electric stoves??

Why do most of the trawlers I look at have electric stoves and ovens?
Seems to me that properly vented propane or CNG would make a whole lot more sense.

one answer, BOOM||||||

Over 50 years of boat ownership, electric every time. With induction cooktops now popular and a good genset, hard to see a reason for boomers on a new build. But old habits die hard.

Convenience, since you already have a genset, and space, since a glass cooktop serves as counter space.

Electric is clean and relatively painless. (And doesn't come with all those venting concerns.)

For example... we're either on shorepower at the dock, and we can run the genset whenever we need to while underway or anchored. During July and August, the genset usually comes on before we leave the dock (to service the aircons). The rest of the time, we use the genset to charge batteries and heat water twice a day... and it's easy to make those times coincide with cooking times... to service not just electric cooktops but also microwave/convection oven, toaster, coffee maker, electric pressure cooker or slow cooker, etc... so electric is no inconvenience, and brings with it some benefits too.

Not a recommendation, just an observation.

-Chris

Personally, I can't imagine NOT having a gas stove on our boat. I get why east coast boaters go electric since many of you run aircon in the summer but not typical here in PNW. That said, my wife, who cooks all of our meals on board is intrigued with induction heating after reading about the Dashew's choice for going electric on the FPB.

Our Mainship Pilot 34 had a small genset and a two burner electric stove. I replaced it with a $300 two burner induction cooktop that works great. It heats stuff at least twice as fast as the conventional cooktop it replaced, because the heat transfer is so much more efficient.

Having said that, we really don't use it much. 90% of our evening meals are cooked on an outdoor grill and if we want to heat up something like beans to go with it, I use the microwave. I do have to run the genset for that, but it only takes 5 minutes. The batteries and inverter could also handle that small AH requirement, but the genset is easy and I often start it about supper time for hot water and battery recharging.


So I don't miss a propane stove at all.


David

+1 on all the above "pros". Plus no need to schlep around getting propane tanks refilled.
We did most of our serious cooking at the same time the batteries recharged, the water heater ran, and often when laundry being done and /or dishwasher run and toaster being used. Nice to have AC running in a hot kitchen as well. We too did a lot of grilling using those little canisters which were easy to store and could be bought about anywhere. I don't think we'd eliminate a future boat just because it had a propane stove, but we certainly wouldn't see it as a positive.

We converted the electric stove on our 34' Mainship to propane and a PO did on Hobo. Having to run the little noisy Onan generator to boil water made the decision pretty easy on the Mainship. When we had our sailboat we lost the generator with parts a month out. We were glad we had propane. We could still charge the batteries from the high output alternator on the engine and heat water.

A little bit of thread drift. CNG is dead on the west coast. There is only one supplier left for the PNW and when his CNG machine dies he is not replacing it. The LA area is in better shape but not by much.

CNG works fine on a boat that gets used 5 times a year. It’s way too expensive and bulky to be used by a serious cruiser.

Larry M said:

We converted the electric stove on our 34' Mainship to propane and a PO did on Hobo. Having to run the little noisy Onan generator to boil water made the decision pretty easy on the Mainship. When we had our sailboat we lost the generator with parts a month out. We were glad we had propane. We could still charge the batteries from the high output alternator on the engine and heat water.

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Other than this unfortunate situation (and if you only have one), a benefit of electric is that it doesn't "run out" at inopportune times like propane.

And, propane leaks really stink.

I have electric stove top and oven, microwave, and even have an electric grill 'fat zapper'which I can cook hamburgers, etc... Got if for $10 at the thrift store, it works great. I have an electric plug under the aft deck to plug into and use it outside. I did have to seal where the electric plugs in cause it would drip grease. I used Black PL roof and flashing polyurethane, it is like black 5200 but a lot cheaper. Easy to clean, the top grill lifts off the base and you can line with foil, if you want. If windy, I can cover it with a large electric skillet top which speeds up the cooking. This will brown a burger or hot dog and cooks very well. No temp adjustment, it just gets hot.

JustBob said:

Other than this unfortunate situation (and if you only have one), a benefit of electric is that it doesn't "run out" at inopportune times like propane.

And, propane leaks really stink.

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But there’s no need to run out of propane if you know how much you have in the tank. Dometic makes a pretty cool LP gas level checker for ~$40.

https://www.dometic.com/en/se/produ...s-detectors/dometic-gaschecker-gc-100-_-30582

Now a propane leak is another story but like anything else a properly installed and maintained system ...

"Seems to me that properly vented propane or CNG would make a whole lot more sense."


Only if you leave the dock.

The reason most new boats show electric is the equipment and install is cheaper.

Which is better is a personal decision.

Which is safer used to be a no brainer. Now with propane lockers and sniffers this is much less an issue. Electricity is not with out its dangers. Most boat fires in the PNW have been because of electricity or candles. 30 years ago pressurized alcohol was the number one problem.

Running out of propane is equivalent to the generator not starting. So now you are back to arguing a tiny bit of safety vs listening to a generator.

I have a professional chef on board, she will only cook with gas, therefore i have no choice, it’s propane or go hungry.

