Microwave Power Consumption

[Midnightsun]

One tends to think a microwave uses little power. Here is a battery operated unit that puts it into perspective. It starts out by saying how it can heat up 11 lunches? Now this has a 40v 8ah portable tool battery (s) so that sounds pretty good right? Keep reading only to find out that on High output (500W) which is about 1/2 of your standard 120v unit sold today, it will only work for 4 minutes before the battery needs a recharge. If one looks at the video they show 2 batteries installed so I will assume that is with 2. A bag of microwave popcorn in a 500w micro takes 4 1/2-5 minutes so it won' be heating much popcorn unless you have spare batteries to pop in as they fail.

I guess those 11 lunches were donuts or something similar that requires very little warming up! Gotta love marketing.

Just something to think about when making the decision to run the micro for any extended period off the inverter or genny.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Makita-re ... 020.0.html

[pepmyster]

Yea, This is not for the construction worker for sure....probably better off with an Easy Bake Oven!!!!!!!
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/easy ... 7759p.html

[Viper]

I just want to know one thing, does the battery operated blower in the video come with it? For that price, it better! This is a novelty item at best, you just have to wonder how much R&D money they put into this thing that could have been better spent on something we could really use.

[km1125]

Funnier is the "USB recharging"!! For each time you'd use the microwave, it would take about 32 HOURS to recharge it!!

The devices really don't highlight the power that the microwave uses, but it does highlight the limited power that the current state-of-the-art batteries can hold.

I had long considered adding an inverter to the boat just for the microwave and a blender. If you were only using the two about 15 min/day that could be supported by a single 50AH battery.

[Midnightsun]

QR_BBPOST Funnier is the "USB recharging"!! For each time you'd use the microwave, it would take about 32 HOURS to recharge it!!

The devices really don't highlight the power that the microwave uses, but it does highlight the limited power that the current state-of-the-art batteries can hold.

I had long considered adding an inverter to the boat just for the microwave and a blender. If you were only using the two about 15 min/day that could be supported by a single 50AH battery.

That's what I did last year. A 2000w inverter for a single outlet in the galley where the coffee machine gets plugged into and the oh so necessary blender when needed or can be used for almost anything else that requires 120v since the outlet is conveniently located. There is a remote on/off switch just beside the outlet with a light showing the on/off status. Did it this way because an unused inverter on standby can consume quite a bit of juice.

My goal this year is to try to run everything else in my entertainment cubby off of 12vdc which now mostly uses a dedicated 400w inverter that is always on. This should clean up some wiring and power bars quite a bit.

[bud37]

Kinda like watching the EV commercial where they drive it up to the mountains in winter to skate on a frozen lake at night....they power up massive lighting with the vehicle.....HMMMMMM !!!

Oddly enough it never shows them arriving home again....

[Phrancus]

Well, that would be downhill.... in the next episode they drive home - only downhill, no other traffic and no potholes - and plug the car into the house system, and then all lights switch on in the whole house. Of course they live in a valley in a single house, no neighbours, no other lights anywhere. So the whole valley is lit up by their house, garden lights, driveway, road down the valley and the pool. Foggy above the heated pool naturally.

Funny how you mention the blender and microwave as essential. Here it's the coffeemachine first and second. Charging devices third. Cooking fourth, to get rid of the gas stove.

What may be of interest is the types and performances required for various machines. Sine, pure sine (why is there non-sine if sine is so much better), peak watts (advertised, huge numbers), not so peak watts (if that is what they deliver, how much do I need for what kind of consumption), remote on/off (is that really off?).

And then add the modern battery types that can be drained much further. And predictable so where is that smart monitoring that shows not just the current state but also a forecast at current consumption? plug all your stuff in and read off how long this is going to work. So also if you'll make it to the next shore power up or motoring stint. More smart: time till zero power if devices xyz on/off and so on.
Oh, add in the weather forecast and incoming solar power?
Man, we're just at the beginning of what is possible with modern technology.

Not that we need all that. Except for the coffee of course.