• 18107@aussie.zone
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    4 days ago

    Panasonic owns the patent for an inverter microwave that can actually do 50% power.

    With inverters being common in solar installations and electric cars, it would seem that someone else could just put that part in a microwave, but fortunately the patent prevents that.

    It’s nice to know that although I can’t buy the model of microwave that I want with the features I want, at least a single company can prevent everyone else’s progress and even make a tiny bit of extra profit at the same time.

    • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      But my microwave does this?

      This is real data from my LG microwave just now. The first peak is at 100% power, the second peak is 30% power, the last three peaks are 10% power.

      You can see that under 30% it has to cycle the inverter on and off like old microwaves, but still it’s way better than doing that at 100%.

      I love my inverter microwave, I feel like I’m living in the future. Bought this thing like 4 years ago 🤷‍♂️

      • 18107@aussie.zone
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        4 days ago

        Panasonic does sometimes licence the patent to other companies. I would love an inverter microwave, but they aren’t made with the other features I want.

        What app is that?

        • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works
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          4 days ago

          Fair enough.

          It’s the emporia app, I installed whole home monitoring in my breaker panel. It’s occasionally useful, expensive, but I’ve had it long enough to make it worth it in my mind 🤷‍♂️

          • 18107@aussie.zone
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            4 days ago

            Very fancy.

            I’ve been using Home Assistant with data from a house battery, but that does look to be a much cheaper option if you don’t have or want a house battery.