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12v Kettle or use gas


EnglishRose

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Hi,

 

Our 26.5ft boat only has 12v and now we fixed the fridge (loose fuse which we only discovered after disconnecting it and completely taking it off the boat 🙄) we no longer need to buy one I was thinking about the kettle.

 

We do have a solar panel and which feeds the leisure/starter batteries and then we cope fine with the 12v cigarette lighter to charge phone, use fridge etc.

 

Would we be better swapping the kettle we use on the gas hob for one in a cigarette lighter? The one we have seen is a 1 litre 12V / 170W cigarette lighter plug attachment one?

 

Thanks

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3 minutes ago, EnglishRose said:

Hi,

 

Our 26.5ft boat only has 12v and now we fixed the fridge (loose fuse which we only discovered after disconnecting it and completely taking it off the boat 🙄) we no longer need to buy one I was thinking about the kettle.

 

We do have a solar panel and which feeds the leisure/starter batteries and then we cope fine with the 12v cigarette lighter to charge phone, use fridge etc.

 

Would we be better swapping the kettle we use on the gas hob for one in a cigarette lighter? The one we have seen is a 1 litre 12V / 170W cigarette lighter plug attachment one?

 

Thanks

 

At over 10 amps draw, I bet the socket and plug will get hot and suffer a shortened life, quite apart from the effect that current draw would have on the batteries. I would suggest that you probably only have one domestic battery on a boat that size, so stick with the kettle on the gas.

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Yes, converting chemical energy from your batteries to thermal energy in your kettle is really inefficient. Likewise heating any other electrical appliance from your batteries (heater, calorifier, washing machine, etc, through an inverter) is a bad idea unless you can replace the amps drawn at the same time. If your batteries are good then heating appliances like toasters can be used through the inverter because they're only on for a couple of minutes.

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I have both in the camper (well a 500w "travel" kettle and an inverter) but tend to use the electric more. It is far less efficient, true, but much less hassle to replenish... 

 

I think it would make a difference if I was living there full-time and needed the batteries to last forever. Also I do love the impatient whistle of a stove-top kettle!

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I hate drinking tea out of a flask so we got one of those 12v kettles for use on long car journeys.  You have to keep the engine running of course while it boils but it took so long for about 3/4 of a cup it only got used once.  

 

The other thing I can't do with is toast made under a grill - it's just not the same as done in an electric toaster.  Does anyone here run an electric toaster off the inverter and/or has anyone tried one of those gadgets that toasts bread on the gas hob? 

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Quickest way to get a kettle to boil on the gas hob is to go to the loo whilst waiting, guarantee soon as you’re mid stream or movement that little whistle will start trying to blow a hole in the wall, or is that just me? :D 

 

There’s a mains toaster in the crate at the back of our corner cupboard in the galley, some owners claim to use it, i’ve never tried to. One day perhaps i’ll give it a go just to see what happens. Never used the microwave either, makes a great bread bin though.

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20 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

 

 

The other thing I can't do with is toast made under a grill - it's just not the same as done in an electric toaster.  Does anyone here run an electric toaster off the inverter and/or has anyone tried one of those gadgets that toasts bread on the gas hob? 

Yep, I’ve tried one of them gadgets. 
Best left in the box. 
I didn’t get on with it. Uses too much gas because it seems to take for ages.

 

I go without toast, what I have now is bread fried in proper butter. 
 

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2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Quickest way to get a kettle to boil on the gas hob is to go to the loo whilst waiting, guarantee soon as you’re mid stream or movement that little whistle will start trying to blow a hole in the wall, or is that just me? :D 

 

There’s a mains toaster in the crate at the back of our corner cupboard in the galley, some owners claim to use it, i’ve never tried to. One day perhaps i’ll give it a go just to see what happens. Never used the microwave either, makes a great bread bin though.

 

Yep that will do it - going for a leak also makes the phone ring too, happened to me twice already today.

