Converting watts to amps?

Since I learned to cook on an electrical stove, I have never "liked" gas or propane cook tops. Thus I have the same type of electrical "hot plate" as you have.

However, when I pop corn in a pan or make candy I need the extra heat of the propane stove and use it not the hot plate.

pennysmom09 wrote:
I purchased a 1000 watt single burner hot plate to use in our RV. Without knowing the volts, (haven't received it yet), is there any way to determine if our 50 amps will be able to handle it? Hopefully I won't have to return it! I find the stove inadequate for a lot of cooking, and I just don't have room for the typical toaster oven.

Since your hot plate only uses 8.3 amps, your 50 amp system can handle it...unless you are already runing appliances that total more than 41.7 amps :)

Hi,

I tried a unit that had only 10 power levels. I returned it and bought the Nuwave which had 52, with temperatures from 100 to 575 F. The latest version has 94 levels at increments of 5 f. Perfect for simmering. If they did not have a timer that shuts the unit down after 90 minutes it would be a great replacement for a slow cooker.

bob213 wrote:
Well rated competitor for the NuWave:
induction

Hi Phil,

Yup, induction cooking does use less energy than a hot plate. It is a strange system where the induction cooker cycles through three levels to keep the temperature constant. On a kill-a-watt unit set at 220 F once the unit has heated up, the wattage jumps something like 200, 400, 600 then repeats. This happens every few seconds. I have not checked what happens at the highest possible setting.

On the generator, the jumps are enough that in eco mode the engine speed jumps around. This happens even using a Yamaha 3000 sIEB, which surprized me--I thought the boost feature ought to "carry" the induction cooker.

The induction cooker is probably not going to operate on less than a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter. They will not work at all on modified sine wave according to reports posted on the forums. I was too chicken to try it on msw.

I'm pretty sure that my Nuwave consumes fewer amp-hours than my hotplate to accomplish the same amount of cooking. It is MILES faster than the hotplate.

pnichols wrote:
Don,

If induction plates are so efficient and if one is patient enough, why can't an induction plate be operated at low wattage settings so as to be about equal to a regular hot plate in rate of heating .... while then being quite practical to power them when drycamping with inverters, large battery banks, and solar panels?

Hence, do induction plates used at lower settings make possible drycamp cooking without using one's propane supply?

IAW, you seem to talk them up with regards to being faster .... but how about them also being better misers of precious electrical power?

THe first reply gave you the numbers but did not give you the conversion.

MOST plug in appliances come with a 15 amp plug, two parallel blades, one may be a bit wider (The neutral side) or not, and an optional round pin (Safety ground).

These are 120 volt devices and to convert watts to amps the formula is "watts/volts" or in this case 1,000/120

Now, this applies to hot plates, stoves, light bulbs and other things WITHOUT A MOTOR OR TRANSFORMER.

If you have a coil of wire (other than the "Coil" of a hot plate that is) such as a motor or a transfoemer, Then the conversion is a bit more complex,, But since you were asking about a hot plate you may stop reading here.

Again, Unless you are working with motors or transformers stop here

For Inductive/Capacitive loads, Watts = Amps*Volts*Power factor

The best way to calculate it is to use a Kill-A-Watt and measure it, but you can do the math if you wish.

I know of cases where the amps were great, the volts were great (440 3 phase) and the watts were .. next to nothing (Power factor approached zero) I know the man who fixed it. (about 2 bucks worth of parts he had in his junk box).

Man was the highest paid electronics technician in the city he lived in. Was a college teacher, and .. Never graduated high school, (Dropped out in grade 8). All self taught.. He's a friend of mine.

Don,

If induction plates are so efficient and if one is patient enough, why can't an induction plate be operated at low wattage settings so as to be about equal to a regular hot plate in rate of heating .... while then being quite practical to power them when drycamping with inverters, large battery banks, and solar panels?

Hence, do induction plates used at lower settings make possible drycamp cooking without using one's propane supply?

IAW, you seem to talk them up with regards to being faster .... but how about them also being better misers of precious electrical power?

Well rated competitor for the NuWave:
induction

Hi SMK.

You know I qualify as a certified propane miser. I filled up in Feb, 2014 and then again in October 2014. So between Feb and Oct I used just 53 liters of propane (about 14 US gallons). That's about 27 KG or 60 pounds.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Penny,

The 1000 watt hot plate will be much slower than the propane stove. Good luck with it.

Depends if you have to run out for propane ;)

Hi,

I've had 4 hot plates, and actually burned one of them out. They do have a thermostat but it is "on or off" and is located under the drip plate, fairly far from the element. One of mine had a cast iron solid burner. It seemed nearly impossible to regulate, besides being slow to heat.

The Nuwave now has 94 power levels. It is GREAT at simmering. Mine is an earlier model with only 52 levels but its display agrees pretty much with my infrared thermometer.

Naturist, make that 6000 per leg for a total of 12000 watts. If the RV is intelligently designed the microwave will be on a different leg than the kitchen plugs.

I did keep one 750 hotplate which I'll use outdoors. My Nuwave gets stored in the oven. YMMV.