ResearchBuying a New Microwave with Confidence
What type of microwave you need depends on how much you’ll use it, what you’ll use it for, and how big your family is. Because you probably don’t buy microwaves all that often, you may not be familiar with what is on the market today. Don’t worry you aren’t alone! Buying a microwave doesn’t have to be difficult, or even expensive, it can actually be a very straightforward process if you know what you are getting into ahead of time!
What’s With the Wattage?
The last time you purchased a microwave, you may have just gone and bought the most attractive or cheapest model on the shelf and then took it home and began using it. Today microwaves are a lot more sophisticated, so it’s not all that simple if you don’t know what all the fancy terms mean. If you visit your local appliance retailer you’ll see that all of the microwaves list wattage in their item description. Yes, wattage is something that most of us equate to light bulbs and such, but the term also applies to microwaves.
When it comes to microwaves, the higher the wattage the faster the food cooks. When you shop you’ll see that most of the products on the market have power that is somewhere between 600 to 1200 watts. If you cook with your microwave, you’ll want a microwave oven that can cook consistently at 800 watts, as this will allow for a more even cooking, no matter what the dish.
How Big is Big Enough?
You’ll notice that microwaves are like refrigerators and washers and dryers they tend to vary in size. Compact microwaves range from 0.5 to 0.8 cubic feet, mid size range from 0.9 to .3 cubic feet, a family microwave ranges from .4-.6 cubic feet, and a full size ranges from .8 to 2.0 cubic feet. If you only melt butter and reheat dinner plates, you may only need a compact or mid size microwave, but if you cook casseroles and such in your microwave you’ll need something bigger. The bigger your family, the bigger your microwave will probably need to be.
What Features Do You Need?
If you have small children in the home, you may want to consider a microwave that has a built in child lock so that the child cannot even open the product. If you only heat things up and pop the occasional bag of popcorn, you don’t need something with all of the bells and whistles that may be offered on some models. You really have to think about what you will use your microwave for, and then buy accordingly. If you only use your microwave for really simple tasks, there is no reason to spend the money on a product that has features that you will not use. If you are planning on cooking in your microwave several times a week, you might be well advised to spend the extra cash and get the features that will make cooking in your microwave easy. If you have children that often cook for themselves in the microwave, you’ll also want to consider how easy the user interface is, and whether they will safely be able to cook for themselves.
As you can see, buying a microwave doesn’t have to be all that difficult. But, because most of us don’t buy them every day, microwave terminology can sound like a whole different language to most of us. Now that you know about wattage, size, and features you can make an informed decision when you purchase your new microwave. Having all of the information you need to buy a microwave will ensure that you come home with a product that will perform all of the functions that you need it to, easily and efficiently. Shop around a bit and get the best deal you can find, luckily microwaves have become very affordable and are even quite attractive so that you can find something that looks good and works well, too.