 

Assuming you have a decent inverter a toaster should be doable surely, I mean how long does it take to toast 2 slices, a couple of minutes max, so say a toaster rates at 750w I reckon that's about 2 amp hours, that's a small price to pay for decent soldiers.

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2 hours ago, Neil2 said:

I hate drinking tea out of a flask so we got one of those 12v kettles for use on long car journeys.  You have to keep the engine running of course while it boils but it took so long for about 3/4 of a cup it only got used once.  

 

The other thing I can't do with is toast made under a grill - it's just not the same as done in an electric toaster.  Does anyone here run an electric toaster off the inverter and/or has anyone tried one of those gadgets that toasts bread on the gas hob? 

I run a 1600w Breville toaster on the inverter when we are out but generally if we are making a lot we use the gas. Its lovely done on the Squirrel when its well going in winter. And yes, we do still have a toasting fork.

 

I always use the 600w travel kettle on the inverter, its easier to judge just the correct amount of water than with the Aga type kettle we use on the Squirrel and the gas.

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23 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I run a 1600w Breville toaster on the inverter when we are out but generally if we are making a lot we use the gas. Its lovely done on the Squirrel when its well going in winter. And yes, we do still have a toasting fork.

 

I always use the 600w travel kettle on the inverter, its easier to judge just the correct amount of water than with the Aga type kettle we use on the Squirrel and the gas.

 

Ah, that takes me back, when we were kids our mum didn't even have a cooker (hob) so everything was done on the open fire and that's how we made our toast.  And you try telling the young people of today...

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3 hours ago, Neil2 said:

 

The other thing I can't do with is toast made under a grill - it's just not the same as done in an electric toaster.  Does anyone here run an electric toaster off the inverter and/or has anyone tried one of those gadgets that toasts bread on the gas hob? 

 

Toast is best made on an Aga boiling plate with an Aga tennis racket.

We don't eat toast on board.

50 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Its lovely done on the Squirrel when its well going in winter. And yes, we do still have a toasting fork.

 

Point of order: isn't it done in front of the Squirrel?

 

 

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32 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

 

Ah, that takes me back, when we were kids our mum didn't even have a cooker (hob) so everything was done on the open fire and that's how we made our toast.  And you try telling the young people of today...

We still have two useable open fires at home, athough they normally only get used on special occasions. When our children were small, we would light a fire for Christmas if it was cold enough. One year I made a 4-prong toasting fork by twisting the wire from two wire coat hangers together and used it for roasting chestnuts and making toast. We used it when they had friends round, and it really made their day, as their mother was greeted by " Mum,, mum, we made real toast over a real fire!" 

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1 hour ago, Neil2 said:

 

Ah, that takes me back, when we were kids our mum didn't even have a cooker (hob) so everything was done on the open fire and that's how we made our toast.  And you try telling the young people of today...

Toast - we used to dream of having toast . Sounds like  a monty python sketch

 

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1 hour ago, Ronaldo47 said:

We still have two useable open fires at home, athough they normally only get used on special occasions. When our children were small, we would light a fire for Christmas if it was cold enough. One year I made a 4-prong toasting fork by twisting the wire from two wire coat hangers together and used it for roasting chestnuts and making toast. We used it when they had friends round, and it really made their day, as their mother was greeted by " Mum,, mum, we made real toast over a real fire!" 

 

We do similar with ours as it’s an open fire with no way of damping it and 90% of the heat goes up the chimney, it draws so well it will pull the living room door open. Never tried toast, it was marshmallows on skewers that kept the offspring and her friends amused. 

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11 hours ago, EnglishRose said:

Would we be better swapping the kettle we use on the gas hob for one in a cigarette lighter? The one we have seen is a 1 litre 12V / 170W cigarette lighter plug attachment one?

A typical domestic kettle is rated at 2kW. So apart from other considerations, this one will take more than 10 times as long to come to the boil.  I would stick with the gas.

