Please, if you are a host make sure to leave the sitter either a manual, or instructions on how to turn on and use an induction hob. I’m in an Airbnb right now, but this has also happened on sits. The owner has left no instructions and I’ve been wrestling with the hob trying to use it to cook with. I feel like there may be a secret camera somewhere filming me and I’ll be outed on some obscure TV show, or YouTube. I’ve been pressing buttons on their own, in combination and different sequences. I need Dan Brown’s character Robert Langdon to crack the secret code. I’ve searched online for the manual and tried the instructions I found, but to no avail. When I contacted the host they just said “what! It’s easy to use” and no more.
Does it have a child lock on? One I tried to use did and had to google how to take it off. Also some hobs only work with certain pans. One would not woprk with a very small frying pan which was very prominant in the pan drawer. It worked perfectly fine with others further down the pile though. I have definietly had some really complicated ones, including one with a magnetic wheel that went spinning across the kitchen floor. Good luck.
The only thing I know about induction hobs is that it doesn’t heat up unless the pan is actually on it and the moment you remove the pan it goes off. Don’t know if that helps you.
I stayed once in a place with an induction burner. The cheats we came up with to make it work!! In order to make coffee, we had to put the (non-electric) coffee pot in a saucepan filled with water or the element would not heat.
Can you send the Airbnb host a quick questions about it?
“Well I cant get it to work, so please explain more thank you.”
My suggestion - check it’s turned on at the socket. I leave my hob turned off as I often use it as extra work space (or wrapping Christmas presents…) and obviously dont want to be cooked whilst I work/wrap.
The host’s response is not acceptable. Ask her point blank to text instructions for getting the oven or burner to turn on. I recently did a paid sit where the stove top will not turn on if there is a pot on it or shuts off if pot is removed. It’s for safety for kids not burning their fingers. I turned it on and nothing. I contacted the host and they said pot or pan must be on burner before it will turn on. So many different models today and with technology you never know what you are walking into. Please mark down for hospitality if she does not respond appropriately.
That’s a very good point, thank you for suggesting it. The apartment I’m in is one of six in the block. They’re holiday lets and one other is occupied. It will be a challenge trying to explain the issue in another language, even one that I have some familiarity with.
I once had a similar challenge with a weird corkscrew in an Air BnB. Could not for the life of me figure out how it worked, and by the time I was sitting at the bottom of the stairs with the bottle of wine clenched between my feet trying to operate the damn thing, I decided that there must be hidden cameras with the owners having a laugh at my expense!
Re the induction hob, a breakthrough moment for me came when I realised that you have to touch the buttons very lightly, rather than jabbing them repeatedly whilst swearing profusely.
I had that issue one time and I found the instructions online, tried everything and finally had to contact the HO. Turns out the pan I was trying to use was not compatible with the hob.
The ring only heats up if it’s completely covered by the correct size of saucepan. This means a small pan on a large ring covering only 80% of the area won’t heat up at all despite being ON.
In order to make coffee, we had to put the (non-electric) coffee pot in a saucepan filled with water or the element would not heat.