hi everyone, i have just bought a pop top with 12v fridge and gas hob, i really want to also use a tv ad get a low voltage kettle and toaster (used through an inverter). obviously the kettle and toaster wont be overused - i could even manage with a kettle on the hob (do those toaster gadgets really work on top of a hob??
i wont be using 240v hook ups much and dont want to drain the battery down - can anyone advise on how to work out an approximate formula for assesing battery size based on the above?
also, can anyone advise on inverters, are they good when used with low voltage kettle etc? what size would you recommend?
Quote: Originally posted by Dave Beverley on 05/1/2013Do those toaster gadgets really work on top of a hob??
If you mean this type, yes. Just be careful not to let the mesh get too hot for a prolonged period - it will burn through eventually!
Re TVs and inverters see Paul Barnes' advice on this thread.
Don't know if you mean a low wattage kettle or a 12v one (which would need a vehicle engine running to avoid draining the battery) but I think you'd find gas more convenient and quicker.
You must have a leisure battery in a pop-top camper right?
Despite having a science degree I work on the basis of
1) go camping
2) run all the stuff that you want to off the leisure battery (get a new decent one if the one it comes with is old and ropey)..
3) see how long it lasts for until you're in the danger zone
4) drive off and re-charge battery / hook up
The stove top kettles work really well - almost as fast as our electric one at home. Our Romahome grill was a bit pants but if we balanced the grill pan on a camping frying pan bread toasted quite fast. The new Northstar grill works super fast and I don't need to balance it on anything to get it closer to the heat. If I haven't got a grill I pan fry bread. Yum. Especially if there's bacon fat in there...
Experiment with gas and leisure battery empirically as everyone's rig will be different and all that really matters is the end result. It's kind of science
------------- We rent fabulously fitted out truck campers in San Francisco, USA.
ok thanks, i am not new to motorhomes so do have a general idea of what i need, i was just trying to get it straight in my head and thinking out loud really.
its the info re inverters i was really looking for, if i can run a low wattage kettle off the charged battery via an inverter, then the gas will go a lot further and i will be using leccy i have already created when driving/charging. will get a 'foreign' cylinder and regulator etc for the gas when i am over there so can /exchange/refill it easily and keep the uk one for the uk!! dont want to carry an electric kettle AND a gas one, so will just use a pan to boil water if i get stuck.
i will fit the largest voltage battery i can (110 A/Hr?) and go from there, but any info etc on inverters is VERY welcome as is info on toasters, the one that H Bob identified looks fine though i think i would still prefer low wattage one via inverter IF they actually toast the bread before it goes stale through waiting too long for it to toast LOL
If you want to run anything successfully from an invertor that has a heating element then you need to be looking at a 1000watt minimum and then the inverter effciency isnt that good, I can see your point in that your power is 'free' as you'll have charged the battery whilst running, but the cost of the big inverter required will be lots more than the cost of gas that you'd use with a stove top kettle or toaster,
------------- Doing as little as possible for as much as possible...
thanks rob, i take your VERY VALID point re the initial outlay !!! my problem is that i like things to be as i want them and often get carried away (my wife wishes i would be!) with getting things as i want them as opposed to looking at it objectively !!!
i dont intend doing anything until we have at least tried out what we have already have, but then again, ebay IS open 24 hours, seven days a week..... LOL
In my experience, low wattage kettles are a waste of time if used off a battery. They take ages to boil and use a staggering amount of battery power - stick with a gas kettle when not on an EHU.
I have a 1kw invertor, I bought it so that I could use a 750watt microwave in my van a couple of years ago......I had at that time two 110Ah batteries in the van.
Well it worked ok, though it did trip out invertor from time to time..... but the big disapointment was the running time before the invertor cut out due to low battery power, it ran for a maximum of about 9 minutes, and that was on two 110Ah batteries.
Waste of time and money trying to heat anything with an invertor.
------------- JD.
C/o The Happy Pastures Home For The Slightly Bewildered