.

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

[jff45]

Air fryers are the best invention, i probably don't have room for one , but out of interest, do you know what it draws on the highest setting John ?

It’s only a 1300W which is why I bought it. Max cooking temp is 180° which does pretty much everything anyway.
It pulls around 120 amps @ a little under 12v but most stuff is cooked in under 15 mins.

[jff45]

I installed a Westinghouse induction cooktop in the house to replace our old same brand electric one and we’re really happy with it. It gave me a good reason to buy some good stainless pans to go with it..

[PeeBee]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I intend to stay with a portable unit simply as have not had enough experience with them and also the layout in the canopy is probably to go thru 20,000 changes. I can pack these away, run both or one at a time with the two inverters. They will live in a box and appear when needed until I firm up the layout. The Westinghouse appears to pop up a lot as a robust unit and at $89 ea its good value. The next unit I liked was the Nuwave, however I cannot understand their energy rating system, where they say the unit supplies up to 2000W of energy yet can run off a 1000w inverter - something wrong here. Looking at the energy sizes the 2000 - 2400w units with ability to reduce to say 800 and 1200 are handy, and the temp controllers look very clever. The search continues.

[jff45]

A common issue with the small induction plates is that the lower wattage setting is often obtained by pulsing the higher wattage. I tried to avoid this by getting the 1800W Aldi plate. I think the later ones are 2000W.

Edit: Told a lie, just checked it and it’s the 2000W model I got.

[04OFF]

A common issue with the small induction plates is that the lower wattage setting is often obtained by pulsing the higher wattage. I tried to avoid this by getting the 1800W Aldi plate. I think the later ones are 2000W.

Edit: Told a lie, just checked it and it’s the 2000W model I got.

Thats it, you lied, quick Ross, kick him off the forum now :smileyvault-cute-bi


How did you even fimd that sort of info out about different models John ?

I just wanted something that was cheap and worked , as ultimately its gonna get used at the beach, bounced around off road, and abused through my careless drunken camp kitchen shenanigans , but obviously there is a difference between the cheap ones as well.

[PeeBee]

OK, I have bought two of these, so will see how this works out, thanks to all who have provided valuable feedback.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/165034202794