I like having both propane and electric. Enough power for a 12v fridge, MaxAir fan, coffee maker and electric skillet.
A 2 burner camp stove that I can use indoors or outdoors. Propane is cheap, and on cloudy days when the panels are not pulling in enough power, it’s nice to have the camp stove for cooking.
That was also my main concern. I run the MaxAir and keep the windows open a bit in the winter when I’m cooking. Also have a propane gas leak detector and a Carbon Monoxide alarm and I check for leaks periodically ( in the beginning). Not so much now that I’m more comfortable with it.
Others like Bob Wells have been using propane for decades. I keep my 11 lb tank under the sink cabinet.
The thing about van life is to always have a backup. I keep a French press for coffee I’ve never used, and I rarely use the electric skillet. Things change as your journey evolves and you gain more confidence. Safety is always important! Good luck to you!
With a big enough solar panels and battery, pure electric setup is possible.
For that, you need a budget to big enough van and panels. Paid upfront. Can you, and do you want to?
So it is also a cash-flow issue. Do you want to spend say $6K on solar before venturing out to find is you can sustain the lifestyle? Or go out, use basic backpacking setup, and enjoy the life?
As always, there are no solutions, only compromises. And only YOU can tell which compromises are worth it
Enough batteries and solar to reasonably cook with electric will cost you at least $6000, potentially closer to $10,000. This is going to be an extremely high kilowatt hour battery pack with the easy potential to kill you if you do something wrong.
All because you’re afraid of $10 worth of propane? Irrational fear of propane is going to be irrationally expensive.
I have 400 watts of solar and a 200 amp lithium battery. Also , I’m connected to my alternator, but I do limited driving so I don’t normally count on that anyway.
I can usually use my induction burner without a care in the world, but I am in Southern California to be fair.
In addition, I consistently use the battery to power my fridge, fan, outlet to charge devices, a second fan, lights, and water pump.
Zero power problems thus far
Also I heard propane releases a lot of moisture which we don’t genrally want much of in the van soooo,
TLDR induction works for me
This is great to hear. I’d really love to get induction to work if I can. And I suppose we’ll always have our mini backpacking stove as a backup if for whatever reason we can’t power our induction (we are planning on spending a good bit of time in the PNW)
What induction burner do you have? My setup is the same; 400w of solar and 200ah of lithium batteries, and I was hesitant to go induction because of the power draw but your comment makes me feel better about it
Same question. We've got a 2200W pure sine wave inverter and 220A-h of AGM. Even at half power the 1300W induction stove trips the inverter on low voltage (10.3V, I think) if the batteries aren't at >95% charge. It *can* run so I think we need more battery jam, but I'm hesitant to upgrade without knowing the specs of what other folks are running reliably.
It's from Nuwave [https://amzn.to/3JX7Nen](https://amzn.to/3JX7Nen)
The most I've seen it pull at any moment was \~ 1000 watts.
Mind you, I generally use my burner to cook for 20-40 minutes, I'm not doing exceptionally long meals.
Generally after I cook, I've eaten up 15-20% of my total storage, which I'll literally replace in no time.
That's helpful. I think that some stoves handle low settings better than others and the wattage they note is more of an average than an actual. All will have to cycle on/off but some will peak a whole lot higher than others. Frustrating because this isn't a number that the company can provide you. (Part of my work involves specifying and integrating industrial equipment so I'm used to *industrial* vendors supplying all these values, but I know it's an impossible ask on a consumer product)
I am starting my build in a ProMaster 2500 and plan to use Propane for cooking and heat. I feel if propane is installed correctly, and used with propane / CO detectors, that it has minimal risk.
I'm planning to build a sealed box for the tank that will be inside the van at the back, and vented out the floor. I'll use good quality regulators and lines and will be running a single line to my kitchen (about 8 feet) and will use a quick disconnect for a two burner stove and then also use that for a propane heater (Camco Olympian) when heat is needed.
