Induction Stoves

[nwdiver]

So... one of my friends is building a house and I managed to convince him to go 100% electric. The biggest hurdle as it often seems to be is that his wife 'had' to have a gas stove. I was aware of induction stoves but I hadn't really looking into them. When I converted everything in my home to electric I didn't even consider induction, just never crossed my mind. I guess because I'm not that sophisticated when it comes to cooking.

Now that I've done a bit of research I'm really impressed. Aside from the fact that non-ferrous pans don't work they appear to be superior to gas in every way. The main complain against electric stove I've heard is that they don't respond quick enough. Induction does since it heats the pan directly.

Does anyone here have an induction stove? Which model?

 

[nwdiver]

Our Frigidaire inductive range cost about $800, two years ago, when I ordered it online. For camping at sites with electricity, and for motel rooms, I bought a single inductive "burner" on Amazon for under $50. It's not as fast as our stovetop, as it is limited to drawing a maximum of 1800W, but it works great on a standard 120V outlet. If anyone on a budget wants to start doing inductive cooking, just buy one of those, and leave it on your countertop. We got a package deal on the pots and pans, a whole set for maybe $150.

My sister has a propane stove. I saw the amazon basics induction stove and I'm considering it as a Christmas gift. I guess it's hard to go wrong with something that costs $50. It is easy to vary the power? I think the problem with some of the cheaper ones is it seemed like they were on or off...

For my friend that's building a house I think I'll try to steer them towards building a cooktop into a countertop. The inductive ranges seem absurdly overpriced though $800 isn't bad. Most of the ones I saw were >$1000, compared to ~$400 for just the cooktop.

 

[abasile]

I agree about inductive ranges being absurdly overpriced, and it's disappointing that prices haven't dropped since I last looked!

This is the best deal that came up when I did a quick search. It's the same model, or nearly the same, as what we have: Frigidaire Ranges Electric Stainless Steel FFIF3054TS

This is the "single burner" cooker that we purchased, though I recall paying under $40 since we chose a used one: https://smile.amazon.com/Duxtop-8100MC-Portable-Induction-Countertop/dp/B0045QEPYM

It is very easy to vary the power by pressing up/down arrow buttons.

 

[Ampster]

Does anyone here have an induction stove? Which model?

I have a GE Induction cooktop. I don't know the model. A lot of pans work especially cheap stainless ones and expensive ones that are made of several layers of aluminum, copperr and steel. They do respond quickly. I was recently in the original Williams Sonoma store in Sonoma where they do cooking classes and they have several incuction cooktops in their demonstration kitchen. They are quick and safe because unlike other electric cooktops the surface of the cooktop does not get hot, only the pan. That is what also makes them more efficient. We are selling that home but bought an induction single element hot plate and use that oll the time on the dinner table when my wife makes hotpot. A cheap devided stainless pot that I bought on Amazon works great for that.
To test a pan to see if it will work just put a magnet near it and if the magnet sticks i will work on an induction cooktop. Many stainless steel pots and pans hold a magnet.

 

[pp61]

Induction cookers are becoming standard in Europe. In the beginning you had plates where you can put four or five pans on predefined spaces.Now you have cookers you can use the whole surface and have two spaces working as one for large pans. Very quick heating, have induction for + 10 years already.

 

[iPlug]

We have a 5-element 36" built-in that we upgraded to from a NG cooktop almost 2 years ago and it is fantastic. It outperforms the prior NG cooktop it replaced in every way (except purchase price):
Frigidaire 36 in. Induction Cooktop in Black with 5 Elements-FFIC3626TB - The Home Depot

COVID has turned things upside down and many more people are cooking at home and demand for kitchen upgrades has soared. We paid just under $800 for ours but since COVID it has listed for ~2x that.

Just to mention some of the most salient improvements over NG and electric resistance:
-time to goal temperature is faster than electric resistance or even NG (boils water in under a minute)
-very efficient and safer as heats only the cookware (actually once the cookware gets hot the cookware can then heat the cooktop directly underneath)
-immediate direct energy transfer to the cookware allows more precise cooking control (can melt butter or chocolate without burning it)
-easy clean-up (smooth ceramic top and no burn-on since the top doesn't get hot directly or even hot enough with cookware heat back feed); our cooktop still looks brand new

 

[RickB23]

Once you move to an induction stove, you’ll wonder why you waited so long. Much better heat control, simple cleanup, and you can boil a pan of water in 3 minutes.

 

[nwdiver]

Pretty compelling. Begs the question.... why are we still running gas lines to new homes?!

 

[SageBrush]

Chris, is the topic induction stoves or cooktops ?

 

[iPlug]

My take is he is referring to the cooktop portion alone. Have looked at this word use in the past, and the term stove is used differently by some to refer to just the cooktop portion, but by others to also include the enclosed oven portion. Definitions I have come across usually point to the latter.

Would love to see a heat pump oven, but technical and cost challenges might be an issue.

 

[SageBrush]

My take is he is referring to the cooktop portion alone. Have looked at this word use in the past, and the term stove is used differently by some to refer to just the cooktop portion, but by others to also include the enclosed oven portion. Definitions I have come across usually point to the latter.

Would love to see an induction oven.

Perhaps a better question is what the 'wife' in the OP was talking about

 

[iPlug]

Looks like editing at the same time. Meant to say heat pump oven rather than induction.

 

[PJFW8]

Induction stove tops are great. One caution however. If you have a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator, you must stay more than 2 feet away from an induction cooktop. Failure to do so could be extremely dangerous.

 

[SageBrush]

Meant to say heat pump oven

Ohh...

I didn't even know that existed. That with an induction element in the oven is interesting !

