Induction cooktop

[908/930]

Masraum, with our and likely most 240v home induction cooktops there are different size induction areas, ours has 6" surface at 1.4kw, 7" at 1.8kw, 9" 2.2kw and a 9"-12" at 2.2-3.3kw so with a larger pot at 3.3kw it has double the available surface power compared to a 120v portable and then there is additional boost power available. But a small 5" diameter pot will not operate on the 9"-12" burner area, there are sensors to detect the pot surface and if too small will not turn on that section.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by 908/930

Masraum, with our and likely most 240v home induction cooktops there are different size induction areas, ours has 6" surface at 1.4kw, 7" at 1.8kw, 9" 2.2kw and a 9"-12" at 2.2-3.3kw so with a larger pot at 3.3kw it has double the available surface power compared to a 120v portable and then there is additional boost power available. But a small 5" diameter pot will not operate on the 9"-12" burner area, there are sensors to detect the pot surface and if too small will not turn on that section.

Thanks. In the small single burner units, the 120V seems to max out at 1800W, and the 240V units seem to max out at 3500W.

It's good to know that the burners on a cooktop are not only different wattages but also different sizes (basically the same as any other cooktop).

[mjohnson]

Unless you're boiling a few gallons of water - 3500W is a few thousand too much. Nice to have but you have to watch closely...

And, though I won't because I don't want to break my toy, I wonder how long it'll take 3500W to get my cast iron pan glowing. Probably not that long.

++Induction. Now just to convince my gas-lovin' wife.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by mjohnson

Unless you're boiling a few gallons of water - 3500W is a few thousand too much. Nice to have but you have to watch closely...

And, though I won't because I don't want to break my toy, I wonder how long it'll take 3500W to get my cast iron pan glowing. Probably not that long.

++Induction. Now just to convince my gas-lovin' wife.

1800W boiled 1 pint of water in 2 mins on a good stainless steel pan.

I put what I guess is about 2 quarts of water in a pot and that took nearly 10 minutes on 1800W. There are times when my wife puts a cold/thawed chicken in a 12qt pot so that with the chicken and the water, the pot is probably 8-10qts. I'm sure the 1800W would take quite a while to boil that. The 3500W wouldn't take nearly as much time, and once it's boiling, you can turn it down.

[john70t]

My induction tea pot has it boiling almost before I turn around again.
20amp circuits are good for kitchens and baths.

The thick stainless pot (for pasta) takes about 15 minutes on gas.
I'll sometimes preheat the stainless and add boiling water.

What about a dual system? Induction for water and gas for everything else.

[beepbeep]

I dunno about US, but my cooktop is rated 7.4kW total and can be connected either as single-phase 230V (which gives half max power) or two-phase (2x230V). A single plate can go up to 3.6kW in boost mode but will go down in load sharing mode if you run adjacent area that happens to share same phase.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by john70t

My induction tea pot has it boiling almost before I turn around again.
20amp circuits are good for kitchens and baths.

The thick stainless pot (for pasta) takes about 15 minutes on gas.
I'll sometimes preheat the stainless and add boiling water.

What about a dual system? Induction for water and gas for everything else.

Not induction, but since I had the 240V on the countertop there's a euro tea kettle there now. As your experience, it's boiling before I even choose my tea bag. 120V is for the slow and the patient. I'm neither...