Stove- propane or induction?

[lonfu]

we stealth camp a lot, so the propane works better for us. No gen set to run the stove. We use it to quickly heat the coach in the mornings while making coffee so we don't run the forced air heater.

[Atom Ant]

Originally Posted by lonfu

We use it to quickly heat the coach in the mornings while making coffee so we don't run the forced air heater.

Now that can be dangerous advice - you may have a good way of doing that, but firing up the stove to heat the coach is a total no-no in general terms of safety and Carbon Monoxide.

[twojayhawks]

Gas is undisputed the better performer and I wouldn't have anything else in my home. On the coach I am quite willing to use the induction to avoid the LP. I would be worried about building a $300K that wasn't all electric.

[nothermark]

Originally Posted by Atom Ant

Now that can be dangerous advice - you may have a good way of doing that, but firing up the stove to heat the coach is a total no-no in general terms of safety and Carbon Monoxide.

You are thinking of the morons who try to heat their apartment with the oven. That is not the issue here. One puts the kettle on and the waste heat helps take the chill off while the water is heating. Old camping trick. Also why pancakes make a nice breakfast on a cool morning. Longer stove time. ;-)

[Atom Ant]

Originally Posted by nothermark

You are thinking of the morons who try to heat their apartment with the oven. That is not the issue here. One puts the kettle on and the waste heat helps take the chill off while the water is heating. Old camping trick. Also why pancakes make a nice breakfast on a cool morning. Longer stove time. ;-)

I guess the difference between heating water with the stove and being a Moron is whether the hood exhaust is being used or not, and I just get the feeling someone trying to use the stove as a heating appliance would not open that vent or turn on the exhaust fan - which falls into the Moron category.

[Stripe34]

I'm just thrilled to hear that the new induction tops are portable! Yay no more DH complaints about my well-seared cabbage & noodles. No "ew" comments on the nicely seared onions to complement my perogies. AND best of all no heart attack at the smoke alarm while cooking my hamburgers :-)

Thx

CC, Paul, & Duckie

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by Stripe34

I'm just thrilled to hear that the new induction tops are portable! Yay no more DH complaints about my well-seared cabbage & noodles. No "ew" comments on the nicely seared onions to complement my perogies. AND best of all no heart attack at the smoke alarm while cooking my hamburgers :-)

Thx

CC, Paul, & Duckie

and we didn't even mention liver with those onions ... oooh ....yum....

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by Stripe34

Wow thanks everyone for the informative responses on the fridge. We expect to have electric hookup more often once we move to the larger DSDP, so residential fridge it is.

Next decision point - do I want propane or induction stove? I've never had induction, but I've cooked with gas almost all of my 50+ years. I don't want to have to buy all new cookware... Our current propane stove boils water super FAST, but I have to use a simmer ring to cook rice without burning (poor low temp control). It's also messy to clean the propane stove.

Who loves or hates their stove top cooking options? Advice?

Thanks -

CC & Paul

We went all electric with the Induction cooktop. No regrets and I'd never go back to propane for anything again. We bought a really nice set of nested Induction pots and pans that store nicely under the dinette bench.

The new Newmar Induction cook tops can easily be carried out to cook smelly fish,etc outside. I wish ours did that. :(

[Stripe34]

Originally Posted by newmarpusher

We went all electric with the Induction cooktop. No regrets and I'd never go back to propane for anything again. We bought a really nice set of nested Induction pots and pans that store nicely under the dinette bench.

The new Newmar Induction cook tops can easily be carried out to cook smelly fish,etc outside. I wish ours did that. :(

Are your pots/pans the Magma brand mentioned by others?

Thx!

[nothermark]

Originally Posted by Atom Ant

I guess the difference between heating water with the stove and being a Moron is whether the hood exhaust is being used or not, and I just get the feeling someone trying to use the stove as a heating appliance would not open that vent or turn on the exhaust fan - which falls into the Moron category.

Few folks ever use their hood vent any more in an RV than they do in a S&B. The difference is that the space is a lot smaller so the waste heat has more of a useful effect on the local temperatures plus the CO detector gets a dose faster if there is a problem. A properly burning stove will keep both the occupants and the detector happy. All it produces is CO2 and water vapor. Oh, and the waste heat. ;-)

[lonfu]

Originally Posted by Atom Ant

Now that can be dangerous advice - you may have a good way of doing that, but firing up the stove to heat the coach is a total no-no in general terms of safety and Carbon Monoxide.

Wow, I guess I must be a real dummy and the ventless propane fireplace that I use to heat my garage in the winter has made me slow!

