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Slow Cookers- howmuch electricity do they use?

Nispero

By Nispero
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Nispero Gongoozler

Nispero

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Good afternoon all,

 

Been trawling the web to try and find out some more info on how much electricity slow cookers use but don't seem to be getting very far so hoping for a little advice.

 

My partner and I live aboard a 48ft narrowboat with 500 watt solar panels which gives us all the power we have needed over the summer though yet to be tested in the winter. We'd like to get a slow cooker as we are both busy with work and studying and the thought of plonking everything into a pot to cook all day is very appealing! However we don't want to flatten our leisure batteries in the process! We continuously cruise but only ever for a couple of hours at a time and don't want to be restricted by this as I have noticed a few people saying they only use their slow cooker when cruising. Any advice would be grestly appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance, Nispero.

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KJT Proficient

KJTDonate to Canal World

Posted
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Ours is a Morphy Richards 3.5 litre and is rated at 170 watts max. Although not a lot in itself they use quite a lot over the several hours they require to cook a meal. We generally only use ours when cruising or to use the excess solar output once the batteries are back up to 100% using our 530 watts of solar.

 

Ken

Edited by NB Ellisiana
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Eeyore Rising Star

Eeyore

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Posted (edited)

Good afternoon all,

 

Been trawling the web to try and find out some more info on how much electricity slow cookers use but don't seem to be getting very far so hoping for a little advice.

 

My partner and I live aboard a 48ft narrowboat with 500 watt solar panels which gives us all the power we have needed over the summer though yet to be tested in the winter. We'd like to get a slow cooker as we are both busy with work and studying and the thought of plonking everything into a pot to cook all day is very appealing! However we don't want to flatten our leisure batteries in the process! We continuously cruise but only ever for a couple of hours at a time and don't want to be restricted by this as I have noticed a few people saying they only use their slow cooker when cruising. Any advice would be grestly appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance, Nispero.

Welcome to the forum.

Our 3 litre mains voltage one is 135Watts, the previous mains voltage 1litre model was 60watts.

I have a 12volt 1 litre (Road Pro I think) some where which I would estimate is also 60watts, so 5amps draw from the batteries at 12 volts.

The trick, as I'm sure you know, is to add hot water from the kettle at the start of cooking so that it doesn't waste time heating up from cold.

5 amps is a good figure for an example of battery usage (if we round some figures down a little)

A fully charged common 100ah battery will power the cooker for 10 hours, discharging it to 50%, which is generally considered to get the best life from the battery.

There are a lot of figures to back this up, others may have posted already, just ask if you need confusing!! (reply may take a while)

Steve (Eeyore)

Edited by Eeyore
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Nickhlx Veteran

Nickhlx

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Whilst they may be rated at 150 - 300 watts, the average consumption is much less than this when up to temperature. To help reduce this "warming up time" you can pre-heat the ingredients and If you are adding water, this too can be added as hot as appropriate, so it doesn't need to be heated by the cooker - it will also save a bit of cooking time if that matters. I would be surprised if the average was as much as even 100 watts...

 

The thermostat calls for heat to replace the heat lost, so if you thermally insulate better, especially the top, this will significantly reduce power consumption, ( but I guess you knew that !)

 

Nick

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cotswoldsman Veteran II

cotswoldsman

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Wow, this looks fab if a little pricey.. i guess it'd pay for itself soon enuff....

It certainly does had mine for 4 years now and use it at least 3-4 times a week the great advantage is I can just prepare my food during the day and then eat at anytime in the evening when a least feel like,e cooking or if cruising I just prepare before I set off and meal is all done when I moor up and uses no leccy

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John V Veteran

John V

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It certainly does had mine for 4 years now and use it at least 3-4 times a week the great advantage is I can just prepare my food during the day and then eat at anytime in the evening when a least feel like,e cooking or if cruising I just prepare before I set off and meal is all done when I moor up and uses no leccy

 

 

As far as I can see it's a high tech version of the "Haybox cooker" that was around when I was very young......they used to work quite well but obviously had much lower grade insulation

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cotswoldsman Veteran II

cotswoldsman

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As far as I can see it's a high tech version of the "Haybox cooker" that was around when I was very young......they used to work quite well but obviously had much lower grade insulation

Hehe wow that brings back some memories my family farmed right out in the sticks in South Africa and just to get off our land was about a 1 hour drive so we had no mains electricity or gas so Hay Box was much used by my family. Yes the Thermal Cooker works on the same principal but is far easier and more hygienic and loses very little heat

 

Thanks for the memories as they say ;)

Edited by cotswoldsman
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Detling Rising Star

Detling

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Posted

my slow cooker takes 15 amps off the batteries and once hot is on for about 25% of the time so say 4 amp hours per hour. If on all day say 9 hours you are looking at 36 amp hours not massive but probably more than your fridge. In summer with your 500 watts of solar you should be OK with a fridge and the slow cooker, but a wet cloudy day or in winter (when the type of food cooked in a slow cooker is more appreciated) you will need more charging time every day maybe as much as an hour extra generator or engine, making the cost benefit more questionable.

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Naughty Cal Veteran II

Naughty Cal

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We use our slow cooker a lot when we are out cruising. Its only a cheap one we bought from Tesco about five years ago, for £12 if my memory serves me right, but it works just fine and doesnt use too much power.

 

I do like the idea of the thermal cooker though. That looks great. cheers.gif

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wiltshirewonderer Collaborator

wiltshirewonderer

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Sorry should add slow cooker now old technology I use a Thermal Cooker now they are amazing will cook for up to 7 hours with no power Google "Thermal Cooker" I have the one by Mr D look at mrdscookware.com in my opinion the best invention for many a year

 

I'm a regular slow cooker user (Twice a week). Not a fan of (a) using electricity where it can be easily avoided (B) leaving stuff on whilst I'm out at work.Thermal cooker looks like a good solution.

 

So I bought one off the back of your recommendation (+recipe book to get an idea how they work). Will let you know how I get on!

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cotswoldsman Veteran II

cotswoldsman

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I'm a regular slow cooker user (Twice a week). Not a fan of (a) using electricity where it can be easily avoided (B) leaving stuff on whilst I'm out at work.Thermal cooker looks like a good solution.

 

So I bought one off the back of your recommendation (+recipe book to get an idea how they work). Will let you know how I get on!

No that is pressure on me!!!
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Barry Veteran

Barry

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I bought one off the back of your recommendation (+recipe book to get an idea how they work). Will let you know how I get on!

 

So did I. I'm hoping its waiting for me when I get home from my travels.

 

Looking forward to trying it out

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