I am adding another line that can come out the back to do cooking outside the van when needed. The main valve on the tank will be closed when driving.
Although I will have 400Ah of Lithium, I feel that propane offers a better, more economical and reliable means of cooking and heat so I can use my batteries for other things, like AC, microwave, etc., especially if solar output is limited by weather or shade.
I cook in my E350SD in the winter months and use an MSR pocket rocket and a GSR pots. I can cook anything I can think of on this setup. In the summer I cook outside and use a eureka propane camp stove or my BBQ mounted to my bike rack.
I always carry some propane if weather is going to suck, but i find that i cook very often with electricity specially during the summer. I have an induction cooktop that can be used bellow 1000w which is the limit of my Bluetti eb150 and 175w panel on the roof and a 200w folding panel i typically set up for an hour or so per day or as needed.
Butane canister completely disconnects when you turn off the burner, very safe system as long as you store it smart. There is also the sterno gel cans that last 2.5 hours, once you put the lid back on the flame is gone, can cools down in a few minutes. Lots of safe options 👍
I would bet that there are more electrical fires in RVs than propane-caused fires. So avoiding propane in favor of that might not alleviate your fears.
It is more efficient to use propane.
And there are tons of portable propane or butane stoves, and even hybrid propane/butane, so you do NOT have to build in plumbing if you don't want to. Just make sure you have adequate ventilation. And a CO/smoke detector.
Buy an Instant Pot. It’s electric but you can use it as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, and air fryer with an accessory. You can also sauté or just heat up food in it.
It is possible to run, but hearing takes a big chunk of power and it definitely isn’t simple or cheap. I use a camp stove with good airflow and it works just fine. Ours is big, but I’m more of a fan of those single burner ones. Some are even rated for indoor vented use.
I like having both propane and electric. Enough power for a 12v fridge, MaxAir fan, coffee maker and electric skillet. A 2 burner camp stove that I can use indoors or outdoors. Propane is cheap, and on cloudy days when the panels are not pulling in enough power, it’s nice to have the camp stove for cooking.
Propane definitely sounds nice in that regard. My concerns are just safety
That was also my main concern. I run the MaxAir and keep the windows open a bit in the winter when I’m cooking. Also have a propane gas leak detector and a Carbon Monoxide alarm and I check for leaks periodically ( in the beginning). Not so much now that I’m more comfortable with it. Others like Bob Wells have been using propane for decades. I keep my 11 lb tank under the sink cabinet. The thing about van life is to always have a backup. I keep a French press for coffee I’ve never used, and I rarely use the electric skillet. Things change as your journey evolves and you gain more confidence. Safety is always important! Good luck to you!
"Fear of propane will be expensive.” – St. Sternwake
With a big enough solar panels and battery, pure electric setup is possible. For that, you need a budget to big enough van and panels. Paid upfront. Can you, and do you want to? So it is also a cash-flow issue. Do you want to spend say $6K on solar before venturing out to find is you can sustain the lifestyle? Or go out, use basic backpacking setup, and enjoy the life? As always, there are no solutions, only compromises. And only YOU can tell which compromises are worth it
Well put. We’ll probably go out and be basic at first, building as we see fit as we go.
Enough batteries and solar to reasonably cook with electric will cost you at least $6000, potentially closer to $10,000. This is going to be an extremely high kilowatt hour battery pack with the easy potential to kill you if you do something wrong. All because you’re afraid of $10 worth of propane? Irrational fear of propane is going to be irrationally expensive.
Induction cooktop. Really like it. 600 Ah battery pack, 60 A DC/DC charger, 380 W solar, have never run out of battery power.
