Nick Thomas Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 Let's say that this is a graph of my oven's power consumption: (I think it is, but I've not had it on for a few days so had to go trawling through history to find an illustrative pattern) In the spiky section, power usage averages ~1.5kW, but it's composed of lots of on-off peaks to ~2kW. What i'm looking for is an oven that, instead of pulsing 100% power into its element around a thermostat, will hold it at 75% (or 50%, or whatever) to maintain a constant temperature. The same number of kWh are consumed either way, but when my solar array is generating, I'll be more likely to be able to avoid importing power if the peak is lower. I tried searching, but I was really struggling with search terms ^^. "Smart oven" doesn't really get you into the right space. I love cooking, but I'm really starting to resent my oven ^^. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 7 minutes ago, Nick Thomas said: What i'm looking for is an oven that, instead of pulsing 100% power into its element around a thermostat, will hold it at 75% (or 50%, or whatever) to maintain a constant temperature. Not sure it makes a material difference, does not matter if a 2 kW element is on at half power [1kW] for ten minutes, or is on for 30 seconds and then off for 30 seconds, over ten minute, the mean will be 1 kW. I have found many things cook just as well from a cold oven for a slightly longer time, and a pre-heated oven for the recommended time. It is also worth experimenting with microwaving, convection, fan and grilling. What commercial kitchens do. It is why we can dish out slow cooked, pulled port in a few minutes. Many things can be cooked in one pan, then finished off under a grill. I have two pans at home, and usually only use one. Cooking starts in the shop, that is where the savings are to be made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thomas Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 The difference is in the maximum power drawn at any one moment. If my panels are generating 1.5kW and the oven is using 1.5kW, all is hunky dory. If the oven is pulsing 2kW, I grab 0.5kW from the grid for the duration of those pulses. It all adds up ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted October 21, 2022 Share Posted October 21, 2022 2 minutes ago, Nick Thomas said: The difference is in the maximum power drawn at any one moment. If my panels are generating 1.5kW and the oven is using 1.5kW, all is hunky dory. If the oven is pulsing 2kW, I grab 0.5kW from the grid for the duration of those pulses. It all adds up ^^ Ah, right, then yes, I see why you may want a smaller load. Get a Baby Belling. Though I think they may have 2.5 kW ovens these days. Just turned my Panasonic Genius on and it pulls about 1.25 kW. And has a microwave and grill in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billt Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Yes, get one of these air fryer/mini ovens that the save energy pundits are hyping at the moment. Spend £100 to save 10p. I'm pretty sure that all ovens will use on/off switching. It's cheap, reliable and there isn't a rational case for using complex electronic control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miek Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 Your after a modulating element not a switching one. Gas ovens are modulating but I've never seen an electric one which does this. Your best chance of reducing total energy usage might be getting a smaller oven/Air fryer. I once insulated my old gas oven with rockwool to try and reduce gas usage, but I don't think it made much difference, as gas ovens have holes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thomas Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 Yeah, I'm starting to conclude the same - they just don't exist. My searches have thrown up *patents* for the idea, but no products. "Modulating oven" as a term got me to https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/12666/do-all-modern-electric-stoves-have-binary-heating-elements - which has a bit more detail. Grumble grumble. I already have an air fryer, which is fine, but I'm sure it does the same thing - so you just wind up having the same discussion with a smaller number for the peak. Since I'm cooking for three, the smaller cooking area tends to result in it being more economic to use the big oven anyway 🤷♂️. The iBoost can do this for the immersion heater, which is the same kind of element, so it can't be *that* hard. He says, with no relevant electronics background whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Oven usually have more than one element, can you put one on an external switch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miek Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Finding a lower power element might be possible, but it will make heat up time longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 Does anyone have experience of one of the Bosch "Built-in microwave oven with hot air". Does the hot air make a difference eg does it do air frying? eg https://www.bosch-home.co.uk/product-list/CMA585GS0B#/Tabs=section-technical-overview/ Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2D2 Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 25 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: Does anyone have experience of one of the Bosch "Built-in microwave oven with hot air". Does the hot air make a difference eg does it do air frying? eg https://www.bosch-home.co.uk/product-list/CMA585GS0B#/Tabs=section-technical-overview/ Ferdinand Strange that air fryers are so popular this is how things are branded now - as far as I can tell it's just a fan oven/microwave combi. I have an AEG one, works well as a microwave or a fan oven. It can do both at the same time but we never do, microwave hot spots aren't helpful for a dish that calls for oven cooking in my experience, though I haven't experimented much. If you cook a lot of jacket potatoes then maybe. I got it to avoid having a microwave on the worktop and to act as a second oven when required, which it does well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 On 22/10/2022 at 09:18, billt said: I'm pretty sure that all ovens will use on/off switching. It's cheap, reliable and there isn't a rational case for using complex electronic control. That sounds like an argument for *precisely* why they will use complex electronic control. :🙂 Quote eg https://www.bosch-home.co.uk/product-list/CMA585GS0B#/Tabs=section-technical-overview/ Now having read the spec, the max power usage of this Combi Microwave is listed as 3.25 kW, which is a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Thomas Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) Yeah, here's the air fryer at work on some reasonable-ish fried chicken: It turned on at ~11:35; consumption and generation are coupled before then due to the PV diverter. So it does manage to keep its peak (mostly) below a good sunny autumn day's generation, but those final ten minutes are infuriating ^^. Interesting that the diverter seems to have given up; I guess it doesn't like that pattern either. edit: It started diverting again ~35 minutes after the on/off pattern ended. Call it ~0.75kWh exported for free (I don't have my export tariff sorted out yet) when it could have gone into my hot water instead. Grumble grumble. Edited October 25, 2022 by Nick Thomas add details about solic coming back online Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) On 21/10/2022 at 22:08, Nick Thomas said: Let's say that this is a graph of my oven's power consumption: (I think it is, but I've not had it on for a few days so had to go trawling through history to find an illustrative pattern) In the spiky section, power usage averages ~1.5kW, but it's composed of lots of on-off peaks to ~2kW. What i'm looking for is an oven that, instead of pulsing 100% power into its element around a thermostat, will hold it at 75% (or 50%, or whatever) to maintain a constant temperature. The same number of kWh are consumed either way, but when my solar array is generating, I'll be more likely to be able to avoid importing power if the peak is lower. I tried searching, but I was really struggling with search terms ^^. "Smart oven" doesn't really get you into the right space. I love cooking, but I'm really starting to resent my oven ^^. checking various items we have we found that, yes, the oven on/off on/off along with Air fryer, induction hob, slow cooker, and so on. we live in the world of fast and furious, however, we need a low n slow to get the most out of the PV However on a cloudy day (lots of those) the PV output also jumps about and so to protect the EV charger I have a delayed off relay. The other big thing for us is the ASHP, which also does the on/off on/off. Although this is normal cycling for an ASHP tricky to use the excess PV power unless on a heating element. Edited October 25, 2022 by Marvin clarification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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