The answer to this question is Yes. But we need to analyze this topic for a better overview of its limitations. Usually, campers and travelers use microwaves inside their camping vans.
Well, it is a big convenience for such people who are interested in traveling. To address their food warming and cooking necessities, these kinds of options are provided in modern microwaves.
In such scenarios, they rely on their vehicle’s battery for powering their microwave. Now that we mentioned that you could power a microwave through a car’s battery, that does not mean that any size microwave can have such facilitative features. In the case of vehicles, like cars and vans batteries, there are certain limitations.
In such cases, when you have to power your microwave from your vehicle’s batteries, then you will have to refer to small-sized microwaves because a vehicle’s battery cannot support high voltage microwaves.
Moreover, a vehicle battery has a DC, while a microwave needs AC to run the microwave. Therefore, you will need an inverter to convert DC to AC to supply the current and increase the current supply range for the microwave.
On the other hand, if your battery is low voltage and you have connected a converter to it while the engine is powered ON and the current supply is constant, even such a battery can also sustain a high-power demanding microwave.
But again, as you increase the capacity of an investor, you have to increase the battery’s power supply (voltage of the battery) as well.
A small microwave uses around 600 watts of power to run efficiently; hence you need an 800 to 1000 watt output converting inverter. But, if you want to power a high efficiency and power consumption microwave like a 700-watt microwave, you need a 1000 to 1250 Watt inverter.
This methodology is a calculative one, not some random guessing. For example, a 2000 (running watts) watt inverter can peak output ( surge )of 3000 watts. This kind of inverter can handle both the 900 running watts and the 2700 watt surge requirements of your microwave oven.
Actually, or deciding which capacity inverter to use with your required watts, you need to consider this example. Suppose you have a 700-watt microwave, then how will you determine which size inverter you need?
In this case, you will need to use the rule of thumb. Microwave ovens are 60 Percent efficient. Therefore, you need at least 1200 watts to safely use a 700 watts microwave oven.
Now that we have discussed the decision-making factors for an inverter in powering a microwave in a vehicle let’s come to another significant factor: the battery’s voltage.
Suppose you have a 1000 watt inverter to power your microwave, then how many batteries will you need to link them up with the inverter? Well, for a 1000 watt inverter, you need at least 7 car (12V) batteries.
In the future, you should also know that a 12 Volt 100Ah battery will have the capacity to power a 1000 Watt inverter for about 30 minutes. At the same time, a 12 Volt 200 Ah battery will be able to power your 2000 Watt inverter for 30 minutes and so on.
Invertor’s Role in Running a Microwave:
As mentioned above, you should know that a vehicle’s battery only has a DC, which cannot power the microwave because a microwave needs an AC. Now to resolve this issue, we use an inverter. An inverter is nothing but a device that converts AC to DC.
Now, this is how you power your microwave. But you should also keep in mind that a microwave is a high-performing machine that will suck up your battery’s power in no time.
therefore, you need to make sure to keep the engine of your vehicle running to keep a constant supply of power. Moreover, you can connect your car battery through your 12 volts cigarette’s lighter socket but not directly instead of through an inverter.
These inverters work the same way for many traveling vehicles on land and in water. Like if you travel by sea while your vehicle is a Yot still, your inverter performs with the same functionality as in a car.
While deciding upon an inverter, keep in mind that the actual power consumption of the microwave is what matters the most. Well, two terms are related to microwave power, one is Actual Power Consumption Of The Microwave, and the second is Cooking Power Of The Microwave.
You must note that a microwave’s consumption weightage is higher than the cooking weightage, so keep this in mind while choosing the size of an inverter. It is also referred to as Input Wattage (for actual power consumption) and Output wattage (for cooking power).
How to Power a Microwave in a Car:
After reading the above info, you have understood what an inverter is and what purpose it serves. Now you know that you need at least your car battery to power a microwave in a car.
Then an inverter can convert the batteries of DC to AC. Finally, a small-sized low power consuming microwave. If you go for a high-power consuming microwave, you will need a high power converting inverter, and to support the supply source of such a high watt inverter, you will require more batteries.
Now you should connect the microwave with the inverter and the inverter to your vehicle’s battery through the cigarette lighter’s socket.
Furthermore, make sure to keep your engine ON for a constant supply of power if you want to use the microwave service for a long time because there is a specific limit on the timing of the battery. If the vehicle’s engine is not powered ON and does not provide a constant power supply, it will stop working once the battery power disintegrates.