Microwave Electricity Cost & Wattage
What a microwave costs to run: typical 1200 W, about $19 a year. Adjust the figures to your own usage and electricity price.
Your Microwave running cost
Costs about
/ month
- Per day
- Per year
- Energy per day
Change the hours and price to match your case.
Typical wattage
| Low | 700 W |
|---|---|
| Typical | 1200 W |
| High | 1500 W |
| Typical use | 0.25 h/day |
A microwave is one of the most efficient ways to heat food because it puts energy straight into the food rather than warming a large air space or a heavy metal cavity first. Its input power is usually higher than its advertised cooking power — a microwave labelled 800 W of cooking output typically draws around 1,200 W from the socket — but it runs for only a few minutes at a time, so the cost per use is tiny. Enter a realistic daily total (a quarter of an hour a day is generous for most homes) and your price to see the yearly figure.
The real energy story of a microwave is what it replaces. Reheating a plate or boiling a mug of water in the microwave uses a fraction of the energy an oven or hob would for the same task, because there is almost no wasted heat. The one cost worth noticing is standby: a microwave with a clock and display draws a small amount around the clock, and over a year that standby can rival the energy used for actual cooking in a lightly used unit.
A worked example makes the scale clear: reheating a plate for 3 minutes at 1,200 W draws 0.06 kWh — a tiny fraction of a cent's worth at typical prices. Even a household reheating something daily spends only a small amount a year on the actual cooking; if a microwave's yearly figure here looks higher than that, the always-on clock and display standby, not the cooking, is almost certainly why.
How to cut microwave running costs
- Reheat and defrost in the microwave rather than the oven — it uses far less energy.
- Boil just a mug of water in the microwave when the kettle would heat more than you need.
- Cover food so it heats faster and you run the microwave for less time.
- Unplug a rarely used microwave, or put it on a switched strip, to kill clock standby.
- Match the power level and time to the food instead of blasting everything on full.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my microwave draw more watts than its cooking power?
The advertised figure (e.g. 800 W) is the cooking output. Producing it is not perfectly efficient, so the socket draw is higher — often around 1,100–1,300 W. Use the input figure for cost.
Is a microwave cheaper than an oven or hob?
For reheating and small portions, much cheaper, because it heats the food directly with little wasted energy and runs for a short time. For large meals an oven may still be more practical.
Does microwave standby matter?
A little. The clock and display draw a couple of watts constantly, which over a year can approach the cooking energy of a lightly used unit. A switched strip removes it.