Combination Microwave Toaster Ovens and Energy Use

Finding Energy Use

• EnergyGuide labels are not required for combination microwave toaster ovens. Without the EnergyGuide label, consumers cannot readily compare combination microwave toaster ovens based on efficiency. However, each appliance should still have a label describing its energy use in microwave and toaster oven mode.

Efficiency Standards

• There is no current efficiency standard for combination microwave toaster ovens, nor will any standard go into effect in the near future. The U.S. Department of Energy's 2009 rulemaking to update appliance energy efficiency standards, as required by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, continued the policy of no standards for microwave ovens and electric ovens. Standards for these appliances are not considered justified based on technological advancement and cost effectiveness. (ref: Federal Register, see summary on P.2)

Estimating Use

• Consumers can estimate the energy used by combination microwave toaster ovens based on the appliance's labeled wattage. To determine daily energy use, multiply the number of hours you operate the appliance as a microwave times the microwave wattage, and the number of hours you operate the appliance as a toaster oven times the toaster oven wattage; add them together. For example, if you use a combination microwave toaster oven with wattage of 1500W toaster oven and 700W microwave for 1 hour in each mode, your daily energy use would be 2200W or 2.2 kWh.