Electric stoves - any 110 volt models in white?

[belfert]

I've got a few questions saved up since I was gone a while:

I have yet to install the stove and microwave in my bus yet and we got by without on my first trip.  We cooked outside and ate sandwiches on the road.

Anyhow, does anyone know of a 110 volt stove/cooktop that is available in white?  Inexpensive would be another good attribute.  They all seem to be either stainless or black.  I don't think a standard house type stove would fit a 21" wide RV countertop.  I would prefer to avoid 220 volt as I understand that 50 amp service at some places is not 220 volt although my generator is.

I was going to do a propane stove/oven, but since the stove would be the only thing using propane I don't really want to take up bay space dealing with propane tanks.

[makemineatwostroke]

Belfert, look at the Seward Princess cooktops but they are not cheap.Have you looked at the induction type cooktop i saw a bus with two built in looked very nice and was told it uses very little power

[TomC]

You might want to reconsider the propane way.  I looked into using the Princess electric stoves, but the close to $2000 price tag said no.  And Princess 3 burner stoves are designed with two burners in front and the single burner in the back middle-backwards as far as I'm concerned.  I have a 3 burner stove/oven.  Although, we have only used the oven about 5 times, if you have a convection microwave, then just a 2 or three burner cook top will work nice.  Something to consider- if all else fails, you can use the cook top for heat with a window open for ventilation.  Propane is extremely simple, and can be safe if you follow all safety rules.  Even with my propane furnace, I only fill my 100# tank once a year.  Good Luck, TomC

[Chaz]

By all means, do a search on induction cook tops!!!!!!!!!! There is a site: http://theinductionsite.com/how-induction-works.shtml that tells about it. I just think it's the "cats"!!!
The full stoves are expensive, but the individual cook tops are reasonable! Ya just need ferrous metal pans. (steel, cast)
  Chaz

[belfert]

I read the website and still don't understand why induction cooking is so great.  I'll have to ask my friend who is a chef and restaurant owner what he thinks about this.

Are these units made in 110 volt versions?  I may yet reconsider propane if I can find a good spot for the tank that doesn't kill my limited bay space.

[Gary '79 5C]

Belfert,
You might wish to reconsider the Princess 110 V cooktop. I just yahooed it and came up with a 3 burner NEW for $450, @ Boaters
World. I get nothing out this, just an example of the market. I thought they were much more money. Unless I am missing something.
My PO installed a Princess 2 burner and it works great, althougth I do not use it every trip. Never let me down when needed, however.
Just a thought if you wanted to stay with an all electric coach.

Good Luck,

Gary Pasternak

[DavidInWilmNC]

Perhaps the best thing would be to buy one of the induction cooktops (they're cheap on eBay) and actually try it.  You may be surprised at how much you like it, as have friends who've used them.  From what I can tell, what's 'so great' about them is that there is little heat being wasted to heat the environment.  Instead, the heat is 'generated' in the pot or pan itself.  If you don't like 'em, you simply unplug them and take them out of the bus.  I have a butane single-burner cooktop that cooks really hot.  It's got good flame adjustment for when I need lower heat.  It's self contained and uses a butane can about the size of a spray paint can.  Using these, if you need more than one burner, you'd just take out another one and use it, too.  The nice thing is that these portables will leave more counter space free for other uses... like food prep.  I find that we cook more outside the bus (and our camper) than inside (except for the microwave).  If you want a propane cooktop, there are two-burner cooktops on eBay quite often.  You can have this recessed (like on some of the nicer S&S's) with a cover made of the same material as the counter.  You could then sit the induction cooktops on top of that cover when you're on a power pole and want to use them. 

So far, we've used very old tech electric hot plates.  They have a 1000 watt burner and a 500 watt burner that look and work like an old fashioned coil stove.  They're faster to boil water than my old camp stove and not much slower than the higher-end gas cooktop at home.