Now think about it, all the gas stoves, in all the houses, in all the world for the last 100 years or so without CO2 detectors. Then there is me and my propane stove, one burner, in my motorhome, boiling coffee and heating the moho with a CO2 detector hard wired into the 12v system that never goes off. In fact in the past 18 years that I've had the this moho, the CO detector has only gone off once, on a cold winter night, when the wife didn't soak the beans overnight and had 3 grandkids with us.

You make it sound like everytime we fire up the stove and oven, (both ventless) we will pass out! Ever notice any vent piping from a gas stove to the exterior? Duh.....

[Atom Ant]

Originally Posted by lonfu

Wow, I guess I must be a real dummy and the ventless propane fireplace that I use to heat my garage in the winter has made me slow!

Now think about it, all the gas stoves, in all the houses, in all the world for the last 100 years or so without CO2 detectors. Then there is me and my propane stove, one burner, in my motorhome, boiling coffee and heating the moho with a CO2 detector hard wired into the 12v system that never goes off. In fact in the past 18 years that I've had the this moho, the CO detector has only gone off once, on a cold winter night, when the wife didn't soak the beans overnight and had 3 grandkids with us.

You make it sound like everytime we fire up the stove and oven, (both ventless) we will pass out! Ever notice any vent piping from a gas stove to the exterior? Duh.....

Guys - guys - Darwinistic acts are good for the species - but (by the way, you don't have CO2 detectors) I'm not making this up. Many Morons before you have led to the need for warning labels all over everything, and I'm positive there is one on your garage heater as well!

The other killer is asphyxiation - from the......lets see, what did Northermark come up with? oh ya - CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and water vapor. Oh (Hydroxide), and the waste heat. ;-). Your little CO detector couldn't care less if you are dying from the lack of oxygen as it is being converted to CO2, H20, OH etc by your stove! It won't even go off until the combustion process begins to be incomplete because the stove has pretty much burned up all the usable oxygen in the space, but you lost consciousness at about 15% waiting for the stupid $14 detector to tell you something it can't.

Regardless, I don't want to lecture or sound condescending but for the general reader, there are warnings against this because someone gave their life to science. Below is the first one that came to mind from my Atwood LP gas cooktop. For those more curious, I've attached the manual of which the first TWO FULL PAGES are nothing but warnings, thanks in part to the contributions of other backyard scientist that gave all of it up for their fellow man.

Here's your sign!

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by Stripe34

Are your pots/pans the Magma brand mentioned by others?



Thx!

Yes. This is the set we have.

http://www.magmaproducts.com/Product...-360l-ind.html


Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

[nothermark]

Some folks need to learn their combustion physics better.

As several of us have pointed out open gas flames are very common. The issue of space heating comes from folks who would start their oven with the door open in large city tenements because the building owner ran the steam plant by the calendar not the thermometer. That is a far different beast than a pot of water on the stove doing what it is designed to do and taking advantage of the extra BTU's wasted because the heat transfer is not very efficient.

Assuming adequate air supply the combustion products are CO2 and water vapor. Just like a human body. Anything that disturbs the proper supply of air changes the combustion output to produce carbon as in soot, a yellow flame and CO. CO or carbon monoxide.

The problem with carbon monoxide is that it replaces oxygen in a mammalian blood stream causing decreased oxygen uptake and eventual death. That is why we have CO detectors in many places now. They sound off it there is a problem with combustion. The sensors are cheap to manufacture in bulk. Since they are mandated by law in many if not most places bulk is not an issue. I find $14 for a $0.50 sensor more than adequate as a markup. ;-)

Back to the fire physics. The ratio of air to gas is fairly large but the volume used in a stove burner is pretty small compared to the air in a room. Long before the air in the room is sufficiently low in oxygen to be an issue the flame will be starved for oxygen thus burning poorly and causing CO buildup to trigger the alarm. It will also cause one to feel woozy or disoriented. That will rapidly respond to fresh air. It's a problem if you start the oven and go to bed. Not nearly as much if one puts the kettle on for 5-10 minutes as one is preparing breakfast and doing other wakeup chores. That is why we see the somewhat frantic warning as scare mongering. It's sort of like saying fire is hot so don't put your hand in the flame. We want our coffee and oatmeal and get the heat part but know how to manage it.

In case you think I am rather unconcerned it might be worth pointing out the man who owned our house before we did died of a CO triggered heart attack from a crack in his furnace heat exchanger. We have a couple of CO monitors as well as other detectors around. It's just that I understand the difference between using a tool properly and being afraid to own one or being fatally careless.