Challenges Setting Up A Low Wattage Kettle
Introduction
To improve the return from my solar system, I am experimenting with using a low wattage kettle. The idea is to run it off a battery, preventing using any mains power. This post shares some of the 'basic performance measures' and problems in getting said kettle going.
For homesteaders, preppers and those living off-grid, this may be helpful if you're considering using an electric kettle over gas or fire based backups.
Quick Summary
The kettle boiled a cup of water (200 milli-litres) to an acceptable temperature in about 15 minutes . By 'acceptable' I mean hot enough to drink immediately - which saved on boiling time and energy. The time concerned is an openly stated ‘feature’ of the product, not a defect.
Unfortunately, my experience is that some of the supplied parts were unreliable, with the cigarette lighter/socket components burning out after a few uses. Once I replaced these components, the jug performed consistently.
If I was to buy this product again, I would only use the supplied parts with a power source that guaranteed a maximum current of 10 Amps i.e. a transformer. And even then, I’m not confident the cigarette lighter spring/socket would last.
Having (finally) gotten a working kettle, I am going to include it in daily life for a week.
The Motivation
In spring and summer, a significant percentage of my solar generation is exported to the grid and effectively sold back to me at market prices. As the first step of a wider plan, my goal is to use only my solar power to have a hot drink. I am experimenting with using a low power kettle to either run off a battery at any time day or night, or directly from the solar controller during the day.
 |
| The selected kettle |
I chose the Rovin 12 Volt kettle as it claims to draw a maximum of 150 watts.
Results
Unreliable Parts
The kettle is supplied as ready to work off a 12 V battery via a combination of cigarette lighter / socket/ alligator clips. I found two issues repeated themselves over the first 4 or 5 runs
a) The cigarette socket would burn out after a couple of uses.
Both of these issues occurred twice, as I replaced the parts concerned from my own funds.
I went down various rabbit-holes investigating this behaviour, with the conclusion that
- The kettle draws 11 amps and in theory could go up to 12.5 amps
- The parts supplied can only handle about 10 amps
- The parts supplied aren’t sturdy enough for this repeated use.
In the end I removed the cigarette lighter/socket, connecting the kettle directly to the alligator clips.
Actual Performance
The Rovin kettle boiled a single cup of water (approximately 200 milli litres or a cup) in about 15 minutes. The longer time to boil is clearly stated on the packaging and the kettle itself, so is a feature not a flaw.
The boiled water was hot enough to drink immediately, though not as hot as a mains jug achieves.
Through an inline meter, the kettle drew about 11 amps per second, used a total of 4.03 amp-hours for a total consumption of 48.36 Watt-hours (12 V x 4.03 Ah).
The advertised mechanical functions of automatic off and boil-dry prevention worked.
Conclusions
In my opinion, the Rovin kettle has mixed results.
- Once a reliable power supply was provided, the device worked as promised.
- In my experience, the supplied cigarette lighter and socket only seem to work with a power supply limited to 10 amps. And even then, the parts were still too hot for my comfort.
If I was buying this again, I wouldn’t trust the supplied parts as the kettle dictates the amps used. Rather I would limit the supply to 10 Amps maximum, via a transformer running off a battery/inverter combination. This in turn would extend the boil time.
Next Steps
So far, my time has been spent on getting the kettle working reliably and gathering basic performance measures. While this has been frustrating, lessons were learnt about cigarette plugs/sockets. From here, I’m going to use the kettle in daily life for a week and see how that goes.
Comments
Post a Comment