Microwave Ovens
Shopping guide to Microwave Ovens, from Ethical Consumer.

Shopping guide to Microwave Ovens, from Ethical Consumer.


This is a product guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. Since 1989 we've been researching and recording the social and environmental records of companies, and making the results available to you in a simple format.

The report includes:

  • Ethical and environmental ratings for 14 microwave brands
  • Best Buy recommendations
  • Ethical issues around microwaves
  • Environmental damage from microwaves

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Our ratings are live updated scores from our primary research database. They are based on primary and secondary research across 19 categories. Find out more about our ethical ratings. 

 

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Best Buys

as of March/April 2006


As our ratings are constantly updated, it is possible that company ratings on the scorecard may have changed since this report was written.


Hinari, Belling and Morphy Richards all come out best on the table and are therfore Best Buys.

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Microwaves

When it comes to fast food, microwaves lead the way in heating up, defrosting and cooking. The speed of cooking leads to a range of possibly energy saving benefits over using traditional electric ovens. A quick search for research online finds that microwaves can use anything from 50% to 90% less energy than conventional ovens. However, these statistics fail to take into account a range of factors.

Firstly, while microwaves may be particularly energy efficient at heating up or cooking small quantities of food, as the quantity and cooking time increases, the difference in efficiency between a standard oven and a microwave oven decreases.

Secondly, these figures also ignore the manufacturing costs of the appliance and the environmental burden in disposal - microwaves often have a shorter life-span than conventional cookers. Additionally, microwave meals can be energy intensive products in terms of their food miles, the packaging used and the food processing involved. It is far better to cook big batches of food, freeze in small quantities, defrost naturally and then reheat with the microwave than to use the microwave for defrosting or for cooking ready-meals for one.

Finally, the microwave clock and standby function also consume electricity, even when the oven itself is not in use. It is much better to unplug your microwave after using it.

 

The microwave was invented by a US defence firm and a number of the manufacturers on the table continue to have links to the defence industry. We found links to the military with all the following brands: LG, Neff, Bosch, Siemens and Samsung.

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