Why You Should Not Use Induction Cooking Technology

[hamsterpower]

I don't follow??? How is induction burners worse than electric resistance burners? Or halogen for that matter? I just cooked scrambled eggs for four on my induction burner and saw a peak of 1000 watts at medium heat and a low of 11 watts as it cycled to maintain heat. Total usage .12kwatt. My big oven uses ~3400 watts (rated, since it's 220v). Induction seems to be fast, easy, and safe.

Cheap too, my induction burner (hot plate) cost me $50. Been using it almost two years now.

[Exeric]

Well, you'd have to compare apples to apple and oranges to oranges. You said it was a hot plate. Maybe you could plug into a killawatt and monitor the amperage being used as it ramps up to temperature. At that point, if the killawatt doesn't have a slow averaged response, you will get the peak power demand by multiplying by 115 volts.

I don't know if the killawatt has a slow measurement response or not. If its like a damped VU meter then it won't work.

[NiHaoMike]

Most regular electric cookers have the same problem of high peak loads, the only exception being the really fancy ones with thyristor or cycloconverter technology. (Note that those are used for better thermal regulation and are about the same efficiency as the regular ones.) In fact, if anything, induction cookers can smoothly vary their power draw so they wouldn't be constantly switching on and off.

[Exeric]

I think you still have to account for the shorter times to get up to temperature with an inductive cooktops. If you think it is all due to increased efficiency of inductance cooktops then no problem. Do you really think it is entirely due to that? Then I've got this bridge...

It is not an all or nothing type of thing I'm talking about. It is about a statistical change in peak demand with a changeover from regular cooktops to inductive cooktops that would occur in a 1 hour window in which they would be used.

[Exeric]

"It is about a statistical change in peak demand with a changeover from regular cooktops to inductive cooktops that would occur in a 1 hour window in which they would be used."

Actually what I meant is that it is about a statistical variation in peak demand with a changeover from regular cooktops to inductive cooktops that would occur in a 1 hour window in which they would be used. There would be a greater frequency of what would be considered "unusual" peak demand when those synchonicity events converged. The frequency of those sychronicity would be just like it is now with electric burners being turned on, but the intensity of those synchronicity events would be greater because of the much greater power used during temperature ramp up with inductive.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by Exeric

...if everyone had one it would be expensive for society in terms of build up of electrical plants...

Do you have any real information that induction cooking can produce surges that could adversely affect power reserves? I mean how worthy is the, "...I know a guy that said..." stuff, of serious consideration?

Do you have any actual data pertaining to market penetration of households that are using induction cooking? It's been over a hundred years since the first patent on induction cooking was granted. It is important for us to know that if there is any kind of problem, which has not been clearly shown, how fast is this unproven problem approaching?

And if we as a nation are going to respond, how much of our limited national resources should we set aside to deal with an unproven problem (which could well be an increase in overall efficiency) that may or may not be increasing (it could actually be decreasing) at some unknown rate?

BTW, I just ate induction-cooked stir fry and it was very delicious.

-AC

[Exeric]

Well, it is confounding that I was the only one that saw the original sequence of posts here by that other individual. At this point without that corroboration by that individual or by others who saw it I will say no more. I know when the decks are stacked. It was not a hallucination. It was on this very site, I'm sure, and it was a sequence of off topic comments that won't come up on a search.

By the way AC, on that other thread I was merely responding to a comment you had made about induction ranges, which was itself off topic. I was just responding to it and then Steve responded to me. It was not his fault, nor mine that these happenstance things occur. It would be good if you could be more cordial in your response about that rather than act as if we are purposely trying to derail you. That's the second time you've taken umbrage when no offense was meant. I'm beginning to think you just like to bully people. There are more polite ways of getting things back on topic than acting like others are doing these things purposely.

[mejunkhound]

The first induction cooktops of the 1980s di draw high peak power and had low power factor which some of what Exeric's comments are likely directed at.

Recent technology, has changed as Europe's laws prohibit low power factor appliances, and power factor corrections circuits are now the normal design of induction cooktops.

I have installed an electrolux (son's house), Bosch (own house), a Panasonic/Kenmore (2nd kitchen) and 2 GE induction cooktops which I replaced with the Bosch and Electrolux.

The older induction cooktops had a major fatal flaw, they did not account for DILs, wives, and grand-daughters putting HOT pans on the control panels, which trashed the control system (had to rebuild/redesign them a couple of times).

Seems nobody know how to repair these things except electronic engineers (are one), so was able to pick them all up on the cheap on ebay or CL for about 5 cents to 20 cents on the dollar of retail prices. <G>

None of the females (or males) in the family would ever go back to gas or resistance heat for a cooktop once they have used the induction.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by Exeric

...I'm beginning to think you just like to bully people...

If you're beginning to think that I like to bully people, you should have seen the first email, or even the second email that I trashed before I sent the 'civilized' third email. Any doubts you might have about the possibility of my being a bully would have completely vanished.

It's actually that I have attempted to shine some light on approaches and methods to overcome our collective wastefulness, and passivity. I have tried to do this for maybe 4+ years on this site.

I have put a lot of work into careful presentation and encouragement and cultivation of sincerely interested people. It may be informative for you to know that it takes very little preparation or organization to discourage or deflect.

It is true that I'm not very pleased at the discouraging and deflecting posts that have been left on the "CO2" thread. It makes it very difficult for a potentially interested reader to follow the progression of the project. In fact, I am seriously considering completely deleting all of my posts on the "CO2" thread, and then totally rebuilding a parallel thread and leaving the deflective and discouraging posts as they are, on the remains of the original thread.

Over the last four years, on the "Manifesto" thread, I have had to speak frankly to a very large number of carelessly off-topic posters, because there is no other place on the Internet where an open heat pump hacking discussion is encouraged.

I'm quite sure I left a splendidly big pile of 'umbrage' in the process.

-AC

[hamsterpower]

Originally Posted by Exeric

Well, you'd have to compare apples to apple and oranges to oranges. You said it was a hot plate. Maybe you could plug into a killawatt and monitor the amperage being used as it ramps up to temperature. At that point, if the killawatt doesn't have a slow averaged response, you will get the peak power demand by multiplying by 115 volts.

I don't know if the killawatt has a slow measurement response or not. If its like a damped VU meter then it won't work.

This post must have been in response to mine, where I said "saw a peak of 1000 watts at medium heat and a low of 11 watts as it cycled to maintain heat. Total usage .12kwatt" Is this not the information you are asking my to gather? Being a "hotplate" is just isolating it to one burner. I was not directly compairing my induction burner to the resistance heated oven, only showing how other kitchen appliances use much higher peak watts.