Panasonic Microwave using 70W all the time

duncanbudd

Both my parents microwave and mine - both Panasonic, but different models and vintages - were drawing 70W continuously just to drive the little LED clock. This was measured with an owl meter and also with a plug-in meter from Tchibo. Madness. I turned it off and my bills went down.  Simple.

The owl also spotted that my audiophile 8-way mains block was drawing 400W continuously. I found this difficult to believe - it was only mildly warm, but it was also buzzing slightly so maybe the extra energy was dissipating through sound and vibration. Turned that off; bills went down a lot. (It's 6 years old and I think some of the conditioning components need replacing).

I led with the microwave because there are likely to be hundreds of times more of those in circulation than the posh mains block.

Duncan

ad47uk

I have a Swan combination Microwave, I just done a test on it using a power meter and it uses 6 watts on standby. I find it hard to believe that your oven is taking 70watts just to run the clock. My oven is on it's way out I think, a few times if have come up with a error code and it was only on standby. I switched it off for a couple of days, switch it back on and it is ok now, but for how long? I am not going to get another one anyway, well I may get a cheap one at some point, the ones with dials.

robh2002

Than does sound high. From my measurements, I''d expect less than 10W (in line with ad47uk) for a fluorescent clock display.

At 70W you're paying 32p a day to have that running 24/7, but doing nothing...or over £100 a year! Assuming £0.19/kWhr. We've got a 40W drain on the house when all but the boiler/alarm/clock are on. That's still nearly 20p/day £73...I wouldn't mind but we don't use the alarm...! Must turn it off tonight!

ad47uk

sounds high to me as well.

andykn

A device drawing 400W of power will produce nearly half as much as much heat as a single bar electric fire. Any energy dissipated in sound or vibration will ulitmately be turned into heat as it hits walls or rubs on the floor and will only represent a small percentage of the energy consumed, most will be heat.

Unless your mains block is nearly half as hot as a one bar fire your owl is faulty. Try it on a 60W light bulb.

fortean

Just measured the power consumption of my Panasonic Microwave...

0.31 A or 74 W

....thank you Duncan.

robh2002

I have bought a Panasonic Microwave NN-SD686S one month ago. My standby power consumption is 78 W !!!
Have used my meter many times with other equipment and it was always spot on.

Has anyone contacted Panasonic yet?

NikB

I have to say these numbers are absolutely obscene. How Panasonic can allow this sort of power consumption is beyond me - I'd be taking the microwave back if I were you. It will be costing over £100 in electricity costs.

If any one contacts Panasonic, can you please post the reply here?

Thanks.

fortean

How do you do these measurements?

ad47uk

You can buy a meter like this one from Maplin to do it...
Plug-In Mains Power and Energy Monitor > Maplin

I used an AVO meter via a plug and socket to take measurements.