Smallest hotplate Ive ever seen is 1500 watts. You use it to heat the container, which in turn heats the water. Microwave puts most of the heat directly into the water. That makes it more efficient twice. (not two times as efficient, but two modes of efficiency.) Hey, you just made me put down my coffee and go to the kitchen and read labels!
The Microwave is 3,850 Watts, and the hot plate is 1200.
Now I am going to have to microwave my coffee...
The 700watt microwave I had used 1000 watts of power, all told. Fans, etc. The one I have now is 900watts effective power, but it is also a convection oven, with two heating elements in it. More efficient to use than the big gas oven for some things, but it doesn’t draw all that power when it’s just heating a cup of water. 13 amps @110 watts = 1430 watts total power. Still a tad cheaper to operate than the 1500 watt hotplate we seldom use these days.
How long does yours take to heat a cup of water? 2 minutes is about right for mine.