Custom Camp Kitchen in BED of R1T

[Pixelshot]

Here's an idea from Overland Expo West that I thought you all might appreciate (lots more to come!). Jarom shows off his custom kitchen in the bed, complete with water heater and slide-out fridge. Nice thing is that it's non-destructive, meaning that it just sits in the bed:

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[jjswan33]

I like the idea, cool design, considered building something similar but that build looks a little too permanent, I mean out on the road if you had a flat would be a pain, you'd probably have to dump the water tank.

Also if the cooktop is running you better make sure the water heater is off or you will easily exceed 1500W

 

[Inkedsphynx]

Agreed - using the bed this way is not ideal for access to the spare. I much prefer a solution in the gear tunnel, even if it's DIY, since that space is the less flexible of the two already and the spare access issue.

 

[Pixelshot]

I just love that there are people who are trying to re-think that space. I also think that having a spare tire swing on the back (instead of a bike rack) could make sense.

 

[DJG]

I like the idea, cool design, considered building something similar but that build looks a little too permanent, I mean out on the road if you had a flat would be a pain, you'd probably have to dump the water tank.

Also if the cooktop is running you betting make sure the water heater is off or you will easily exceed 1500W

If the water heater is on demand, wouldn't it not be drawing much/any power while cooking?

 

[Dark-Fx]

If the water heater is on demand, wouldn't it not be drawing much/any power while cooking?

It has a tank which it keeps hot all the time. It's on demand but not instant. 120v 12A isn't enough power for a reasonable stream of instant hot water, so you have to have a tank system.

 

[DJG]

It has a tank which it keeps hot all the time. It's on demand but not instant. 120v 12A isn't enough power for a reasonable stream of instant hot water, so you have to have a tank system.

Yeah, see that now, it uses the full 1500w to heat up the reservoir, and unknown amount to keep at temp. On demand options would be like 3000w+ it looks like. That would take some attentive sequencing in use to not overload the system with the inductive cooktop.

 

[jjswan33]

If the water heater is on demand, wouldn't it not be drawing much/any power while cooking?

As @Dark-Fx says available power is not possible with available power (without propane). That said its not impossible to manage a tank water heater. I had a similar setup in my camper van (2000W inverter) with a 3gal Bosch water heater (~1200W) and a multitude of kitchen appliances that would pull 1200-1500W. The good news is those water heaters work pretty quickly due to the small tank so I would cook dinner and then plug in the water heater while eating. When it was time to do the dishes the water is good.

So I was being a little cheeky with my power comment but he's got a lot in that setup running off the 1500W output.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Yeah, see that now, it uses the full 1500w to heat up the reservoir, and unknown amount to keep at temp. On demand options would be like 3000w+ it looks like. That would take some attentive sequencing in use to not overload the system with the inductive cooktop.

Yeah, I haven't decided if I'm going to put hot water in my kitchen build because of it. Sure would be nice to have a much bigger inverter for that kind of a thing.

 

[DJG]

As @Dark-Fx says available power is not possible with available power (without propane). That said its not impossible to manage a tank water heater. I had a similar setup in my camper van (2000W inverter) with a 3gal Bosch water heater (~1200W) and a multitude of kitchen appliances that would pull 1200-1500W. The good news is those water heaters work pretty quickly due to the small tank so I would cook dinner and then plug in the water heater while eating. When it was time to do the dishes the water is good.

So I was being a little cheeky with my power comment but he's got a lot in that setup running off the 1500W output.

Yeah, that unit is probably not the most efficient it sounds like. Any idea what the ongoing draw was to keep water in the tank hot in your Bosch?

 

[jjswan33]

Yeah, that unit is probably not the most efficient it sounds like. Any idea what the ongoing draw was to keep water in the tank hot in your Bosch?

I think it would just turn off completely and stay that way until the water dropped below some temperature then it would heat at 1200W again, so it would depend on the ambient temperature where the tank among other factors. In my experience with a 6kWh battery and a 2kW inverter it was fine but I didn't leave it on all the time but even when off the water would stay warm for some time.

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