Why does my toaster need to know if I'm only toasting one slice of bread?

I think your toaster is just being nosy.

I had a toaster like that and only one slot would heat up.

Maybe with the internet of things it wants to know when to order you more bread.

It reports the number of slices that you toast to your employer’s health plan. If you exceed the SPY amount (slices per year) your insurance rates go up.

Yes, that’s why you should always toast your slices separately, and press the “reheat” option the second time around—the toaster will think your first slice has just gotten cold, rather than adding another tally to your SPY count. But don’t let them know you know the trick!

Stand up for toasters! Toasters are overworked! Don’t make toasters work overtime!

Obama needs to know if you’re wasting energy. Do your part to prevent rising energy prices, @ibstubro. Tell the toaster what it wants to know.

It’s reporting to the NSA. Who knows why they need to know, but it’s for the children, I suppose.

Maybe if you play this song to your toaster it will toast more evenly. A happy toaster toasts better. Yeah toast!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHptn_3RyYE

I have my grandmother’s old 1959 Sunbeam toaster. If you put the single slice of bread in the wrong slot, it won’t go down and toast. There was a trip wire thing that activated the “go down (?)” feature. (This old toaster was a wonder to us kids. Mom’s toaster was a GE and you had to manually pull down the handle to toast.) And, yes both sides would heat up whether you toasted one slice or two.

Reduces an infinitely tiny bit of electricity by closing one slot.

Good thing the technology wasn’t President Obama’s idea as part of his Green plan. Republications would have denied the science and fought it tooth and nail.

I have yet to see that, though my current toaster has a Bagel setting that cuts off the outside coils.

@kritiper That is the same toaster I have! Some of them are worth a pretty penny, and I’ve collected 6–8 of them. Cherish it…those babies were big bucks in their day.

Thanks, all!
I actually remember asking this question as s small kid. 50 years later the answers make…er…just as much sense. :-)

@ibstubro It’s no small wonder Gram had it, then. The one she had before that was a 1920’s model that toasted 4 at a time. But there was no timer and you had to turn each slice over to get the whole slice toasted.

Sunbeam made those toasters for decades and retailed them through Sears.
Today they sell for from $15 to $200 on eBay. Usually in the $50–60 range with shipping.
Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster
Automatic Beyond Belief!

I retired my first one which is a groovy 60’s side-by-side that belonged to my grandmother.
Thinline, really scarce. If you ever see one, snag it.
Obviously, I could go on and on.

I remember back when he geezes a pop-up feature on a toaster was new.

My grandmother had one of those old electric pyramid toasters where you had to manually turn the bread over to toast the other side.
Boy, did we think that was keen!