On this page, you will find out how many watts a microwave draws.
My partner and I have regularly discussed investing in a microwave. We’ve spent plenty of time looking at the pros and cons. The amazing thing we found is how efficient they are at cooking. They use far less energy than large appliances like electric ovens and they get the job done much quicker.
Below we will discuss and test microwave wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Microwave?
The average microwave uses between 700 and 1200 watts.
The exact number depends on the size and model of your microwave. You will see that a microwave size is measured by its internal volume. The bigger the volume the more power it uses to heat food.
For example, a 0.7 cubic feet (Cu/Ft) draws 700W, while a big 2.2 Cu/Ft microwave uses 1200W.
That’s a big difference. In fact, a big microwave will use 70% more power!
How to Find Out Your Microwave Wattage
There’s 3 ways you can work out the wattage of a microwave.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the microwave’s specification. The watts (W) is usually written on a sticker on the base of the appliance. If not, you can check the user manual or the manufacturer’s website for technical details.
- Use a Wattmeter
A wattmeter is brilliant for getting a live wattage reading and tracking total energy usage of any appliance. You can simply plug it into your microwave to get instant information.
I used one to test my microwave which gave a live reading of 732.2W when reheating soup.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your microwave you can use this to find the running watts. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
Microwave Wattage Examples
Let’s take a look at specific examples of how many watts a microwave draws. Below is a collection of modern microwaves with their listed power ratings.
| Microwave Model | Power Rating (Watts) |
| Farberware Classic | 700 |
| COMFEE’ Countertop | 700 |
| SHARP Black Carousel | 1000 |
| Amazon Basics | 700 |
| Panasonic NN-SN966S | 1250 |
| Toshiba EM925A5A-BS | 900 |
| Galanz ExpressWave | 1250 |
| Frigidaire 30 Inch | 1000 |
| Farberware Professional | 1100 |
As you can see, the power ratings vary between different microwaves. So you should take the time to check your own appliance.
How Much Electricity Does a Microwave Use?
You can use microwave wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your microwave.
A watt (W) is a measurement of power at a single point in time. A watt-hour is the total amount of electricity used in an hour. For example, a microwave drawing 700W would use 700Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 700W microwave running for 1 hour uses 0.7kWh.
In reality, you use a microwave for upto 10 minutes a day. This means a microwave uses about 116Wh or 0.116kWh electricity a day. That’s 3.49kWh a month and 42.34kWh a year.
That’s an electricity cost of around $0.017 per day or $6.35 a year to defrost, heat up, and cook your food.
Using a Microwave Off-Grid
If you’re planning to use your microwave in an off-grid situation like a power outage, RV, boat, truck, or similar, the information above is important. It allows you to pick the correct power products and know how long they can run.
You can either use a power inverter, portable power station, or generator to generate electricity.
To make sure everything runs smoothly you should check two things on this equipment – wattage capacity and total energy capacity.
Your power source, like an inverter, should have a wattage capacity of at least 20% more than your microwave. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient. Cook in a microwave, you will need at least 1200W – 1500W of power capacity.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the microwave for the required amount of time. It will use about 58Wh electricity for 5 minutes usage. This is the equivalent of 4.8Ah on a 12V battery.
This makes it an efficient way to cook or heat up food from a battery. Just ensure you are using a small lower powered microwave to conserve energy. Plus you can further reduce electricity usage by allowing frozen items to defrost in the fridge. This saves using the microwave and keeps refrigerator temperatures low.
How Many Watts Does a Microwave Use Summary
I hope you now have a clear understanding of how many watts a microwave uses.
These appliances are incredibly popular as they are a fast and convenient way to cook. Due to their size and operation it uses far less energy than a conventional electric oven. In addition, the compact design makes them useful in things like vehicles. You will still need a reasonable amount of power capacity to get your equipment running. For example, a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter will run most microwaves.
