Got a solar generator

[ForgeCorvus]

The induction hob set at low power would be ok for a few quick warm meals,

Or something like Hay Box cooking.

[Mad Scientist]

I’m really interested in getting more solar powered gear. We have a gas cooker and fire so those are ok but as for lighting and general power one of those generators would be ideal! Thank you for sharing!

[Frnc]

My tenency doesn't allow anything with a flame (not even BBQs) so scratching my head about other cooking alternatives.

Crikey, that's a big limitation for a prepper. I have loads of flamey things! Can't afford £1.4K for solar though. Maybe in a survival situation you wouldn't worry what the tenency agreement says. You could have a wood burning stove 'just in case'. That way you're not storing fuel. You could even use it somewhere off site if you had to. Obviously you need to use them outdoors, away from anything flammable. The best types are the round ones that gasify and burn hotter, with less smoke. They are only small, back packers use them in America.

[GillyBee]

What about the military style flameless ration heaters for emergencies in a places where flames are a no-go?
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/thre ... ine.94312/

I have not tested these but other forum members probably will be able to advise if they would be of use.

[Frnc]

What about the military style flameless ration heaters for emergencies in a places where flames are a no-go?
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/thre ... ine.94312/

I have not tested these but other forum members probably will be able to advise if they would be of use.

Link is thread about elderberry wine

[GillyBee]

At least it could be viewed as a prepping link - just in the wrong thread.

I meant to link to these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185022273089 ... R-rT1uS9YA

You couldnt heat anything you like with them but they may be an option along with some pouches for short term outages where things are very restricted.

[ukpreppergrrl]

I have both a plug in and a standard kitchen induction hob cooker. I love my induction hob for every day and would never go willingly back to gas in the kitchen but it is like a kettle in it's power needs. The hob ring ratings are several kilowatts, much greater than the typical couple of hundred watts for a slow cooker. The plug in one is the same. Running a slow cooker on solar sounds a great idea. Induction would take a very much bigger rig. It will be interesting to know if your setup is up to the job.

Most induction hobs I've come across (I've looked only at portable hobs, not built in ones, which are probably going to have much higher power requirements) have a minimum constant setting of 1KW, if you want less "heat" than that it pulses on and off. The Vango Sizzle, which is sold as a camping induction hob, is one of the few, genuinely variable induction hobs. i.e. if you set it to 600 watts it puts out a constant "heat" at 600 watts, not 1KW pulsing to achieve 600watts on average. The key difference being: if you're using an inverter to power the induction hob off DC batteries, you're going to need a 2-3KW inverter to use a standard induction hob safely. With the Vango Sizzle you can use a 1KW inverter. The importance of that is that a 1KW inverter can be powered from 12v batteries whereas by the time you to get to 2-3KW inverters you really need to be running them off 24v or 48v batteries. With regard to the Jackery, I think the Jackery has a limit of 1KW watts on its inverter, so you'll be pushing its limit with a standard portable induction hob. You will be able to run the Vango Sizzle off it though. I have run the Vango Sizzle off a 1KW inverter powered by 12v LiFePo4 batteries. But don't expect to be able to simmer for hours! It's for short, sharp cooking as your batteries will run down very quickly!

NB: I am using the term "heat" very, very loosely here as we're talking about cooking on a hob and it's the easiest way to compare it to a gas or standard electric hob. A better comparison is probably a microwave - if you have a 1,000 watt microwave you can cook using full power at 1,000 watts or you can use 900 watts or 700 watts but if you listen to the microwave what it's doing on those lower wattage settings is pulsing on and off at 1,000 watts and so averaging 900 or 700 watts over the course of the time it's on. The difference between microwaves and induction hobs is that you can easily get microwaves whose max power setting is say 700 watts. They will be genuinely pulling only 700 watts and so can be run on a 1,000 watt inverter, even including the induction surge. But as I said above, very very few induction hobs are actually rated below 1,000 watts, many even higher.

[Vega-J]

Had the Jackery for a while now and I'm still very impressed by it. In the weather here this summer it's been easy to keep it charged. Induction hob was a bit of a flop as only worked on lower settings and drained the Jackery quickly.
Went camping for a week and it cooked one hot meal a day using an instant pot, boiled a 12v kettle many times, and kept phones/vapes of 5 people charged.
Since I bought it I haven't plugged my portable devices or electric bike in to the wall at all. It's run the strimmer and water pump (back in the old days when we had water in the butts) down the allotment and our household fan when it was really hot.
I doubt it will do so much in the winter but I will wait and see.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Had the Jackery for a while now and I'm still very impressed by it. In the weather here this summer it's been easy to keep it charged. Induction hob was a bit of a flop as only worked on lower settings and drained the Jackery quickly.
Went camping for a week and it cooked one hot meal a day using an instant pot, boiled a 12v kettle many times, and kept phones/vapes of 5 people charged.
Since I bought it I haven't plugged my portable devices or electric bike in to the wall at all. It's run the strimmer and water pump (back in the old days when we had water in the butts) down the allotment and our household fan when it was really hot.
I doubt it will do so much in the winter but I will wait and see.

If you've got economy 7 charge it at night whilst the leccys a bit cheaper...

And you've got resistant power if we get rolling power cuts even if you do have to use the mains to charge..

If you commute a fair way can you boost it up with a car charger??

[pseudonym]

If you commute a fair way can you boost it up with a car charger??

Yep, they can charge via the cigarette lighter socket.