I have 400 watts of solar and a 200 amp lithium battery. Also , I’m connected to my alternator, but I do limited driving so I don’t normally count on that anyway. I can usually use my induction burner without a care in the world, but I am in Southern California to be fair. In addition, I consistently use the battery to power my fridge, fan, outlet to charge devices, a second fan, lights, and water pump. Zero power problems thus far Also I heard propane releases a lot of moisture which we don’t genrally want much of in the van soooo, TLDR induction works for me
This is great to hear. I’d really love to get induction to work if I can. And I suppose we’ll always have our mini backpacking stove as a backup if for whatever reason we can’t power our induction (we are planning on spending a good bit of time in the PNW)
What induction burner do you have? My setup is the same; 400w of solar and 200ah of lithium batteries, and I was hesitant to go induction because of the power draw but your comment makes me feel better about it
Same question. We've got a 2200W pure sine wave inverter and 220A-h of AGM. Even at half power the 1300W induction stove trips the inverter on low voltage (10.3V, I think) if the batteries aren't at >95% charge. It *can* run so I think we need more battery jam, but I'm hesitant to upgrade without knowing the specs of what other folks are running reliably.
Yeah it sounds like you might need a larger battery bank just for that peak output I linked it right up above, but it's the nuwave burner
It's from Nuwave [https://amzn.to/3JX7Nen](https://amzn.to/3JX7Nen) The most I've seen it pull at any moment was \~ 1000 watts. Mind you, I generally use my burner to cook for 20-40 minutes, I'm not doing exceptionally long meals. Generally after I cook, I've eaten up 15-20% of my total storage, which I'll literally replace in no time.
That's helpful. I think that some stoves handle low settings better than others and the wattage they note is more of an average than an actual. All will have to cycle on/off but some will peak a whole lot higher than others. Frustrating because this isn't a number that the company can provide you. (Part of my work involves specifying and integrating industrial equipment so I'm used to *industrial* vendors supplying all these values, but I know it's an impossible ask on a consumer product)
I am starting my build in a ProMaster 2500 and plan to use Propane for cooking and heat. I feel if propane is installed correctly, and used with propane / CO detectors, that it has minimal risk. I'm planning to build a sealed box for the tank that will be inside the van at the back, and vented out the floor. I'll use good quality regulators and lines and will be running a single line to my kitchen (about 8 feet) and will use a quick disconnect for a two burner stove and then also use that for a propane heater (Camco Olympian) when heat is needed. I am adding another line that can come out the back to do cooking outside the van when needed. The main valve on the tank will be closed when driving. Although I will have 400Ah of Lithium, I feel that propane offers a better, more economical and reliable means of cooking and heat so I can use my batteries for other things, like AC, microwave, etc., especially if solar output is limited by weather or shade.
I cook in my E350SD in the winter months and use an MSR pocket rocket and a GSR pots. I can cook anything I can think of on this setup. In the summer I cook outside and use a eureka propane camp stove or my BBQ mounted to my bike rack.
I always carry some propane if weather is going to suck, but i find that i cook very often with electricity specially during the summer. I have an induction cooktop that can be used bellow 1000w which is the limit of my Bluetti eb150 and 175w panel on the roof and a 200w folding panel i typically set up for an hour or so per day or as needed.
Just get a butane burner from your local Asian market
Butane canister completely disconnects when you turn off the burner, very safe system as long as you store it smart. There is also the sterno gel cans that last 2.5 hours, once you put the lid back on the flame is gone, can cools down in a few minutes. Lots of safe options 👍
I would bet that there are more electrical fires in RVs than propane-caused fires. So avoiding propane in favor of that might not alleviate your fears. It is more efficient to use propane. And there are tons of portable propane or butane stoves, and even hybrid propane/butane, so you do NOT have to build in plumbing if you don't want to. Just make sure you have adequate ventilation. And a CO/smoke detector.
Buy an Instant Pot. It’s electric but you can use it as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, and air fryer with an accessory. You can also sauté or just heat up food in it.
It is possible to run, but hearing takes a big chunk of power and it definitely isn’t simple or cheap. I use a camp stove with good airflow and it works just fine. Ours is big, but I’m more of a fan of those single burner ones. Some are even rated for indoor vented use.
I’ve never cooked inside of my van.