 

That said, a friend once had a boat with a 3kW diesel generator installed with automatic startup on load. You could use an ordinary domestic kettle with that.

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6 hours ago, Neil2 said:

Does anyone here run an electric toaster off the inverter and/or has anyone tried one of those gadgets that toasts bread on the gas hob? 

We have an electric toaster rated at 700w. The brand is Kampa, who also do a 750w electric kettle. I'm blessed with a Beta 43 engine with twin alternators, so we happily use both through a decent inverter whilst the engine is running, but revert to the whistling kettle on the gas hob and the grill in the cooker when alongside so as not to draw heavy amps from the batteries. Sure, they can cope with it, but it takes a toll and is probably a big influence on why my first set of sealed leisure batteries lasted 7 years and my current set are 6 and doing well.

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I have a domestic electric kettle and an electric toaster, which are used when on a shore line. They are feed from a double socket that is connected to the "boiler net" outlet from the Victron combi. This outlet is automagically disabled when the boat is not on shore power, so the socket can't be used. The inverter could run the toaster from another socket, but not the kettle. Away from shore power it is gas for the stove top kettle, with some assistance from the squirrel stove if that is lit and gas for making toast. I'm tempted to make a toasting fork for use on the squirrel stove though.

The fastest toasting I've ever done was in a caving hut in the far north of Scotland, where the heating was from a gas bottle attached to a radiant heating grid thing on top. This could toast a side of a slice of bread within seconds, using the very long toasting fork provided. Like toasting over a blast furnace!

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22 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I have a domestic electric kettle and an electric toaster, which are used when on a shore line. They are feed from a double socket that is connected to the "boiler net" outlet from the Victron combi. This outlet is automagically disabled when the boat is not on shore power, so the socket can't be used. The inverter could run the toaster from another socket, but not the kettle. Away from shore power it is gas for the stove top kettle, with some assistance from the squirrel stove if that is lit and gas for making toast. I'm tempted to make a toasting fork for use on the squirrel stove though.

The fastest toasting I've ever done was in a caving hut in the far north of Scotland, where the heating was from a gas bottle attached to a radiant heating grid thing on top. This could toast a side of a slice of bread within seconds, using the very long toasting fork provided. Like toasting over a blast furnace!

 

Yeah I thing speed is the thing - the issue with gas grills is that the process takes too long so some sort of molecular change is going on with the bread, the faster you can do it the better, I reckon.  

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We routinely us a 2kw kettle and toaster (not at the same time!). The advantage of the electric kettle is that you can switch on and forget, it turns itself off and doesn’t scream at you. But then we too have a Beta 43 with large alternators and a travelpower, and used to have 450Ah of Trojans which could cope with breakfast tea, Nespresso coffee and toast. Now we have 600Ah of lithiums they don’t even blink when the kettle is switched on.

 

As for a 170w kettle running on 12v, it would take forever to boil, the percentage of energy lost in the wiring would be huge, and as Tony said, risks overheating the wiring and socket. Bad idea.

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5 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

 

Yeah I thing speed is the thing - the issue with gas grills is that the process takes too long so some sort of molecular change is going on with the bread, the faster you can do it the better, I reckon.  

Possibly slow toasting, like under a typical gas grill removes more moisture from the bread in the middle of the slice. Fast toasting carbonises the surfaces, but leaves the centre still soft. Definite difference in the end result. I'm putting in a patent application on my new "Fat Man" atomic instant toasting system. Only to be used in unpopulated areas. Just to be clear, they need to be unpopulated before setting it off, not just afterwards. Lovely toast though. 😀

 

One of my underlings sets up the prototype instant toaster in the Nevada desert.

914px-HD_4G.053_(10540204545).jpg.ffd503b5d98998d2029fc9ceebfccd0b.jpg

By Federal government of the United States - TR-311HD.4G.053, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35935782

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