# Which uses more energy, popping popcorn in an air popper or a microwave? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636 "2011-12-01T00:49:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/21 "2011-12-03T01:06:30Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > I have a 1000W microwave and a 250W air popper. Both make approximately the same amount of popcorn in roughly 5 minutes. Plus, there’s no oil or salt in the air popped corn. Win for the air popper. YMMV. That’s interesting. My air popper is 1200W (and my microwave 750W) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/22 "2011-12-03T01:47:21Z")
With the info provided in the OP, an answer can’t be determined. One could, in theory have a hot air popcorn popper with the heat produced by a wood burning stove and the airstream powered by a pack of wolves on a treadmill. Or the heat and the airstream both produced by a turbojet engine. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/23 "2011-12-03T01:51:45Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > With the info provided in the OP, an answer can’t be determined. One could, in theory have a hot air popcorn popper with the heat produced by a wood burning stove and the airstream powered by a pack of wolves on a treadmill. Or the heat and the airstream both produced by a turbojet engine. Indeed even within the range of actual commercially-available devices, it seems like there’s broad enough scope for some examples of either type to be less efficient than the other. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/24 "2011-12-03T02:08:42Z")
> [@thepete](#): > > Cheesesteak, a whirly-pop does look like fun, but it doesn’t look easy to clean. Certainly not easier than just a pot. Plus I’d have to find someplace to store that thing. It’s bigger than an air-popper and I live in an NYC apartment. Then again, if I got rid of my old microwave I could just store it in the same space 🙂 It doesn’t look easy to clean, does it? However, I only have to wipe it out with a dry paper towel to clean it. It’s significantly easier than cleaning a pot. It does help that I only do popcorn in it, so a thin layer of oil on the surfaces isn’t a horrible thing that has to be dealt with immediately. I think the fact that it’s made of thin aluminum means the oil doesn’t stay hot enough to bake onto the surface, so it wipes off easily. FYI, I just looked up some air poppers, the most popular one I see, from Presto, is 1440 watts, and I didn’t see any below 1000 watts. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/25 "2011-12-03T02:20:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Indeed even within the range of actual commercially-available devices, it seems like there’s broad enough scope for some examples of either type to be less efficient than the other. I think there _is_ a commercial popper with a woodstove and a wolf treadmill, but I may be misremembering. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/26 "2011-12-04T03:40:31Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That’s interesting. My air popper is 1200W (and my microwave 750W) OK. I just checked it again. It’s molded into the plastic, rather than printed, so it’s all the same yellow color, and my eyes are getting old. Mine is actually **1** 250 watts. Point goes to you, sir. They are not much different at all in power consumption. Air popper still wins on oil and salt, though, so I’m going to keep using it. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/27 "2011-12-04T04:38:54Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > They are not much different at all in power consumption. Air popper still wins on oil and salt, though, so I’m going to keep using it. Oddly, for those same reasons, an air popper loses for me. The taste of pot-cooked popcorn with some organic coconut oil and some salt is fantastic. And I agree I would do popcorn in a glass bowl in the microwave (with a little oil or bacon fat ;)) before I would get out the hot-air popper. Air popped corn always tastes a little stale and mushy to me, whereas oil-cooked popcorn, given a chance for the moisture to evaporate, is crisp and delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/28 "2011-12-04T04:53:38Z")
> [@thepete](#): > > This is a good question. Perhaps Cecil could take this on? 🙂 I’ll talk to him about it, but I suspect he’s going to think this is pretty easy to solve - just take a Kill-o-Watt meter and plug it into the microwave and popcorn popper, and weigh the yield of popcorn to get a kW\*hr/pound. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/29 "2011-12-04T20:40:22Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I’ll talk to him about it, but I suspect he’s going to think this is pretty easy to solve - just take a Kill-o-Watt meter and plug it into the microwave and popcorn popper, and weigh the yield of popcorn to get a kW\*hr/pound. Interesting idea. If I remember, next time I make popcorn I’ll try it and revive this thread. I don’t have popcorn very often, though, so I might not remember by then. I’ll bookmark the link, though, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/30 "2011-12-05T00:56:26Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > The power ratings seem to favor the popcorn popper by far,a quick google search tells me that it is around 250-300W while a microwave can be 600-1500W. I think your quick Google search may have let you down. The lowest power rating I can find for a hot air popcorn maker is 800W for the Primo Duck Popper. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/31 "2011-12-05T12:51:15Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think your quick Google search may have let you down. The lowest power rating I can find for a hot air popcorn maker is 800W for the Primo Duck Popper. It’s possible, but I did include cites in post #11 that use 250W as the benchmark. I agree that these ratings seem low though. Where did you find other power ratings? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/32 "2011-12-05T13:06:12Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > It’s possible, but I did include cites in post #11 that use 250W as the benchmark. I agree that these ratings seem low though. Where did you find other power ratings? That 250 W was corrected to 1250 W in post # 26 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/33 "2011-12-05T14:56:36Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > It’s possible, but I did include cites in post #11 that use 250W as the benchmark. I agree that these ratings seem low though. Where did you find other power ratings? My own air popper is rated 1200W (on the box and the device itself). I looked at the product information pages for a number of different (yet fundamentally similar) devices on online retail sites and a couple of manufacturer product info pages. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/34 "2011-12-05T16:46:42Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > That 250 W was corrected to 1250 W in post # 26 No, the cites I provided were not corrected nor did I make post # 26. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/35 "2011-12-05T20:20:18Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > That 250 W was corrected to 1250 W in post # 26 Post #26 was me correcting myself on rereading _my_ popper’s power rating. I was in no way commenting on any other popper than the one in my cupboard. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/36 "2011-12-05T21:01:15Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > It’s possible, but I did include cites in post #11 that use 250W as the benchmark. I agree that these ratings seem low though. Where did you find other power ratings? The first and last cites in that post look like they’re based on exactly the same source data (or one is a straight copy of the other) - and it looks like they both plumped for the same error. Here are some of the models I looked at: [Duck popper](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prima-PDP100-Popper-Popcorn-Maker/dp/B00008WFDQ) (850W) [Giles & Posner Premier](http://www.gilesandposner.com/acatalog/Premier_Popcorn_Maker_Info.html) (1200W) [Giles & Posner Retro](http://www.gilesandposner.com/acatalog/Retro_Popcorn_Maker_Info.html) (1040W) [Rival Electric Popcorn Maker](http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rival-Electric-Popcorn-Maker/16451316#Item+Description) (1100W) Of course, the power rating figure for the machine alone tells us nothing about the efficiency of the machine - because a high-powered machine that makes a lot of popcorn fast could still be more energy-efficient than a low-powered, low-volume machine. ---
**Author:** ![thepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@thepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thepete)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636/37 "2011-12-21T01:10:22Z")
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I’m still confused about which one really uses less electricity, but that’s OK. The wife and I have talked over the info presented here and weighed it against our actual needs and it looks like we’ll get a new microwave after all. We’ll also get an air popper, too, however. We’re thinking the microwave popcorn is more expensive than just buying a jar of popping corn and using our own choice for oil and salt, rather than trusting some company. I’m just sure the new microwave will just sit there collecting dust, but ah well. Maybe we’ll leave it unplugged. Thanks again, everyone!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-uses-more-energy-popping-popcorn-in-an-air-popper-or-a-microwave/604636.md?page=1)