David

[Chaz]

David said it best, "unplug it/them and put in cabinet, 110v and uses very little electricity, keeps the coach cool as with the demos I seen it only heats the pan- no excess heat. And I think they are about 120.00 or so last I checked.
   Chaz

[makemineatwostroke]

I was amazed how fast the induction boils water.The induction cook top according to the things i have read about it would be the safest cook top, it can be left on and makes no heat unless a steel pan is put on it and will cut its self off if the pan gets too hot.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Brian,

I have the SeaWard Princess 2 burner 115v unit. They only come in black. Also have the option of radiant flat or raised surface.

The only draw back with the radiant is that is stays hot for a long time after your done cooking. We like how fast it boils water...

It measures about 13"x 22"x 2 3/4"

Happy Holidays!
Nick-

[belfert]

After doing some research and reading everyone's posts here I am more confused than when I started.  I might just stick with propane after all.

Advantages/disadvantages of each:

Propane: takes up bay space for propane tank.  Has high heat capacity.  Heat adjusts quickly.
Induction: requires metal pans.  Small units are cheap.  two or three burner drop in units are expensive.  No hot burners.
110 volt electric: elements are low wattage compared to home 220V units.  Drop in units can get expensive.

The biggest use of the stove for my group is breakfast.  We usually use three burners for breakfast.  The stove in my travel trailer wasn't used much other than breakfast.

The first big bus trip we didn't have any cooking appliances indoors so we cooked everything on camp stoves and grill outside.  I'm not sure if we would stop along the way to cook breakfast on the road.  It may turn out that I'll skip the stove all together and just cook outdoors all the time as we have been.

I use my bus for vacations with groups of friends and am not fulltiming or snowbirding in it.  If I was living in the bus for long periods I would want a stove for sure.

[captain ron]

Brian, Bruce Knee just got a gas cooktop from Ikea that is pretty small and very thin. It is no thicker than the countertop which is 1 1/2 inches. Its real nice looking also. I wiil post the model # later. I don't think I would leave out a cooktop as someday you may want to sell your coach and this would hurt the value some. If I remember correctly you have tall bays so you could mount a small tank up high or even to the ceiling of your bay.
Welcome back

[pvcces]

We bought an induction burner, Supentown model SR1601, and it works as described on shore power. It cost around $100 when I bought it off of eBay. I was going to put it on our coach, but I tested it first on our boat.

The boat has a black case Heart modified sign wave inverter. The burner would recognize our pan on shore power but not on inverter power. Since it wouldn't recognize the pan on inverter power, there was no way to test any of the different functions while on the inverter.

So, the burner stays home and the wife uses it part of the time. It really does start making bubbles in a cold pan of water in less than a minute. Because ours has a temperature control, we found it does a nice job of cooking a big pot of beans with very little attention.

For what it's worth.

Tom Caffrey

[orfunauto/Darrell]

We bought a Sunpentown Model SR-1851 induction cook top from Target.com.  It works great!  In fact, I'll be buying a second one for additional cooking. They do not give off any heat to the interior of the bus.  We have an LP four burner stove/oven, and predict we won't be using it at all in the near future.  The oven will make a good storage unit for pots, pans, and induction cook tops....

And the usual disclaimer......no connection to Target or Sunpentown. 

[H3Jim]

I bought a small induction unit to try out before I bite the bullet to get a built in cooktop.  I love it.  It works fine on my 4024 Trace Inverter.  When I set the heat level, it gets there as fast or faster than a gas burner, but even better, it stays there reliably within a few degrees so it does not burn my food.  I Plan to take out my regular electric cooktop and replace it with an induction unit - in both my bus and my home.  The  inconvenience of the special pans is a small price to pay.  For the bus, its also a bonus becuase it uses less of my battery bank to cook with, and does not inject any more waste heat into the coach than absolutely necessary.  The cost is a bit of a downer, but hey, anything for the bus.  Ain't technology great