Inverter Microwave

[tx2sturgis]

Has anyone else tried one of these?

I have had mine (a Panasonic) for about 6 years and it works well at the home, but haven't tried it on the road.

Inverter microwave ovens don't vary the power by cycling it on and off like most microwaves do, they actually adjust the power up or down in small steps. 

Of course, high power setting uses the maximum, but lower power settings pull less, although, obviously, cooking takes longer. 

Nice thing about these if you use one on (duh) a 12v to 120v inverter and powered by batteries, you can actually lower the (instantaneous) wattage consumed.

Mine is one of the smaller units, 0.8cf, 950 watts cooking power, about 1200 watts pulled from the wall outlet on high setting.

It will heat just fine on power level 5 (half) and only consumes about 820 watts (measured on a Kill-A-Watt) from the wall outlet at that power level.

Power level 3 consumes about 450 watts measured from the wall outlet.

They might be an option for those with decent-sized battery banks and inverters, and the room for a microwave.

Of course, you STILL need a good size solar array, or maybe a genset, to recover the power consumed.

 

[Moxadox]

Great tip, thanks! My Arctic Fox came with a giganto 1500w micro/convection unit that you could literally roast a turkey in. All I ever use it for is reheating my tea when the genny is on for some other reason! I'd love to swap it out for something more useful.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[Matlock]

Well, this is new to me. Maybe when my 800 watt'er quits I'll see what's out there.

I've been using my genset on propane to run the microwave a few times a day. I know, should skip the genny and use the Coleman stove but I can't get the cooked food smells out it my interior. For me, the Coleman is for outdoor cooking, otherwise crank up the genny and nuke it.

 

[blars]

I've heard that they don't mind modified sign wave inverters like most microwaves do.

 

[Weight]

I would think with the complicated electronics they would want more sine wave and less square wave inverters.
Less amps for longer cooking time or more amps for quicker time. Does the battery notice?
Cycling high off then on every 10 seconds for two minutes less amps than running set=5 for two minutes?
My 1000 watt, 1 cubic-foot microwave uses 150 amps on high from large bank and 2000w inverter.

 

[tx2sturgis]

All true of course, but maybe those with 1000 watt inverters and/or 1000 watt generators would benefit IF they were in the market for a microwave that is compatible with what they already have on board.

I'm not saying they are more efficient...just less power hungry as far as the other related components.

Possibly an option for some situations.