All electric van - better to use low wattage kettle or induction hob?

[borat]

Our new off grid van will have the Clayton LPS with beefy solar.. no gas, except in the stuff we bring if we decide to. So with that in mind I am wondering whether kettle duties are now better served via a low wattage 240v kettle, or the induction hob? From what I can tell, the induction hob is 1200w for the smaller of the rings, and I was looking at this kettle, which is 1000w. The simpleton in me would say it’s obvious then that the kettle is the better choice, but then i no idea how long one takes to boil vs the hob. Anyone done any testing?

Kampa Squash Collapsible Electric Kettle 240v

Ensure you always have hot water for that morning cup of coffee or to prepare noodles for your evening meal. Convenient, high qualityand easy to pack down, the Collapsible Electric Kettle is a great option for the space-conscious camper. 0.8 l capacity Collapsible silicon body Indicator light...

ukcampingandleisure.co.uk

 

[Badjamin]

I can recommend the below kettle. Works fine on my ecoflow delta 2.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-23840-Compact-Electric/dp/B07B96BQM6/ref=sr_1_9_sspa?crid=2BT27DOT7PQ5V&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.r8Nu9WtAxNkjlI3g0q9csVWAWfm0nMmP92Muk_phMMM3czm4O1wLpgoxSpoPCaibw9eRnHxZ3pT0srL62dFLuY4WBWj3tBflMqk5RGiYafBZr3ewQCmtcCtREf1greR9tppYysZEdMWh4uCRBbMEDhCXkM6DvvBldJUlaXYgBZ05CzCq7CvBjhemb62twYPeT5rGk8pC-Snj9zXSApViSv74JvzyCagzC81p-5WCfSg.oM4WZWPRCRfHUjj_mRrgrsRfAkaFvT-XXWDudSzb8wo&dib_tag=se&keywords=kettle&qid=1744960069&sprefix=kettle%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-9-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

6 mins to boil enough for two cups or a hot water bottle

It is lacking in capacity for larger applications perhaps and no experience of running it off an inverter yet.

 

[Drive Wayne]

First kettle boil of the day is done on the 2kw induction in the van.
With the necessary amount of water it's a few minutes.
Training swmbo not to overfill the kettle took over 2 years.
Every other boil of the day is done on the Cadac outside.

 

[borat]

Thats my issue too - the hob route always means too much water. The kettle I am looking at looks like it’s small so hard to overfill and reviews suggest boiled in 3 mins for 2 cups. Might give it a whirl as its relatively cheap and meets my collapsible default requirement

 

[jimc91]

I’ve got a 1000w inverter and a 900w kettle, early tests show 3 minutes to boil water for two cups taking 5% out of my 100ah lithium battery

 

[Sasquatch]

It uses the same energy to raise the temperature of a unit volume of water by a unit volume of temperature.

So it comes down to efficiency, and both induction hobs and kettles vary wildly from model to model, so there's likely no universal correct answer.

Then only way you'll know precisely is an accurate timer, multimeter, and thermometer, and a bit of sciencey type experimenting. As Magnus Pike used to say, it's...

SCIENCE!!!

 

[Anakin]

In your situation, only Q is a variable, as @Sasquatch said, depending on the efficiency of the energy source. In water heating, mass is very important, so measuring out just the amount you need will help a lot.

 

[Sasquatch]

Love the avatar @Anakin

 

[borat]

Yep all good points. I’m fairly sure the kettle will be more effective at forcing the right water filling behaviour for the 2 of us so may be the best option for the morning cuppa.

 

[Sasquatch]

Boil a full a full kettle and pour the excess into a Stanley flask for later use?

 

[Drive Wayne]

Boil a full a full kettle and pour the excess into a Stanley flask for later use?

That's just tooo organised for us!

 

[Anakin]

Measure two cups of water into the kettle before you to bed, so no thought is required in the morning?

 

[roadtripper]

Boil a full a full kettle and pour the excess into a Stanley flask for later use?

This is what I do at home, we have a big Klean Kanteen double wall flask sitting there for that reason. I gave up on electric kettles as they always leaked around the water level indicator after about a year so now I use an Aga type one on the induction hob for the last 10 years...

An induction hob and a kettle should deliver the energy to the water pretty much with the same efficiency. You might find you get more efficiency out of the inverter with lower loads, but whether that is offset by the longer time leading to more cooling of the water...

The difference between 1000-1200w loads is likely negligible so use whichever is more convenient and worry more about accurately filling things.

 

[Stay Frosty]

I can recommend the below kettle. Works fine on my ecoflow delta 2.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-23840-Compact-Electric/dp/B07B96BQM6/ref=sr_1_9_sspa?crid=2BT27DOT7PQ5V&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.r8Nu9WtAxNkjlI3g0q9csVWAWfm0nMmP92Muk_phMMM3czm4O1wLpgoxSpoPCaibw9eRnHxZ3pT0srL62dFLuY4WBWj3tBflMqk5RGiYafBZr3ewQCmtcCtREf1greR9tppYysZEdMWh4uCRBbMEDhCXkM6DvvBldJUlaXYgBZ05CzCq7CvBjhemb62twYPeT5rGk8pC-Snj9zXSApViSv74JvzyCagzC81p-5WCfSg.oM4WZWPRCRfHUjj_mRrgrsRfAkaFvT-XXWDudSzb8wo&dib_tag=se&keywords=kettle&qid=1744960069&sprefix=kettle%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-9-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

6 mins to boil enough for two cups or a hot water bottle

It is lacking in capacity for larger applications perhaps and no experience of running it off an inverter yet.

That's the one we've got and runs a treat from our Renogy 2kW inverter and Roamer battery, drawing power it looks like this on the shunt display...

Yep, 74 amps going out of the Roamer.