# 800 watt unit vs 900 watt unit **URL:** \ **Category:** Anova Support\ **Created:** [May 24, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731 "2018-05-24T23:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aiannar974](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/aiannar974/32/1132_2.png) [@aiannar974](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/aiannar974)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731/1 "2018-05-24T23:02:21Z")
What units seems to hold the temp the best and is most reliable? I dont care about the bells and whistles. I think the 800 watt unit came out after the 900 watt unit. Maybe there is an improvement in temp control? I would also think that 800 watt units is less likely to overshoot the temp. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Anthoyn ---
**Author:** ![DParker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DParker](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/DParker)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731/2 "2018-05-25T01:41:38Z")
> [@aiannar974](#): > > What units seems to hold the temp the best and is most reliable? So long as the volume of water you’re heating is within the max rated capacity for each unit they’ll do an equally good job of maintaining temperature. I don’t know that one is any more reliable than the other. > [@aiannar974](#): > > I think the 800 watt unit came out after the 900 watt unit. No. The 800W bluetooth model came out before the 900W WiFi model. > [@aiannar974](#): > > I would also think that 800 watt units is less likely to overshoot the temp. I’m not sure why you’d think that. When the water reaches the set target temperature both units simply stop heating until the temp drops back below that target. Due to some variables it’s possible for the water temp to very briefly run over by 0.1°, but that’s of no consequence. They’re called “precision” cookers for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![anon70994461](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@anon70994461](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/anon70994461)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731/3 "2018-05-25T12:57:48Z")
If you have a well insulated container (like a cooler box) then both the 800 and 900 will perform the same to a large extent. The 800 will take longer in the initial heating up phase and perhaps also a bit longer to bring the water temp back up to the set temp once you’ve added your (cold) food (if you add a lot of food to a small volume of water). But if you can manage heat loss from the container and have a decent volume of preheated water in your container before you put the food in, both units do the same thing and will idle at a much lower average power consumption. The power consumption of my 900 (Wifi), once the water temp is up to the set point, fluctuates between idle (close to zero) to 220watts ish, but mostly in the 100s range. Eitherway, I strongly recommend that you buy a cooler box, put a hole through the lid and use that as an insulated container. With long cooks, it will save you a lot of electricity. (search the forum, I have posted info on the container I made i use) ---
**Author:** ![michihenning](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/michihenning/32/1655_2.png) [@michihenning](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/michihenning)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731/4 "2018-05-25T13:01:41Z")
> [@zqushair](#): > > Eitherway, I strongly recommend that you buy a cooler box, put a hole through the lid and use that as an insulated container. With long cooks, it will save you a lot of electricity. Not really, the electricity savings are minimal: > [@Sous Vide Koozie - anyone tried it?](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/sous-vide-koozie-anyone-tried-it/9739/4): > > It looks nice, and neoprene is a good insulator. I’m not sure that the return on investment stacks up though. The Anova consumes 800 or 900 W when it’s heating. To keep water for the average recipe warm, I’ve seen it switch on (on average) about 20% of the time (measured by looking at my consumption meter). The actual figure will vary greatly with season and location. Let’s be ultra-pessimistic and assume that the Anova has its heater turned on 50% of the time to keep the water at the target tem… ---
**Author:** ![anon70994461](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@anon70994461](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/anon70994461)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731/5 "2018-05-25T13:05:30Z")
> [@michihenning](#): > > Not really, the electricity savings are minimal: I beg to differ. I have done experiments on it with a power meter. The power consumption (over say a 24 or 48 hours period) was quite a bit higher when I first got the anova (insulated plastic container) vs when I got the cooler box. ---
**Author:** ![michihenning](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/michihenning/32/1655_2.png) [@michihenning](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/michihenning)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:07pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731/6 "2018-05-25T13:07:14Z")
I have no doubt that the power consumption will be higher without an insulated container. But my calculations are that an insulated container saves only a fraction of a cent’s worth of electricity per day. The savings are real, but trivial. ---
**Author:** ![anon70994461](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@anon70994461](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/anon70994461)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/800-watt-unit-vs-900-watt-unit/14731/7 "2018-05-25T13:14:02Z")
Depends on how much you pay for elec. But yeah I agree, the savings won’t suddenly put your budget back in black. I think we can both agree that the lower the power of the unit, the more important it is to use an insulated container.