Energy efficiency is a key factor in choosing appliances for the home as it brings a lot of long term savings and benefits. An oven for the kitchen is a necessary tool for food preparation. Conventional ovens are now being replaced by the microwave oven as an alternative and efficient tool for cooking and preparing meals for the family. Contrary to popular belief, the microwave oven actually has more practical energy saving value than an electric or traditional gas fired oven.
According to Energy Star, the body that oversees and enforces energy performance standards for electrical appliances and devices, a microwave oven actually uses up 30% up to 80% less energy than conventional ovens or electric toasters. This is a huge difference and can definitely impact energy use and operating costs for your home. Conventional ovens often require a preheat cycle; the oven has to be brought up to certain temperature before putting the food in. It therefore uses up more energy. With microwave ovens, you do not need to do this. Simply pop in your food, set the time and power and just wait for your food to cook. Preheating an oven to bring it up to temperature also takes time, so microwave ovens have the added advantage of quicker turnaround and cook times because of its use of microwave radiation (as opposed to the conventional convection heating method used by traditional ovens). In addition, opening up your oven to check if the food is done actually drops the internal temperature by 25 degrees, which can reduce the efficiency of your standard oven and prolong cooking time. Microwave ovens deliver consistent results from preset cooking timetables, so they take out the guesswork from your cooking. With the use of irradiative cooking, your food can also be brought to cooking temperature faster. This can save you a lot in terms of time and energy.
