DC Appliance Brainstorm

[arborist.boi]

So I am working on building an off-grid system and I had a thought I wanted some input on. I found some 12v DC hotplates that run around 400-600 watts so max 50 amps. Would this be more efficient than running a traditional 110v burner through my inverter? This will be my primary method of cooking so I am wondering if it is work not having to run an inverter while this occurs. Is there any issue with running electricity at low voltage and high amperage? Any thoughts are appreciated as I am not sure my attempt to run everything on DC is actually worth it.

 

[time2roll]

Resistance heat is 100% efficient either way. Inverter will lose maybe 15% in the conversion. Power transmission of the DC would need to be calculated as there will be losses depending on wire, length, voltage etc. Also cooking speed, temperature and BTU could be an issue depending on heat and wattage.

Could do both and have a regular cooktop and maybe a DC hotplate to simmer something to the side.

 

[rmaddy]

Watts are watts. A 500W hot plate uses the same amount of power whether it is 12VDC or 110VAC. Though there is some improvement with DC since an AC item requires an inverter and the inverter isn't 100% efficient plus it uses its own power just being on. The difference may not be worth worrying about if it is something you only run for 30 minutes compared to something that runs all day.

 

[Bluedog225]

Cooking with electricity is the absolute hardest way to go off-grid. The biggest energy hog leading to extra expense in batteries, panels, etc. And the alternatives are easy and cheap. Propane and butane.

 

[arborist.boi]

Watts are watts. A 500W hot plate uses the same amount of power whether it is 12VDC or 110VAC. Though there is some improvement with DC since an AC item requires an inverter and the inverter isn't 100% efficient plus it uses its own power just being on. The difference may not be worth worrying about if it is something you only run for 30 minutes compared to something that runs all day.

This is basically what I am trying to figure out. Lets say a meal uses 500 watt hours to cook. That should mean through the inverter 500x1.1=550 watt hours given an inverter with a 90% efficiency. So 50 watt hours on my 12v system is about 4 amps per meal. If I run a 12v, 50 amp, 600 watt dc hotplate I am unsure what my efficiency loss over a 10 foot distance would be. But if it was a savings of 4 amps per meal that might be worth it as that is about 3% of my daily system use.

 

[WYtreasure]

Here's another thought. When the inverter fails you will be unable to cook anything on a 120VAC appliance.
El sucko grande. You will be like this ?

 

[Smokin]

Butane boiling point to high. Not good in cold. Try to avoid. Find a Marine Kerosene Gally stove,oven.

Kerosene (Paraffin) Cooker

Back in the day, many offshore voyaging pioneers like the Pyes, Smeatons, and Hiscocks cooked on Primus stoves: Peculiar machines that relied on hand pumped air pressure to force kerosene (paraffin)…

www.morganscloud.com

 

[12VoltInstalls]

And the alternatives are easy and cheap. Propane and butane.

Propane is inexpensive and excellent to cook with. Propane is expensive yet convenient to heat with.