The problem with electric is the genset must be running, even if all you want to do is heat some tea water. On the east coast often it's running anyway for AC, but on the west coast and the PNW, this means anchorages are forever plagued with the drone of multiple gensets.

DDW said:

The problem with electric is the genset must be running, even if all you want to do is heat some tea water. On the east coast often it's running anyway for AC, but on the west coast and the PNW, this means anchorages are forever plagued with the drone of multiple gensets.

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What's wrong with an electric kettle that runs off the inverter? I use one at home so I don't have to mind my pot/kettle on my gas stove.

JustBob said:

What's wrong with an electric kettle that runs off the inverter? I use one at home so I don't have to mind my pot/kettle on my gas stove.

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You binary thinkers are overlooking an excellent alternative. I have ScanMarine diesel stove and oven. They came with the boat, but with three years experience, I wouldn't have anything else.

Larry M said:

We converted the electric stove on our 34' Mainship to propane and a PO did on Hobo. Having to run the little noisy Onan generator to boil water made the decision pretty easy on the Mainship. When we had our sailboat we lost the generator with parts a month out. We were glad we had propane. We could still charge the batteries from the high output alternator on the engine and heat water.

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So no inverter on your boats? That'll run a microwave which heats water (as will an electric induction kettle) and cooks food just dandy.

We have an electric stove and supplement with a stowable single burner gas burner when we don't need the generator for A/C. The portability of the gas single burner is a plus as we can cook bacon or shrimp outside and not smell up the cabin. We have 900amphr house bank and 2k inverter for coffee and microwave.
Had gas on past boats and was considering a changeout, but a year in and all seems to work for us.

I have a professional chef on board, she will only cook with gas,

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Most high end (and not so high end) professional chefs have converted to induction cooking. Much more precise control.

FF said:

"Seems to me that properly vented propane or CNG would make a whole lot more sense."


Only if you leave the dock.

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If you already have a diesel propulsion engine, and a diesel generator, why add a second fuel? If you find that you have to run the generator to boil water as another poster suggested, perhaps a correctly sized battery bank and an electric kettle would be a better solution...

JustBob said:

What's wrong with an electric kettle that runs off the inverter? I use one at home so I don't have to mind my pot/kettle on my gas stove.

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I wish more people had them and used them. In most cruising waters, a decent DC system with a good alternator, a couple of solar panels, and a good inverter should pretty much eliminate the need for a genset entirely, other than AC. When looking for a trawler, I was surprised at the weakness of the DC charging systems in nearly every boat. Cruising sailboats are generally much better setup in this regard.

The boat I think I've bought has an electric stove, I'm considering the possibility of keeping it. It's not inductive though, are those (in practice) more energy efficient than a resistive stove? The boat doesn't have an inverter either, but that will be rectified immediately.

We have propane and would not change it, though if we had electric we would stick with that too. It is a propane stove and oven, and we do baking in the oven - works well!

The things we like about propane:

* Lasts a long time. We are away 6+ weeks with lots of cooking and baking on a single tank. (We have 3 on board so lots of backup)
* Same fuel as the BBQ, which we also use a lot
* No Genset at dinner or breakfast time. I find getsets at dinner time in quiet anchorages particularly experience-killing

And with proper installation, sniffers, and a good control system we have never felt worried.

I can understand why new big boats build with electric though. I expect it is a lot easier and works just fine once you get past the genset requirement.

caltexflanc said:

So no inverter on your boats? That'll run a microwave which heats water (as will an electric induction kettle) and cooks food just dandy.

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Electric skillet + microwave + induction kettle means we don't use the oven unless we have mulitple pans on the range top or the oven in use, which means we don't start the genset unless we use the 240 vac oven range top. Seems simple enough, and avoiding propane is a virtue, if only for convenience.

We looked at the Wallas diesel oven, but the Admiral thought the box too small.

I'm the odd man out, having no propane/LPG or generator.

I'm happy with my non pressurised alcohol stove, with a portable butane cartridge stove as a backup. If I did an upgrade, it would be to a diesel stove. An electric stove would be my last choice.

As we don't need air conditioning, we have no use for a generator or inverter. 12 volts and alcohol keeps us happy.

My boat came with an electric oven cook top. It was on the list of things to change when I started the refit. By the time I started the refit, I realized I didn't use either the cook top or the oven. In three years I've used the oven twice and never the cook top. I do use my propane grill almost every day.

As others have mentioned, I have a 900 amp battery bank and 3KW inverter which easily runs the microwave, coffee maker, Crock pot, or almost any other electric appliance.

My advice if buying a used boat, would be to keep an open mind and try adapting to what it comes with.

Ted

We have electric because we have no reason not to. We also have electric grills. We do have gas at home, natural gas, run through lines to our home, no tanks to fill or otherwise, as simple as electric. However, as we can't run such a line safely from shore to our boat in the ocean, we choose electric all the way. We don't carry propane on the boat.

Electric everything with propane BBQ. Works fine for us!

Art said:

Electric everything with propane BBQ. Works fine for us!

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Same with us