cooktopscook tops and which one i think you should install in your camper van
there are a few different choices when it comes to how to cook in your camper van or rv if you're
building one out the first is gonna be a propane cooktop which is what we went with another option
is to get a portable camping stove the same kind of camping stove that you would bring 10
camping the next type is an induction cooktop which run completely off electricity and can be
very expensive and a high power consumer so you're going to need a lot of battery power if you want
to go with an induction cooktop me and Cayleigh decide to go with a propane cook top for a few
reasons it can be a little more complicated to install but you don't require as much power which
is very expensive it is slightly more complicated to install and to use but it is very efficient and
we never have to worry about running out of power the cook top that we decide to go with is made
by Ramblewood and they make both natural gas and liquid propane cooktops me and Cayleigh first of
all turn off our propane whenever we are not using the cook top secondly we always make sure that we
have ventilation when we're cooking so we usually open the window that is located on the side of
our van and also turn on our max air roof vent to make sure that air is constantly being circulated
the model number for our cooktop just so you know exactly which one it is is GC2-37P this
one made by Ramblewood doesn't actually require an electrical connection it actually ignites off a
battery just a 1.5 volt battery located underneath that's easy to access and also easy to change out
if it ever dies ours hasn't actually yet we've been running this thing for about a year and a
half it's performed awesome and it's super easy to ignite the cooktop also comes with
a safety device with a thermocouple and flame out failure detection trigger mechanism it also has an
auto shut off gas supply so if anything ever goes wrong the stove will automatically shut itself off
it's obviously stainless steel too which makes it super easy to clean and it's very efficient we
installed a 10 pound propane tank and we haven't even had to refill it yet we've been using this
thing like every weekend for the last year and a half and it is extremely efficient i don't even
have to worry about running out and if we do it's easy to just take into a gas station and get the
propane refilled so when it comes to installing a stove top you want to make sure that the propane
tank is as close as possible to the cooktop so you don't have to run a long length of hose i think
it's a good idea because if you're always shutting your propane off after using your stove it does
tend to dissipate after time and every time you want to go use the stove again you turn on your
propane tank and it takes a little while for the gas to circulate through the hose to the stove the
hardest and most time consuming part of installing your cooktop is going to be making your vented
propane cabinet so you want to make sure that your cabinet is vented on the bottom because propane is
heavier than air and it will sink to the bottom so if there is a leak or your propane tank fails
the propane will escape and sink out of the bottom of the cabinet and outside of the van when i first
installed this cooktop i put a 20 pound propane tank cabinet in the back of our van underneath the
bed but that was really hard to access and since we want to turn off the propane every time we use
the cooktop that required me to go outside around the van open the back doors crawl underneath the
bed turn the propane on use the cooktop and then go back out and turn it off huge pain in the ears
to access so i ended up purchasing a 10 pound tank and installing it underneath our sink so now it's
really easy to access and turn on and off when we need to let me show you the cabinet this is
underneath our sink we have our garbage right here our block that covers the sink of course
and this is the cabinet
and there is the tank right there so obviously you can see i have a sealed
gasket right here the hose then runs up and connects to the propane tank
so this setup has worked really well it's very easy to access
you can also see that i have sealed the outside you don't have to worry about any gas leaking out
it is also magnetized closed and this has never opened so the magnets are very strong on this door
and then you can see in the back of the cabinet there i have the vent which is a three-quarter
inch pipe uh larger than i needed to install but i wanted to be sure it is also sealed
with a sealant around the outside and that goes straight out to the bottom of the van
the most important reason that you need a vented cabinet is because when you're changing elevations
like driving into the mountains your propane is going to expand inside the tank and it needs
to be able to vent so you need to have a large vent i would recommend a three-quarter inch pipe
out the bottom of your tank and going straight down outside your van you saw the vented cabinet
and you can obviously see that my hose runs straight down and then underneath the cabinets
and then up to the back behind these guys and another reason why i really like this stove
is because we were actually able to fit a lot of stuff underneath so it doesn't take up that much
room and it is super thin obviously you can see um at the corner of this drawer i did have to cut out
a bit of a square and that is so the propane pipe can actually fit down in the back it was
fairly easy to do and it just makes so there is absolutely no rubbing on the hose in the back
let me pop these drawers out and show you what's behind all the drawers are out and
you can see that the hose runs up the back there and then right in to the stove there
let me get a little more light yeah like check out how thin this is it is just like right there
there so thin barely takes up any space this is my connection at the base here you do need a
special brass fitting underneath there and i will link everything in the description below for you
to check out when you're installing this stove or any other propane stove be sure to always use gas
rated teflon tape that is the yellow tape that i have installed and it is specifically designed for
propane and gas also get a spray bottle fill it with some soap and water and spray the connections
and check after you've made them and tighten them down that way you'll be able to see any leaks that
are coming out cutting out the countertop was very easy for this stove it actually comes with
a template that you can use and all you have to do is lay it out and then mark it around and cut
it out the only regret that i have when it comes to installing this stove is i wish i would have
installed it a little closer to this edge just because the heat off the back comes up the back
here and underneath and sometimes since this is just a stick on tile this can warm up quite a
bit that is actually why we have this so this is just basically a stainless steel stand that we put
on the back there and that helps reflect the heat that 1.5 volt battery right there too that comes
with the stove i've heard some people complain about the noise the stove can make while driving
down the road some of the components can rattle around and be a little bit noisy but we haven't
experienced that at all with this stove it is very basic and easy to assemble and super easy to clean
the knobs even come off easily so you can get underneath them to clean them
all you have to do to light it is push down and you can hear it the ignition go and then that's
it it is lit having those ikea cabinets too just super easy i can just basically pop them out
access anything i need to underneath the stove put them back in if you guys want to see more about
our van build be sure to check out our van tour if you have any questions feel free to leave them
in the comments below and i will answer them as soon as i can if you found this video helpful be
sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel and i will see you guys in the next one