Cable size

You mean like "cook, cook, cookabilty that's the beauty of gas". B-)

I've cooked on gas and liked it, it does what you tell it to when you tell it not 5 minutes later. I don't think I'll have much trouble getting used to proper control. There might be a short learning phase of flame size to heat of course.

I hate the electric abonimations with their massive thermal inertia. It's winter so I have poridge put ring on 6 (full) which you have to do otherwise you wait three weeks before anything gets hot then the moment you see the first whisps of steam turn it right off otherwise the poridge will browned to burnt onto the bottom of the pan.

Or you are cooking a pan of something it starts getting a bit too excited so you turn it right down, it still stays excited for 5 minutes, but 10 minutes later it's stopped cooking... Grrr.

Or the lowest setting still browns things onto the pan bottom unless you stir them every couple of minutes.

I sort of expected the single/dual cheapies to be lacking in control compared to a full hob but googling shows that they don't appear to be, with combination power and temperature settings. I can see SWMBO'd having trouble with that, the microwave is only ever used at full power by her...

Haven't seen the Lidl one for a while, must be due...

Reply to
Dave Liquorice
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Well on mine (halogen) they still cycle, even on full power. Perhaps on a traditional ring, the thermal inertia makes it less visible.

However the point that matters, is how often do you want all the rings on full power all the time? Even a large saucepan full of water, will only want full power until its boiling.

Many hobs are only around 6kW-7kW in total, and so can't exceed the design current on their own anyway. So you normally need a contribution from the oven to get over the design current of the circuit, and those have thermostats as well.

IME (admitted limited where electric cookers are concerned) an adjustable stat is an easy and cheap way to do it, compared to having adaptive PWM etc.

Its one of those academic discussions anyway. Most cookers out there in the real world run from 30A/32A circuits, and it has been proven in practice that the circuit is adequate for domestic use. It is exceedingly rare to have them trip their MCB (don't think I have seen it happen yet) even if their theoretical peak current is over the In of the device.

If you think of the typical 6.5kW hob, and 1.8kw oven - that's a peak load of 36A which will run indefinitely from a 32A MCB. Even with a

3.5kW double oven, and a 7kW hob you are only up to 46A, and that is still only just getting off the vertical bit of the thermal trip curve. The "bigger" cooker, the less likely it becomes that you will be ale to max it out for long with a real application.
Reply to
John Rumm

Cooker still in the middle of the kitchen then? ;-)

Reply to
John Rumm

You need to nuke it.

Reply to
dennis

Aren't they the best ones?

Reply to
dennis

"Simmer stats" are thermal but there is no feedback from the ring. They are very basic on/off PWM control normally with six discrete PW's, one of which is 100%.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Yes - it is the thermal inertia that gets you with every other electric hob technology.

I used to set the pans on a very low heat ages before vegetables were needed - purely to reduce the "brain says need vegetable water boiling" to "water is boiling" delay. No longer seems needed.

Ours has very limited controls compared to some - but nonetheless I find porage very easy. Put at 9 and stir till boiling. Then set at keep warm. Come back in 5 to 30 minutes and serve.

Reply to
polygonum

The single portable I purchased to see if we could get on with one was reasonably quiet. The larger 4 ring Bosch one which is part of a freestanding cooker which we then purchased is even quieter and on par with my laptop fan running fast when it runs flat out itself,often it is slower or the fans doesn't run at all. A twin one my mother bought is the loudest with a lot of fan noise to an extent that it gets annoying. The twin unit is designed so it could be installed into a worktop as well as used freestanding so possibly the designers have used reasonably powerful fans to allow for this. OTOH all these easy to purchase freestanding ones are fairly cheap whereas there is then a big jump to the prices you pay for ones you would use as a main hob,so that must be reflected in the design and components used.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

Out of interest, what did you do with the tester one when you bought a full size?

Because I suggested that route, but didn't do it myself, am wondering if you decided to keep it in garage for emergencies/Christmas, passed it on to someone else in the family, flogged it in ebay, or soemthing more interesting?

Reply to
polygonum

I gave it to my mother. At the time she had a Rayburn as a main cooker and hot water source. It was a farm and they have had access to wood for generations .With just the two of them and Dad becoming immobile the Rayburn was often left unused in summer with hot water from an immersion and a lot of cooking done in a Panasonic combination microwave. She made good use of the portable induction as she could cook something quickly without stoking up the Rayburn and do things like a fry up which is one of the things she could not use the combination cooker for as was using her pressure cooker. Four years on and now Widowed and over eighty the task of feeding the Rayburn solid fuel became too much so it has now gone and she has had an oil fired boiler installed( no mains gas for miles) for heating and hot water. She then purchased the twin unit induction which coupled with the combination microwave copes with her cooking needs. The original single unit is brought out if she has need of a third ring such as when My sister and family descend next week or it goes out to a shed for heating a kettle when my brother holds a shoot.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

Thanks a lot. That is a mix of heart-warming and sad. But in answering you have confirmed that they can be worth hanging on to for such purposes and are not automatically destined for a skip after a few weeks of trying them out.

Reply to
polygonum

But den you are the expert on this newsgroup when it come to starting fires with an electric cooker.

Reply to
ARW

In article , polygonum wrote: [snip Damduck]

Mine get taken outside in fine weather for heating up side dishes sauces etc to go with the barbies and outside meals.

Have even be used on the camp site when naked flame cooking might be risky (especially late in the day on the 3rd bottle of wine)

John

John

Reply to
JTM

I did a swap for a smaller cooker with a bird across the road.

Reply to
ARW

Handy for Xmas.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

wow, thats a great swap considering the price of birds in supermarkets and butchers.... and it saves you buying a bird for Christmas dinner

all you have to do is wire in the cooker and cook the bird..... :-)

Reply to
Stephen H

I did not stuff her.

Reply to
ARW

You do not say if a re-wireable fuse, although if a 10mm cable should still be fine. Measure the width of the cable sheath, or the diameter of the insulated core - you can tell if something is say 6.8mm v 8.6mm as it were.

6mm cable for 32A RCBO/MCB for 15.7kW cooker (2 oven, silly power grill, 4 hob with 2 high kW high speed elements... and an oven light).

You do not need to upgrade your cable or fuse from 30A even for an electric cooker, which has a far higher kW rating before application of Diversity.

Reply to
js.b1

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