Microwaves dangerous, anyone not have one?

[shael]

So I know people will reply to this thread and say they are perfectly safe etc etc

However, we have a 10 year old Bosch one that has been playing up for a couple of years but it's mainly just the display. We got out BG today and the man tested it and said you cannot use it any more it's dangerous.

The reading he got was 9.0. Apparently anything over 5 is bad.

Interestingly, we also had a freestanding one in our utility that is hardly used. That also had a dangerous reading.

The man said that after after 4 or 5 years they can start leaking microwaves.

The thing is, if you look up the possible effects of microwave radiation even from a low level consumer appliance it's not pleasant.

I'm shocked that there is no requirement to have these things tested. There must be millions of people out there who have dangerous microwave ovens. I know so many people with cancer and I feel stupid for not getting it checked sooner especially as we have young kids around.

I'm seriously tempted to not replace it.
Does anyone already do this?

And wait 'till she hears about granite worktops...

@ButtockUp just wait till you hear that you can steam vegetables in a microwave…🥱🫤

I'm guessing that the BG man was referring to the amount of meals in the microwave at once. I'd assume heating 5 meals at the same time is a bit iffy, but 9???

On another note, I think you can get a Nissan Micra Wave for less than a BG man callout and it's radiation free!

haven't RTFT but we use our microwave almost every day for cooking porridge, baked beans, starting off jacket potatoes (i put in the oven for 10 min to get crispy skin) heating leftovers, boiling poatoes, making custard etc etc

Ive never had a british gas man visit before so no warnings here.
Current microwave is probably about 4 or 5 years old.

The testing of microwaves is real. He has not lied that there are testers and that a leakage greater than 5 milliwatts per square centimetre

But he hasn’t told you what a normal level
is - should you have zero leakage, or a very small fraction etc and do they detect many (or any) dangerous domestic microwaves?

Microwave leakage detection is conducted in business environments where the employer is responsible for the safety of staff and any members of the public.
Did he also tell you that you should conduct a risk assessment for cooking in your kitchen and to also implement safe cooking processes to mitigate the risk? An employer would need to but you don’t have to at home

If you keep your microwave clean, keep an eye on its condition and don’t break the door, seal or lock then the chances are it is perfectly fine and not leaking

There are definitely poor testing procedures here.

Cables should actually pass or fail based on first looking at them, the condition of the cable itself and of the plug pins etc. The resistance etc as part of testing on the equipment.

With double insulated or earthed equipment you can generate a false failure - by not getting the ‘right’ result on the earth wire that doesn’t exist

PAT testing is about electrical safety. A computers cable should not fail just because it’s two years old

Not the number of meals

5mw/ cm2 is the international standard as the maximum safe leakage

Heartening to see.some MNers understand basic physics. It's non-ionising radiation. The end.

Why were BG checking your microwave? Are they offering to sell you a new one by any chance?

If microwave leakage was a serious health and safety issue, there would be a national register of microwave ovens, and mandatory annual testing.

I'm guessing the BG repair man dressed in full PPE for protection to do this test because he could be subjecting himself to the 'harmful' radiation by doing the test and of course the nature of the job is checking faulty appliances, did he put on a radiation suit for this and explain the dangers fully that you had been subjected to.

Don't have one because we rarely used it and didn't have the space. Probably would if we had the space but it would seem pointless really.

Ours is in the utility room with the airfryer so they don’t clutter up the kitchen workspace, we mainly use it for porridge and heating soup. We also have one in the caravan for porridge but that is eye level and I am more worried about getting burnt than any leakage

Not to mention the brazil nuts...

Given the current energy prices people should be aiming to use their microwaves more- the energy savings over cooking things in the oven or on the hob are pretty big.

I use mine a lot- we heat up milk to make hot chocolates, heating up leftovers, cook vegetables, defrost things when I have been too disorganised to get it out of the freezer ahead of time! We have a (built in, so doesn't take up worktop space) combi microwave, so it also makes fantastic jacket potatoes in a fraction of the time of an oven. And it's smaller than the big oven, so uses a bit less energy when I use it as an oven.

And a lot of the time you can save on the washing up too as you can heat things up in the bowl or mug that you're going to use.

No, it's an insurance policy so they are actually having to pay out towards a new one

@shael
out of interest - how much money have you paid out in insurance payments?

Insurance for home appliances is rarely good value for money.

1. When you buy new, the warranty protects you for 1 or 2 years.


2. Most home appliances that make it past the first 1-2 years warranty period will last a lot longer.

In the field of electrical and electronic engineering this phenomena is well known. A small proportion of electronic systems will experience premature failure, but the vast majority that survive the initial few hours of usage will then go on to give a long service life.

When sales people get buyers to take out home appliance insurance policies, it's playing on the fear that their recent investment will suddenly become worthless.

@YorkshireDude twas what I was alluding too.!

When I was at school I had a friend who wouldn't return to the kitchen until a few minutes after the microwave beeped in case there were still some microwaves "wafting around". We were in the same GCSE physics class. She knew about the electromagnetic spectrum. But then, this was also the girl who got very panicky about the planets being in alignment and how much damage could "all that gravity sloshing about" could do.
She got a decent grade in physics too.
Good grief, I hope she's not the op.

Haven't had one in 8 years. Friends think it's weird but I've just got used to not having one.