Low watt compact toaster?

icarus wrote: »

We've been perfecting the toaster off grid for years. (Coleman does make a LP powered toaster oven, sort of a small camping oven. It didn't work for toast at all, but probably would work OK as a small oven, but I don't think it would save any energy relative to a conventional insulatedgas oven).

So we have tried every kind of camping/non electric toaster option out there. Far and away,,FAR AND AWAY! the best toaster option we have found is a small camping catalytic heater. The problem is that most of the new ones are round and not very conducive to toast which is,,square. My neighbour (also off grid) has a Coleman Canada model that I have coveted for years. It is rectangular, ~8"X6" with a wire grill 1/2" above the catalyst mat. (Just the right size for 2 pieces of toast! These have not been made in a number of years so they are VERY hard to find. It took me 5 years of regular searching to find one on Ebay! It works great! Light it, it glows red in about a minute, drop the toast on, turn it after about a minute and it is the nicest golden brown you can every imagine!

Susan thinks I'm crazy the way I show my toaster off to folks who stop by, but I think it is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Previously I had made one out of a newer generation round Coleman heater, works, but not nearly as well.

So search Ebay every now and again, look for a small square catalytic. If you find one, you will probably have to bid against me!

Tony

Remember, the ahs you burn up in a toaster are ahs you have to replace. You could argue that you like toast so much that adding extra Pv capacity to make it is worth it. In my case, I use about $1 worth of propane per year for perfect toast. Gotta make a lot of toast to justify $3/watt Pv.

T