We’re at 16.5 KW for the 5 “burners” on our Bosch.
Ok, thanks. My portable is 1.8kw so that could explain the difference. I’ve been somewhat disappointed with it, especially given how much people like their induction cook tops.
That makes sense. With a portable you’re probably limited to 15 amps where I’m on a dedicated 50 amp circuit.
Right, unless your gas oven has a pilot light, it won’t work if the power is off. On mine, I can light my stove burners with a match, but ovens generally have a gate that closes off the gas until the electric ignitor gets hot enough.
I’ve been a big gas fan all my life, but after using a few induction stove tops, I can’t wait until my gas oven craps out and I can replace it with induction. It is faster, safer, more efficient, better for the environment, and better for your health.
Car battery with an inverter, easy peasy. If you keep a fully charged battery, preferably a deep cycle marine battery, around all you have to do is plug the stove in and the piezo lighter will work just fine. All this takes is less than $150 from Home Depot to set up and you’ll be set even if your power is out for weeks, as has happened to a lot of people recently who never realized they live with a 19th century level electrical grid. Be prepared, as the Boy Scouts advise us.
I’ve read in 2 places that some residential grade induction stoves only have a 2500 hour lifespan. Is this still true? That could be as little as five years.
I’ve seen figures from 2500 to 10000 hours for consumer grade cooktops, and 25000 to 30000 hours for commercial grade. I don’t know exactly why they wear out, but they lose power over time.
I think 10000 would have to be the minimum for me. That’s more like 20 to 30 years. A pretty normal lifespan. The 2500 number was eye catching because I know it would be on my mind if I wanted to make a soup or stock. I don’t need appliance lifespan stress in my everyday life 
These numbers bother me too. I’m not averse to buying commercial equipment, I’m looking at restaurant gas stoves already, but I’m sure in the case of the induction units the difference in lifespan between consumer and commercial products will be reflected proportionately in the price.
Some of the little independent units, already noted to have limited power, are reasonably priced for what they do. I plan to have a fairly big stove but for someone with a common 4 burner unit, gas or electric, it might be useful to have one of those small units on the side to make some things or keep the main stovetop from getting too crowded when cooking many things at once.
I’ll follow through with my plan to move to a propane stove from electric. I want to get a generator installed and so I’ll need the propane service anyway. Even if I stuck to electric I’m not convinced about induction yet.
It wasn’t the piezo igniter- we weren’t getting any gas at all. I had a lighter handy to light it if we actually had gas flowing.
Apparently those particular Maytag double oven/range combos control everything via the controller board, and have a valve that closes off the gas if there’s no electricity. I have no idea if a battery & inverter will power all that up or not.
Ultimately, it’s kind of a non-issue, as we have a camping stove now, and are considering getting a generator as well.
Shouldn’t be an issue, inverter puts out exactly what the stove is expecting to get from the wall socket. Personally I’m not sanguine about using a camp stove indoors as those don’t necessarily burn fully enough to be safe for inside use. I also have a propane tankless water heater that does need power to get started but the draw from those two items on a fully charged battery would be negligible.
I used mine pretty extensively, and it lasted about 13 years before the transformer went out in it.
Unfortunately, it seems as though it will probably cost nearly as much to replace the transformer as to buy a new unit.
Cooking on a plug in electric stove until I decide what to do.
It was pretty awesome though. I got used to doing all my prep before getting out my pans. Now, my first step of prep is to put a pan on the stove to start getting it hot.
I know it’ll kick out the right number of AC volts, but does a car battery have the amperage to power up something like that?
My plan for the camp stove was to do it outside- like at the very outside door to the garage, so I could stay sheltered while it’s outside.
The power capacity is a property of the inverter but even a cheap one would probably be enough to run a range controller. 50 watts seems like it should be plenty.
I’ve had coil electric, natural gas, radiant heat and induction ranges. Other than roasting peppers and lighting cigars during my party days give me my induction range all day. Boiling water in 60 seconds, even heat, and super easy to clean.
Oven?
Yeah, that wasn’t clear. I have a stove/oven combo, and the oven part is nearer to end of life. So when that goes, I get to replace it all. The oven will be regular electric, and the stovetop will be induction. You’re right, an induction oven doesn’t make sense.
Use induction coils to heat up a big piece of steel on the bottom and have a convection fan. If induction heating is efficient on the range top should work the same way in an oven. Look at your basic electric oven, just a few feet of heating element material on the bottom. Instead of a broiler put an iron griddle right on the bottom. Don’t know if it could manage self cleaning, and I’m sure there are other issues which might make it impractical for now.
I want a gas cooktop for most things. One induction ‘burner’ just for boiling water would be a nice feature. But I don’t care what kind of oven it has.
What about using one of those portable induction burners that plugs into a regular outlet? Has anyone tried one of those? I’d guess that an actual induction cooktop is better, but maybe one of those standalone devices would work reasonably well.
I have one and I’ve been a bit disappointed with it (see previous post). My guess after swapping posts with Dopers is that they don’t have as much power as stovetop induction burners.