Panasonic Microwave using 70W all the time

jt666

Just checked mine again taking in to account the power factor and like bigtel28 found my Panasonic microwave is using only 3 watts.

Not sure if I'm pleased or not since I can't now save £40 a year by switching off the microwave.

w0z

I had already spent my £100 saving!!!
Never mind I did miss the clock for a week!!

Cliff

You are right our Panasonic microwave used 66W/h while doing nothing
Our Panasonic washing machine uses the same , 1p per hour = £7.00/ month = £84/year and it doesn't even have a display

MikeRM

You're almost certainly measuring out of phase power, most Panasonic microwaves have a terrible power factor, the in-phase power is only a few watts, mine is the same, I've measured both You aren't paying for the out-of-phase power but your electricity generator is.
Think of it this way, imagine your microwave was a 60 W bulb in a box, how hot would it be if on permanently? Your microwave would be cooking the food without having to switch it on. It's not consuming 70W in standby, it may however be reading 70VA.

Juliesinar

^^^ Agreed... Could be 70 VA. Power factor is either inductive or capacitive. Probably the real consumption in under 5watts...that's what you pay for.

jt666

Agree with wOz. I had the same concern for several years using a Panasonic microwave and recently tested this out on a replacement one. Cheap plug-in energy meters use a straight watts = volts x amps conversion to show power. You may be able to program in a power factor. I think microwaves (Panasonic anyway) may use an inductive system and it probably has a power factor of about 0.1. My plug-in meter showed 40 watts, but by testing it with everything else in the house turned off, the electricity meter only clocked up about 3-4 watt hours per hour. So I've stopped turning it off at the wall!