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Producing hot water off-grid is a surprisingly energy-intensive activity, and although it looks simple on its surface it can get quite complicated especially when used in large scale for something like providing hot water for an entire home. When using combustion to heat the water there needs to be proper venting as well as control of the fuel, and even storage of the hot water needs to be meticulous to avoid certain pathogens. [Greenhill Forge] has built an off-grid solution for heating hot water that doesn’t necessarily rely on any combustion , though, provided he can find something to spin his custom electric machine.

The machine in question is, of course, an induction heater. It works similar to any simple electric motor, generator, or transformer except in this case the eddy currents generated are exploited rather than minimized. Normally these currents, generated when a magnet passes by a metal, are wasted heat in other machines but in this induction heater it’s the goal.…