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The beginning
By 1939, Spencer became one of the world’s leading experts in radar tube design. Spencer then created the first true microwave oven by attaching a high density electromagnetic field generator to an enclosed metal box. The magnetron emitted microwaves into the metal box blocking any escape, allowing heat to be available. -
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First Commercial Made Microwave
In 1947, the first commercial made microwave oven was made, as it was around six feet tall, weighed around 750 pounds, and it costed between $2,000 and $3,000. -
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First Home Microwave
Tappan came out with the first home model of the microwave, which was priced at $1,295. -
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Affordable Microwave is here
In 1967 the first relatively affordable ($495) and reasonably sized (counter-top) microwave oven was available for sale. It was a 100-volt microwave oven, which cost just under $500 and was smaller, safer and more reliable than previous models. -
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The Microwave is Needed in Every Family's Home
By 1975, sales of microwave ovens would, for the first time, exceed that of gas ranges. The following year, a reported 17% of all homes in Japan were doing their cooking by microwaves, compared with 4% of the homes in the United States the same year. Before long, though, microwave ovens were adorning the kitchens in over nine million homes, or about 14%, of all the homes in the United States. In 1976, the microwave oven became a more commonly owned kitchen appliance than the dishwasher. -
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Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Percy was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, alongside great inventors like Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and George Washington Carver. -
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Efficiency
A microwave oven converts only part of its electrical input into microwave energy. An average consumer microwave oven consumes 1100 W of electricity in producing 700 W of microwave power, an efficiency of 64%.