Amps/Watt draw for a microwave and any heat element

I don't know.. you can look that up. They use about as much as air con, and you need at LEAST 4 big batteries.

And I don't think Mw's have a heat element.

We survive for two to three days with 4 batteries when boondocking. We are gourmet cooks and use a variety of cooking appliances including electric BBQ grills, convection oven, Kitchenaid mixer...etc. Our microwwave is a 1200 watt; I don't know the amps.

I didn't worry about the power we use, I just went with 4 batteries because that's what everyone else seemed to be using at the time 20 years ago when we setup our 5th whell. Two batteries supply power to the normal 12v stuff and the other two provide power to the inverter. I can kick in all 4 batteries if needed through the remote control panel for the inverter.

I also carry one or two 2000i Honda generators to use for charging the batteries, running the air conditioner (using the 2 generators) or if we need to run several hi-draw appliances at the same time. Like for Thanksgiving Dinner.

2oldman wrote:
I don't know.. you can look that up. They use about as much as air con, and you need at LEAST 4 big batteries.

And I don't think Mw's have a heat element.

They do have a heat element.

I know I can look stuff up genius...pointless answer.

ekyyc7 wrote:
I know I can look stuff up genius...pointless answer.

Then why are you asking us?

Microwave ovens use radio waves at a specifically set frequency to agitate water molecules in food. As these water molecules get increasingly agitated they begin to vibrate at the atomic level and generate heat. This heat is what actually cooks food in the oven.

Need a decent battery bank and good quality inverter if you want to use a microwave.

Hi ekyyc7,

If you want help then it is best to be polite.

Microwaves do not have a 'heating element' in the sense of a resistance heater.

The accepted way to convert from watts to amps with an inverter in use is to divide the watts by 10. For example my microwave is 1591 watts so it draws about 160 amps.

ekyyc7 wrote:

2oldman wrote:
And I don't think Mw's have a heat element.

They do have a heat element.

I know I can look stuff up genius...pointless answer.

I think convection microwaves have a heating element but I am pretty sure they switch back and forth between microwave and element when cooking convection mode.

I know we all hate to look in the owners manual for information, it is a male thing, but for an idea of what something uses check the value of the circuit breaker that it is on.

Ohms Law.

I = E/P where I = Current, E = Voltage (120), and P = Watts.

A 1200w Microwave would be 120/1200 = 10A