Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
David Baillie wrote:what is the end goal?
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
David Baillie wrote:Interesting. A 12 volt immersion heater works great. Usually about 10 amps at 12 volts. I have one for the car its great for tea reheating. the problem with the low wattage of something like a soldering iron is you have to overcome the "resistance" and losses to the vessel for longer so its overall efficiency goes down. Yes its instantaneous draw is higher but it wins in the end. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Zerodis-Immersion-Electric-Heaters-Camping/dp/B07DNZWBM7/ref=sr_1_4?crid=37UXC409FQ2JX&keywords=12+volt+immersion+heater+for+water&qid=1568205308&s=gateway&sprefix=12+volt+imm%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-4
Cheers, David
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Chris Kott wrote:I would be astonished if anything with so much conversion loss could beat out a properly designed solar cooker. Granted, you might, in higher latitudes, need to use solar power stored over a much longer period of time, when it would perhaps be difficult to get a solar cooker up to temperature.
If the 12v immersion heater didn't work out, I would look to the immersion heaters being touted for home sous-vide cooking. Granted, those usually include some kind of circulation impeller to make sure you don't get cold or hot spots in the water, but there you have a method of cooking that is designed for low temperatures. Perhaps that would tilt the scales.
Not to discourage, but is this practical? I mean, if the sun is strong enough where you are, you should be able to use a solar cooker, or generate enough electricity through solar that an induction hotplate would be easy to operate. If the sun isn't strong enough, doesn't that mean that you're cold, and that added heat is a boon?
What's wrong with a tiny, efficient, flame? The barrel of the smallest diameter rocketstove that you could design and construct would make an excellent hotplate, and if it's built to burn efficiently enough, there would be no waste, and little to no exhaust, a definite step-up from situations around the world where an open pit flame is the normal method of cooking.
-CK
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
OK, Why not make a separate heating container for cloudy days? You can find a double walled thermos bottle at any thrift store for pennies; Usually stainless but maybe the old school glass ones (for extra coolness points it would have to have that rocking 70's plaid pattern). You know the double walled stainless could take the heat. I fully respect a person's desire to tinker of course.Mart Hale wrote:
David Baillie wrote:Interesting. A 12 volt immersion heater works great. Usually about 10 amps at 12 volts. I have one for the car its great for tea reheating. the problem with the low wattage of something like a soldering iron is you have to overcome the "resistance" and losses to the vessel for longer so its overall efficiency goes down. Yes its instantaneous draw is higher but it wins in the end. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Zerodis-Immersion-Electric-Heaters-Camping/dp/B07DNZWBM7/ref=sr_1_4?crid=37UXC409FQ2JX&keywords=12+volt+immersion+heater+for+water&qid=1568205308&s=gateway&sprefix=12+volt+imm%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-4
Cheers, David
Thanks David...
That is a good suggestion. It is a balancing act as you do want to get the job done and an immersion heater works fast. On the other hand, the place I am putting it is inside a glass vacuum tube... ( I don't want to create a sudden temp change and destroy the glass).. But I could put the immersion inside copper tube so it would diffuse the heat...
I was able with time to raise the temp up of the 1/2 cup of water to 144 degrees. with 29 Watts of input. If I get another $5.00 (shipped ) soldering iron that would push the temp up over 160 degrees and I would be cooking.... at the cost of total 60 watts of energy.
I am considering getting two sodering irons, and taking them apart and fitting them deep inside the tube with silicon wire which can take the high temps..
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Josh Garbo wrote:very interesting - cooking with insulation and 120 watts. implies that most heat used for cooking is basically wasted out the oven door or wood stove top. so you could presumably easily run an insulated oven with a 300W solar panel (direct DC heat resistance) for several hours, given a few hours of sun.
separate question, has anyone run a parabolic solar heater on to some kind of vacuum insulated container like this below? you would have to paint it black of course. I believe radiation heating goes through a vacuum, which is what allows the GoSun solar cookers to be so effective.
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/thunder-group-sej73000-60-cup-wood-grain-insulated-sushi-rice-pot/407SEJ73000.html
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Josh Garbo wrote:I was thinking more about running a relatively large DC water heater (200 -300W) element inside a fairly large wooden oven (lined with tinfoil big enough for a big roasting pan, maybe 3 cubic ft) and line that whole assembly with 2-4 inches of poly-iso foam with a lid. The goal would be to get it to baking temps for breads, etc, but could also be used as a slow cooker for meats/veggies if the temps did not make it that high. You could also let it sit for a while to cook longer.
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
What we think, we become. - Buddha / tiny ad
Switching from electric heat to a rocket mass heater reduces your carbon footprint as much as parking 7 cars
http://woodheat.net
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