Installing a Campervan Induction Hob: Does it Make Sense? Our 2026 Guide
- Chris Wallace-Tarry
- Mar 20
- 12 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Induction hobs have surged in popularity in domestic kitchens due to their instant heat output and fast cooking times. Consequently, we've also seen a rise in campervan induction hob installations. Indeed, the electrical system in the van Shane and I are working on is built around a campervan induction hob. The deciding factor in whether an induction hob is right for your van build is its electricity usage. In this article, we'll take a look at the benefits of installing an induction hob for campervan kitchens, their electricity usage, and how to design an electrical system around one.
Shane is an NCC-certified electrical installer. He has built, taught, and lived in campervans since 2019.
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In this guide
What are the Advantages of a Campervan Induction Hob?
Induction hobs are rightly popular in home installations as alternatives to traditional ceramic electric hobs. However, traditional electric hobs have never been common in campervans, with gas hobs being more or less standard. The relevant comparison is therefore to compare induction hob vs. gas hob installations.
Instant Heat and Cooking Time
Induction is the fastest and most efficient cooking mode, which explains its popularity in modern kitchens. An induction hob doesn't actually heat the pan directly. Instead, it uses electromagnets to generate electrical currents in the pan's metal. Electricity flowing through metal generates heat (which is why incandescent light bulbs get hot as well as bright), and so this induced electrical current in the pan causes it to heat up. This is in contrast to a ceramic or gas hob, where a heating element or a flame produces heat, which radiates into the air below the cooking pot. A large proportion of this heat is lost to the air (which is why you can feel heat in the air around your cooking pot as well as in the pot itself). Thus, an induction hob produces heat that's both instant and more efficient than other types of heating.
This instant, efficient heat translates to very quick cooking times. The data varies, but many sources agree that an induction hob will boil a pot of water twice as quickly as a gas hob [1], [2], [3]. It's undeniably convenient, and noticeably reduces the time it takes to cook your meals.
Gas-free Installation
With the rise of affordable lithium leisure batteries, many van builders are switching to entirely electric, gas-free van builds. With diesel air heaters still being the most sensible heating solution for most people, and 100% electric water heaters becoming more efficient, the hob in the kitchen is often the only remaining appliance that would run on gas. Considering the disadvantages of campervan gas installations, the idea of implementing one specifically for cooking is understandably frustrating.
Gas is highly flammable and toxic, so many people are nervous about the installation. Professional installations which give peace of mind are expensive.
Because of these safety issues, campervan gas installations must adhere to a whole list of highly specific regulations in order to pass inspection (as detailed in our article on campervan gas systems). These regulations make installation complicated and easy to get wrong, again driving many people to pay for expensive professional installations.
The idea of having open flames inside a campervan makes some people nervous.
Burning gas produces water vapour as a by-product, which adds to the moisture load in a campervan and must be managed to avoid rust, mold, and water damage.
Gas tanks must be refilled, which costs money and necessitates finding somewhere you can refill your canister or buy a full one.
Whilst burning gas produces less carbon dioxide that petrol, diesel, oil, or coal, it's still a fossil fuel. Burning it does produce greenhouse gases, and buying it supports the global fossil fuel industry. Some vanlifers would prefer to cook their food using green electricity from their solar panels.
If you're already happy with an air heater that uses diesel from the van's fuel tank and an electric water heater, these disadvantages to gas might make an induction hob very attractive. An induction hob camper kitchen is gas-free, simplifying your build by removing the need to install a gas system. When Shane decided to go with an induction hob, it was mainly because he wanted to avoid the added complexity, time cost, and space usage of a gas system installation.
Campervan Induction Hob Electricity Usage
If you do want to install a campervan induction hob, you'll have to design your electrical system around it. In Shane's new van, we're installing a 600Ah lithium battery bank supported by 555W of solar capacity on a tilting rack. This large electrical system is neccessitated first and foremost by the induction hob and the fact that Shane will be living in his van through winter. Let's take a look at the calculations that went into speccing this electrical system.
Are Induction Hobs Energy Efficient?
Before going any further, let's quickly take a look at how induction hobs compare to traditional electric hobs. As we mentioned earlier, inefficiency in traditional electric hobs comes from the fact that heat has to transfer from the hot plate through a small air gap and into the metal pot. This conductive heating is much less efficient than induction heating, where heat is induced in the cooking pot directly via a magnetic field. This means that electric hobs use more electricity over a longer period than an induction hob.
