• Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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    7 months ago

    Because resistive heating is inefficient. You need to pump a lot of power through to get a lot of heat. A microwave does not use resistive heating and works on a completely different principle and therefore the amount of power available is much less importance.

    • blx@lemmy.zip
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      7 months ago

      Resistive heating inefficient? What is the energy wasted as, if not heat?

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        7 months ago

        Yes all the energy goes into being heat but you have to put a lot of energy into the wire before it heats up. Microwaves barely use any energy in fact it takes more power to run the little clock than the microwave itself.

        • Constant Pain@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          That’s insanely untrue. Microwaves are power hogs up to a 1000 watts or more in some cases. The difference is the heat transmission method. The conduction of heat in a kettle is pretty slow because it forces the heat to propagate through water via convection, which is slower, while the radiation of a microwave antenna distributes the energy more evenly and faster. Consumption is mostly on par but energy transfer differs.

    • orangeboats@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I think you are complicating things a tad too much. American kitchens have sockets that provide 240V electricity.

      • bluewing@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Yeah, but not for countertop appliances. Those are all 110/120VAC. Even things as large as a consumer level refrigerator or freezer are almost always 110/120VAC too.

        While I have a kettle for water, there are two issues with them for tea.

        1. The water gets stale and the reheating drives off the all the excess air that fresh water has. This loss of dissolved oxygen kills the flavor of your tea and makes it taste bad. You should always use fresh water to make your or even coffee.
        2. A cheap kettle is, well cheap. You can’t make a good cup of green or oolong tea if you pour boiling water on it. Those need to be brewed at a lower temperature. And guessing doesn’t work. And a temperature adjustable kettle will set you back anywhere from $50US to $100US.
    • Kangie@lemmy.srcfiles.zip
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      7 months ago

      A microwave does not use resistive heating and works on a completely different principle and therefore the amount of power available is much less importance.

      Insane troll logic