 

[iPlug]

Pretty compelling. Begs the question.... why are we still running gas lines to new homes?!

Agree, it's a no brainer for most new installs and upgrades. As he suggests, the biggest barrier might be education. Once someone with an electric resistance or NG unit can see what it can do and how efficient it is, many would be ready for the upgrade.

In our case, the cooktop was the last piece to get our home not just net zero, but truly fossil fuel free.

Induction stove tops are great. One caution however. If you have a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator, you must stay more than 2 feet away from an induction cooktop. Failure to do so could be extremely dangerous.

Theoretically, it is possible but would require closer distances and pacemakers/modes that are not common these days:

For example:

There are circumstances in which a device may be affected by specific sources of energy under narrow circumstances. This was illustrated in a study assessing the potential for induction cook tops to interfere with pacemaker function. Patients with a unipolar, left-sided implant could experience interference if the pot was not concentrically placed on the induction coil and if the patient stood as close as possible to the cook top. The most common response to interference was a reset to an asynchronous interference mode [6]. Most contemporary devices utilize bipolar pacing and sensing configuration, which minimizes the chance of device malfunction from electromagnetic interference.​

UpToDate

 

[iPlug]

Ohh...

I didn't even know that existed. That with an induction element in the oven is interesting !

My thoughts:

With an electric resistance or NG cooktop, >50% of the generated heat is lost to the environment and that energy never gets applied to the cookware/food. But induction directs ~100% of the energy source to the cookware with this application. So the efficiency advantage with induction is clear for cooktop application.

However, even those clumsy electric resistance elements heat food approaching 100% efficiency in a well insulated oven, so don't see a significant efficiency advantage with induction there. If more precision heating is desired, induction might help as well as a cleaner oven (no burned on food crud on heating elements). But much of the desired cooking qualities of an oven come from effect of the secondarily heated air on the food as there is not really direct heating - essentially slow convection heating (not sure how common convection fans are in standard ovens these days).

My intrigue with a theoretical heat pump oven would be the idea of using 3-4x less electricity to produce the same amount of heat. Technically we know how to do this, but to put it into the format of a drop-in replacement for standard ovens and getting it to a palatable cost - suspect those would be the biggest hurdles.

 

[Merrill]

I wanted to remove our Thermador cook top and install an induction unit, looked in to this years ago but most of them require a 240v 50 amp circuit breaker and have no more room in my MSP. Could do the portable unit not sure it is worth changing the pots and pans.

 

[SageBrush]

With an electric resistance or NG cooktop, >50% of the generated heat is lost to the environment and that energy never gets applied to the cookware/food. But induction directs ~100% of the energy source to the cookware with this application. So the efficiency advantage with induction is clear for cooktop application.

Let's stir the pot a little ...

• So far as I know, the heat loss of ~ 50% to surroundings for resistance and NG stove top cooking is about right, but to the extent that the electricity was generated from fossil combustion, NG is a more efficient choice.
• Regarding overall efficiency, loss of heat to the surroundings is only relevant if you do not want it. That would not apply e.g. in the winter.

My kitchen is electric. We boil water in an electric kettle, and do a lot of cooking in a pressure cooker, microwave, and a small toaster oven. I struggle to part out our kitchen energy consumption from the home overall which usually runs ~ 300 kWh a month. So I cannot provide firm kitchen energy consumption numbers but I know that they are modest. I also like the idea of induction, but more for its attributes than as an energy saving device. That is saying something coming from me since energy conservation is *always* an important consideration for us.

 

[Puma2020]

I received an induction 1-pan hot plate last Christmas. They had ordered it from Amazon. The first one (I think it was $49) didn't work well. It would work for about 8 minutes before it overheated. Sent that back and we got the $59 1600W iSiLER one. We have been using it for about a year now. Also got an "interface disk" that looked a lot like a pizza platter they push pizzas into and out of the oven. Stainless steel. This avoided the need to have to convert all of the pots and pans. Using the adapter, it's very similar to using an electric stove top. The induction element heats the adapter plate which heats the pan. Bought a cheap induction frying pan. That worked better. Also performed so tests timing the electric burner and this unit. The unit has settings from 400W in 200W increments up to 1600W. I've read that a small electric burner will pull about 1300W while the 8" burner will pull 3000W. I tend to only use the 800W setting, which according to my Kill-a-Watt pulls about 750W. This 800W setting fries up anything I need very quickly. I've had to adjust to the faster cooking times when preparing a meal. I still use it for most of my cooking, except for boiling water. As I do not have an induction capable dutch oven (yet), noodle boiling is still done via electric, mostly to avoid the overheating issue we had with the first unit.
I do like the speed of the induction unit. You just have to adjust your cooking times. Making a grilled cheese sandwich, for example, is very fast even for the first sandwich, so be prepared.

 

[iPlug]

...to the extent that the electricity was generated from fossil combustion, NG is a more efficient choice...

Agree. Like BEVs, range of efficiency and CO2 footprint has a significant dependence on the consumer's grid energy sources, time of cooking, home solar, presence of home battery, etc.

In our case, our utility PG&E's most recent data shows only 15% of delivered electricity comes from fossil fuels (all NG), probably near the cleanest and most efficient of grids across the U.S.. With the dirtiest grids in other parts of the country, customers get most of their energy from fossil fuels where the math for induction works out much less favorably for them.

But given the longevity of cooktop appliances and the rapidly greening of grids nationally, it's something everyone should take a look at if considering upgrading their cooktop.

Also something to be considered - the video in post #8 points out that cooking with NG decreases indoor air quality. Would like to see some hard numbers on this as this would be another selling point.