[nickd2001]

What happened to that then? ;) We bought a Miele dishwasher to replace a Neff which broke down after 10 yrs (probably 16 yrs worth of "official" usage) due to a silly design fault that caused it to leak. Thought a fairly basic model Miele worth a shot, as because it a stupid built-in, there's extra costs getting it installed, so longer it lasts the better. So far, it seems to clean to fairly similar standard to the Neff. Key thing is how long it'll last. Not made in Germany anymore , says made in Czech. Might be fine. But think they've cut some costs. We also own, assumingly, a "Tesco Value" microwave which cost £22 in 2006. Fairly ugly. Has just 2 controls - power level and time. Absolutely hammered, used every day for 19 years, still works fine. I kind of worry whether after this time it will emit more microwaves out into the open so I stand back even more when using it ;)

[elzbardico]

Put some cups of water surrounding the oven in multiple directions from its front (assume that leakage from the back is less likely and that unless you have metal walls, it won't reflect in your direction).

Measure their temperature and take note in your notebook. Put another cup away from the microwaves but in the same environment to serve as control. Measure its temp and put in a notebook

. Turn off any air-conditioning or fans in the kitchen, any sources of heat, you know the drill.

Turn on your microwave oven for a long cycle (10, 15 minutes) measure temperatures in 1 or 2 minutes interval.

Plot everything and compare against control.

[nickd2001]

Thank you for this excellent scientific suggestion ;)

[JKCalhoun]

Love the Hacker News.

[shrx]

What would make a microwave start to "leak" microwaves over time? Assuming the enclosure is still intact.

[nickd2001]

I honestly don't know, might be paranoia on my part, but stuff degrades over time right? Maybe less good a seal etc.

[vel0city]

A 2.4GHz wave has a wavelength of ~12mm. The concept of blocking the emissions of a microwave oven is to only have small gaps, much smaller than the wavelength, in the metal casing. That's why you can have those 1-2mm holes in the door window without having much leakage; the holes are much smaller than the waves.

So as long as the gaps on the doors and panels of the microwave are still aligned right and the door closes somewhat tight (only a couple of mm gap) you're still trapping the extreme majority of the energy in the box.

[nickd2001]

Thanks for the explanation. :) Hacker news is indeed to place to talk about these things ;)

[vel0city]

Yeah dude. Its crazy to think about how electromagnetic waves can actually be large, as they're invisible to us. But yeah, EM waves can have wavelengths measured in meters, and can often be as long as 100M or more!

Electromagnetism is weird.

[whatevaa]

Microwave tech hasn't advanced anywhere beyond timer and power level. Everything else is just a gimmick.

[dagw]

Mine has hot air and grill functionality. Completely changes how I use my microwave. Would never buy a microwave oven that just has microwaves.

[rfrey]

My microwave had an inverter rather than a transformer, which is a change I guess. Don't know if it's an improvement. I do know it was a disappointment to me when the microwave failed after 4 years and I went to salvage the transformer and there wasn't one.

[imp0cat]

I'd say that is not completely true. Variable power levels (on-off-on-off which certain cheaper microwave ovens do) are definitely not a gimmick, unless you like some parts of your meals cold and other piping hot.

Same for induction cooktops, but I digress.