Defy, a manufacturer of induction and traditional electric hobs, quantify the efficiency gap. They measured the energy usage and time taken for a solid plate electric hob, a ceramic electric hob, and an induction hob to boil one litre of water. They found that a solid plate hob used 0.2kWh over 10 minutes, whilst a ceramic hob used 0.1717kWh over 7 minutes. In stark contrast to both of these, an induction hob used only 0.1157kWh over just under 5 minutes. This represents 32.5% less electricity than a ceramic hob and 42.1% less than a solid plate hob [4]. Another source suggests that an induction hob will cost 16% less in electricity bills than a ceramic hob if run for the same amount of time, but notes that an induction hob does the same cooking in half the time (4 minutes to boil a litre of water compared to 8 minutes for a ceramic hob). [5].
How Much Electricity does an Induction Hob Use?
Let's take a practical look at how much electricity induction hobs actually use. These numbers will necessarily be estimates, as we'll be making assumptions. We're going to assume that all cooking will be on medium heat (averaging out some cooking on high heat and some on low heat). We'll assume that a hob will be used three times a day; this might not always be the case, but as long as you want the option of using your hob in this way, you need to spec your electrical system to accommodate it.
Portable Induction Hob Electricity Usage
We'll use Sterling's series of campervan induction hobs to do our calculations, as they're typical examples of high-quality, energy-efficient induction hobs designed specifically for campervans. Sterling's portable induction hob is a single-ring model, and uses 953W on a medium setting [6].
Breakfast: boiling water for tea/coffee (2mins) and cooking eggs/porridge (5mins)
Lunch: cooking pasta (12mins) and sauce (15mins)
Dinner: cooking a stir fry (20mins) and rice (15mins)
Total daily use = 69 minutes (1.15 hours)
Portable induction hob power: 953W
Inverter efficiency = 90%
Total power used = 953 + 10% = 1048.3W
Total daily electricy usage = 1048.3W over 1.15 hours = 1206Wh
1206Wh = 100.5Ah
We'll take a look at what this means for your battery banks in the next section.
Single-ring Campervan Induction Hob Electricity Usage
Again, we'll take a look at Sterling's induction hobs to get figures for electricity usage. Sterling offer both a standard single-ring hob (the IH2) and a low wattage induction hob for campervan kitchens (the IH2L). We'll take a look at the low-wattage model here, which uses 700W on a medium setting [7].
Total daily use = 69 minutes (1.15 hours)
Low-wattage induction hob power = 700W
Inverter efficiency = 90%
Total power used = 770W
Total daily electricity usage = 770W over 1.15 hours = 885.5Wh
885.5Wh = 74Ah
Dual-ring Campervan Induction Hob Electricity Usage
Sterling's dual-ring campervan induction hob uses just under 1,500W per ring at maximum power, giving a maximum possible draw of 2,800W. Interestingly, each ring uses the same as the portable induction hob; 953W on medium power [8]. Therefore, the dual-ring hob actually has the same power draw as the portable hob; instead of using one hob for 15 minutes and then 20 minutes, both hobs will be on at the same time. The only thing that changes is total cooking time.
Total daily electricity usage = 100.5Ah
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Can You Power a Campervan Induction Hob from Leisure Batteries?
Now that we have our estimated induction hob electricity usage, we can spec an electrical system that will support it.
Powering a Low-wattage, Single-ring Induction Hob
Let's take a look at the high-efficiency, single-ring campervan induction hob first. We estimated a daily usage of 74Ah for that hob.
That 74Ah daily usage is by far the biggest drain on your batteries. The next most-consuming appliance (assuming no other high-wattage appliances are present) is the fridge, which runs 24/7 and uses about 40Ah per day. Using our energy consumption calculator to add some other devices in, we're looking at an electricity usage of about 190Ah per day. The induction hob takes up more than a third of this.
For off-grid use, we want to give ourselves the possibility of going two days in a row with essentially no charging, representing two days of no driving and little sun. This means we need our battery bank to support 380Ah of electricity usage. Assuming lithium leisure batteries with 80% usable capacity, we'd want a battery bank with a total stated capacity of 456Ah. This on the bigger side, but manageable. You'd be happy with about 500W of solar power in this case, and a medium-sized DC-DC charger to support it. Take a look at our battery sizing calculator and our solar panel calculator to experiment with these specs yourself.
Powering a Dual-ring Induction Hob
For most people, a single ring doesn't cut it. We almost invariably want a minimum of two rings, so that we can cook carbs and a sauce at the same time. Therefore, most realistic installations will use a higher-power campervan induction hob.
