Sure, I loose storage, but I love it!

Nice mod.. you must have given up your closet space?? I am wondering how much space should the microwaves have around them in a small space for 'air' I would think with no air space they would get hot ?? I want to put one in mine above the friggie. I saw a Gold Star at Best Buys and it was quite small and very light weight.. I am going to go check it out soon...

Thanks for the reminder. I DID cut a hole in the far side of the closet for better venting. I then installed a $6 black vent cover which I picked up at West Marine. I'll shoot a pic and modify the post. Thanks.

I'm glad to hear that this was installed with a vent. My wife and I have been looking at small microwave ovens recently, and it seems that for every two watts of power they put into your food, they use another one watt which is dissipated as heat; for example, 1000W oven, 1500W power consumption. That could be a lot of heat, if used at high power settings for any significant length of time.

If anyone finds a model which is particularly light, and under 1000W power consumption on high setting, I would be interested in hearing about it. A typical 1000W (output) unit, with a one cubic foot interior, is about 18 kg (40 lbs) and too big to put anywhere I want it.

heres a goldstar one under 1000W
http://www.goldstarappliances.com/ma748.html
http://www.goldstarappliances.com/ma7542.html
another one:

Thanks Christi - that's more like the size I'm looking for. The Goldstar site gives weights, and these are 3/4 of the weight of the typical 1000W unit I mentioned. It doesn't show power consumption, so I'll look for one in a store and read the sticker; I expect that at least the 600W (output) model should draw less than 1000W.

there is also a 600W Da-woo ( sp ) at Target. $39.95... they were all out.. I looked today for a Goldstar but didnt find one... ( sigh) " seek and he shall find "as they say...LOL

Those would be Daewoo microwave ovens.

Thanks again, Christi - it looks like there may be lots of choices. It also looks like very lowest output versions have those really retro mechanical control knobs instead of keypad controls... almost nostalgic. According to the manual, the Daewoo 600W unit has been in production for at least a decade. It also seems that the bottom step is all cost, not size, since the 600W units weigh the same and have the same interior space as the 700W units. Too bad I would have to go to the 600W units to fit the power draw comfortably in the 1000W capacity of my inverter, if I have to carry the weight and bulk anyway.

I still think battery-powering the microwave is a questionable idea, but at least I now have some workable appliance choices to try it with. Time to start measuring my possible mounting spaces...

I have gone to several places also looking for a low watt microwaves.. the 600W are few and far between.. but plenty of 700W' around.... My question is the 700W wouldnt blow the breaker or anything would it? I am not Wattage smart or know which wattage would be better. Goldstar is now L-G ... I also am looking for the lightest weight one I can find..
thanks...

oh i see brian i didnt read your last posting.. its answered my questions.... what is a power draw?

The AC power circuits in trailers seem to have the same 15 amp capacity as typical home circuits, so any appliance which can be used on the kitchen counter at home will also work in the trailer as long as the total with other appliances running is not too high, just like at home. Just add up the ratings on each appliance (it's easiest to add the current in amps, rather than doing calculations with watts), which is always provided on that official sticker on the bottom or back. In addition to the limit for a circuit (a circuit being a set of plugs wired together and sharing one fuse or breaker) there is a limit for the power supply to whole trailer - at home that's rarely a problem, but for the trailer it is likely only 30 amps.

Remember that the "700W" microwave puts 700 watts of energy into the oven chamber, but uses a much greater amount (perhaps 1000 W or more) of electricity to do it. Back to that sticker or the specifications in the manual...

Sorry, I fall into tech-speak sometimes... "power draw" is the amount of power taken (or drawn) by the appliance from the circuit it's plugged into. By "fit the power draw comfortably in the 1000W capacity of my inverter" I just mean that the power consumed by the microwave needs to be less than the amount my inverter can supply, by a reasonable margin.

From the Daewoo KOR-630A owners manual:
Click to view attachment
This model cooks with 800W of microwave power, but uses 1200W of electricity, or about 10 amps at 120V. I could not use it with my 1000W inverter, but could plug it in if using campground power.

From the Daewoo KOR-6NM5 owner's manual:
Click to view attachment
This model cooks with 600W of microwave power, but uses 920W of electricity, or about 7.7 amps at 120V. I could use it with my 1000W inverter (briefly, because that's a lot of power to take out of the battery).

The lower-power unit is just as heavy and bulky, and doesn't have as nice a timer, so if running from battery (with an inverter) is not a concern, it's an easy choice to just take the better 800W unit. More microwave power means faster cooking!

In the LG Canada countertop microwave ovens page, the LMS8050 is the only smaller/lower-power unit, and it's still too high-powered for my inverter and wieghs 28 lbs. Even that one is not in the LG USA selection. I guess not many consumers want a small microwave, so they're not available...

Larger RVs routinely come with microwave ovens, but I haven't noticed that they are particularly compact or light - they just look like average home units.

Now I understand! I wondered about that. I was dry camping some time ago at the same place and time as Gina D. I borrowed her 1000 watt genset to attempt to operate my 700 watt microwave. When I turned on the microwave, the genset would stall out and quit.

To determine the amount of current draw used by an appliance such as a microwave, use a formula such as the word "PIE". The "P" stands for power or wattage. The "I" stands for currant or amps. The "E" stands for volts or voltage. (P=IxE)

Since we know the amount of watts (P) we can change the formula to I = P/E )...So for example a 700 watt microwave hooked up to 110 volts of shore power would draw 6.36 amps (I = P divided by E) and your 1000 watt microwave would draw 9.09 amps.

I used voltage at 110 v but if you used 120 v your answer will be slighly smaller amount of amps or current draw

Hope this helps you determine your fuse size needs

Jim Paskett

Jim, I agree with the basic formula , but Frederick's problem was that he was getting the power number from the microwave rating, which is not the real power draw . If he had known at the time to read the back label of his "700W" microwave, it would have said something more than 1000W, and thus more than 9 amps, and the calculation of current from power and voltage would work fine. I think that this would trip up almost everyone.

This is a problem nearly unique to microwave ovens. Almost any other appliance that boldly claims some sort of power number is either a lamp - in which case it really is the power draw - or a heating appliance. Heating stuff (portable heaters, toasters, hair dryers...) generally use very little power for the other functions (fans, etc) and almost all for the heater, so a "1000W" heater really only draws about 1000 watts.

There's another problem, unrelated but also problem-causing, with inductive devices such as electric motors... but we can leave that one until someone asks specifically about it.