How many watts does a 2 slices toaster use? How do toasters know when to pop up? How hot does a toaster get? These are some of the questions we will address in this article.
The humble toaster – it may seem small but this can often be one of the most important items in your kitchen.
It’s no wonder then you may have some questions about it. Its important to know power consumption of toaster before buying it. That’s why we’ve distilled some of the most common questions we see about toasters below and tried to answer them.
2 Slices Toaster & Uses of Watt:
The power consumption of an electrical appliance is meaured in Watts.
An average 2 slices toaster will consume around 1200 watts when in use. 2 slice toasters will typically use between 800 to 1500 watts in use.
To give you an idea of how that compares, consider that microwaves can typically be rated between 600W and 1700W whilst a food blender may be between 300W to 400W. Checkout what is the best 2 slices toaster to buy.
Should I Unplug The Toaster?
Whilst there is no hard and fast rule, it’s probably always a good idea to turn it off and unplug when it is not in use.
A lot of electrical products will consume energy when they are left plugged in even if they are not in use. Sometimes termed idle energy, this describes the electricity used when appliances are sitting in standby mode or simply just plugged in even if turned off.
It’s also generally a good idea to make sure that you monitor the toaster when it is in use.
In addition it’s also a good idea to ensure you clean the bread crumbs regularly from your toaster to avoid a potential fire risk.
Do Toaster Numbers Mean Minutes?
This question has been known to throw many the wrong way. Though you might necessarily think that the numbers on your toaster dial automatically translate to minutes, that’s not always the case.
This really depends on the type of toaster you have. As Business Insider explains this is because some models are based on a mechanical timer whilst others based on a circuit which times based on heat.
How Hot Is A Toaster?
Hotter than you might think!
To get your bread to the crispy brown you like so much an average toaster gets to around 600 degrees C; hot enough to glow.
To put that into context a typical electric oven might go to around 280 – 300 degrees C.
How Do Toasters Know When To Pop Up?
A pop up toaster causes the bread to “pop up” when it stops. Typically when you pull the lever down on your toaster to get a cycle started a few things happen.
Firstly, the action allows electrical current to start flowing which heats up the heating element.
Secondly, the cage holding the toaster half way out of the toaster is lowered bringing the bread down and into position. This cage is then held into place by a latch once you let the lever go. The action of pulling down on the lever also compresses a spring which will be used at the end of the cycle to release the latch and pop the cage back up along with the bread.
At the same time the heat generated is warming up a release mechanism for the latch.
This mechanism is designed so that as it heats up, it changes shape eventually getting hot enough to release the latch. This is what makes the popping sound at the end of a cycle.
The release mechanism is designed so that it can take a lower or higher temperature to pop which allows the user to select how brown they want their toast. You can find further information here in this article.
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If all this talk of toasters has you thinking about getting a new one take a look at some of the best 2 slice toasters we’ve found.