The two-ring hob we looked at earlier used roughly 100.5Ah every day. Adding this to our other devices, we're looking at a daily electricity usage of around 220Ah. Accounting for two no-charge off-grid days and 80% usable battery capacity, we're looking at a 528Ah battery bank. This matches the 600Ah bank we're putting in Shane's new van to support his dual-ring induction hob (Shane will be running additional devices like a coffee grinder and occasionally an air fryer). We're supporting this bank with 555W of solar (mounted on a tilting rack to maximise efficiency in winter) and a 50A DC-DC charger.
This is undeniably a high-capacity electrical system, but we can see that it's still reasonable to run a campervan induction hob off-grid. When speccing your system, be realistic about your usage, and round up rather than down every step of the way. Use our energy consumption calculator, battery size calculator, and solar panel calculator to easily do these calculations accurately.
What Inverter do you Need to Power a Campervan Induction Hob?
It should be noted that it's not only your leisure batteries that need to match your induction hob's power consumption. 12V induction hobs don't exist, so you'll be running yours from an inverter. Your inverter's rated output must therefore be enough to support the induction hob's power draw.
Looking at the dual-ring induction hob we've been speccing for, we can see (according to the datasheet) that it pulls 2,800W when both rings are running at full power. To give ourselves a bit of headroom and avoid tripping the inverter's overcurrent protection, we'd want an inverter that can supply at least 3,000W. Shane and I have designed his system with a 3,000W Victron MultiPlus built-in, which will handle both inverter and shore power duties. Bear in mind that when running a 2,800W induction hob from a 3,000W inverter, there's pretty much no room for any additional mains devices to be running at the same time. Use our inverter sizing calculator when speccing your inverter to ensure you choose one that's big enough.
It's important to take note of the inrush behaviour of any induction hob you consider buying. Many high-wattage appliances experience an initial 'surge' as they power up; this is called the 'inrush'. If your induction hob has a stated maximum draw of 2,800W but an inrush of 3,200W, it'll trip your inverter. If you can, seek out an induction hob that doesn't experience inrush behaviour, instead smoothly ramping up its current draw as it powers on.
If you'll be permanently wiring your inductoin hob to your inverter, you'll need to do so via a consumer unit. Take a look at the below wiring diagram for an idea of what this looks like:
The Best Campervan Induction Hobs
We'll focus on three campervan induction hob manufacturers here. All three make induction hobs specifically for campervan installation and have a proven track record for quality and support. Dometic are a longtime manufacturer of campervan electrics with a great reputation. Their one- and two-ring hobs are stylish, efficient, and easy to install. We like Sterling's clear documentation and comprehensive installation instructions, which make it easy to choose an appliance that works within your system. We've also included a Tefal portable hob for its compact size and packability.
Dometic Campervan Induction Hobs
Dometic's one- and two-ring indudction hobs are perfect for campervan kitchens. They're compact, look great, and combine with other Dometic kitchen fixtures as a modular system.
Dometic's hobs have 9 separate heat settings, which is more than what you get with most models. This means that despite their relatively high maximum power draw (2,300W for both the one-ring and two-ring models, it's easy to run them on a lower setting to save power.
Sterling Campervan Induction Hobs
Sterling offer a range of induction hobs, including highly efficient, low-wattage options. These are a great choice for smaller electrical systems and winter use.
Sterling also offer a nifty portable hob; perfect for intermittent use in kitchens with limited space.
Tefal Portable Induction Hob
Not necessarily designed specifically for campervans, this model is nonetheless worth a look.
Tefal are an established and well-regarded kitchenware brand, and this option is priced so reasonably that it's perfect for weekend campers and anyone who wants to give induction a go before committing to a more dedicated setup.
Final Thoughts
Despite its high power draw, a campervan induction hob is a reasonable appliance to have in your van, even if you live off-grid. As with any other high-wattage appliance, you'll need to carefully spec it against your electrical system and be mindful of how much you use it. You'll need a powerful inverter and sufficient battery and solar capacity to back it up. In the end, a campervan induction hob won't make sense unless you're happy to build an expensive high-capacity electrical system specifically in order to run it. If you're prepared to do this, you'll enjoy the convenience of fast cooking whilst avoiding the extra complication that comes with installing a gas system in your van.
Make sure you use our handy calculators for figuring out how your campervan induction hob adds to your power consumption, and how big a battery and solar array you'll need to support it. For another vanlife kitchen solution, check out our article on air fryers.
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Until next time.
