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Microwave Technology
Christian Egli
Member Posts: 277
Microwave ovens are not as efficient as we might think. We are lulled into believing they must be very efficient because presumably all the heat goes into the food and none into the container or the oven walls.
With no apparent waste of heat what could be going on? Microwave ovens have in their innards a central organ that converts the electric power into the invisible waves that plunge into the food. Its the magnetron, and when it does its thing, it get plenty hot all by itself.
This magnetron would fry itself before the food if it wasnt cooled by a rather powerful fan.
Notice, when you run your microwave oven, a blower comes on and dumps quite a bit of heat into your kitchen. This is wasted heat that is entirely inefficient.
We still love microwave ovens because they require no warm up period and they immediately heat the food through and through, not form the outsides in. No fuss, no burning, no contact, no mess.
As far as heating a pot of water (the only thing a boiler does), a microwave is neither faster nor more efficient than an tea kettle with immerged electric coils, comparing identically powered appliances. The immerged electric coil gives you 100% efficiency on the power you bought from the utility. The microwave is much less efficient than that, remember a lot of heat came out from the cooling fan.
What do we do in hydronincs? Some electric boilers have immerged coils.
Others use a technology that heats the water itself without coils. This method consists of simply placing electrodes in the water, with a pole attached to each, and letting the electricity loose right into the water. Just like when power flows through a coil, it will heat the water.
Note, the electrodes themselves do not heat up. This is similar to what we notice with dishes in the microwave oven, they dont heat up either.
Yes, boiling things can be fun.
With no apparent waste of heat what could be going on? Microwave ovens have in their innards a central organ that converts the electric power into the invisible waves that plunge into the food. Its the magnetron, and when it does its thing, it get plenty hot all by itself.
This magnetron would fry itself before the food if it wasnt cooled by a rather powerful fan.
Notice, when you run your microwave oven, a blower comes on and dumps quite a bit of heat into your kitchen. This is wasted heat that is entirely inefficient.
We still love microwave ovens because they require no warm up period and they immediately heat the food through and through, not form the outsides in. No fuss, no burning, no contact, no mess.
As far as heating a pot of water (the only thing a boiler does), a microwave is neither faster nor more efficient than an tea kettle with immerged electric coils, comparing identically powered appliances. The immerged electric coil gives you 100% efficiency on the power you bought from the utility. The microwave is much less efficient than that, remember a lot of heat came out from the cooling fan.
What do we do in hydronincs? Some electric boilers have immerged coils.
Others use a technology that heats the water itself without coils. This method consists of simply placing electrodes in the water, with a pole attached to each, and letting the electricity loose right into the water. Just like when power flows through a coil, it will heat the water.
Note, the electrodes themselves do not heat up. This is similar to what we notice with dishes in the microwave oven, they dont heat up either.
Yes, boiling things can be fun.
0
Comments
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Microwave Technology
Why isn't microwave technology being used as a heating source for hydronic systems? Is it an efficiency issue, or a technology issue?0
This discussion has been closed.
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