"John@Smith.com" wrote:
A typical high power microwave oven uses 1700 W input power to produce
1200 W output (about %70 efficient).
A small immersian type heater would be the most efficient way of
using electricity to heat a small volume of water.

A mw oven has to convert the incomming AC power to high voltage DC
power, and then uses a magnetron to convert that to RF power, which
does the actual heating.
About 100 W, depending on its size and speed.
It radiates more heat into the room than do stoves whose elements
contact the utensils directly. Maybe good on a cold day?

Virg Wall

PS: With Microsoft wanting to take over our home appliances, this may
not be as far OT as we might think! ;-)
--
A foolish consistency is the
hobgoblin of little minds,........
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(Microsoft programmer's manual.)