Increases in energy costs have fueled an interest in air fryers, but are they worth the hype? Keep your energy costs down with the guidance below.
Top rated air fryers are rare and selling out as people jump on the cheap and healthy cooking bandwagon.
And with high energy costs, it’s no shock that households are becoming convinced of the long-term value of an air fryer.
Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Save up to 74%
Sign up for Kiplinger’s free e-newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger’s expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more – straight to your email.
Profit and thrive with the best of Kiplinger’s expert advice – straight to your email.
However, if you consider upfront purchase costs and the amount of food you want to cook plus other factors, the air fryer may not be cheaper than a conventional oven.
Our friends at The Money Edit put the oven vs the air fryer to the test and find out which is cheaper.
But first consider our other articles on saving energy at home, including electric heaters vs radiators, wood stove vs central heating, fan heaters vs oil heaters, dishwasher vs hand washing, and our audit on how to save on energy bills.
Furnace: Cost to use
Out of most kitchen appliances, including the microwave, oven and air fryer, the oven is known to be the most expensive to use.
On average, conventional furnaces use between 2,000 to 5,000 watts of energy according to Direct Energy (opens in new tab).
But it depends on the temperature at which you have the oven, because the higher the temperature, the more energy it needs to heat the oven.
Calculations done by EnergyBot found the following for average furnace usage costs:
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Use | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Day | 3 kWh | $0.30 |
| Month | 91.2 kWh | $9.13 |
| Year | 1094 kWh | $109.51 |
The great thing about ovens is that they can take in a lot of food. With most ovens having two to three racks, you can put a tray of lasagna on one and the garlic bread on another so they cook at the same time. So it’s worth checking what works for your household – the amount you cook and portion sizes. A meal that you can fit in the oven at once, with a 30-minute cooking time, may require more work in the air fryer, which is smaller.
But be careful, heat is easily lost with an oven, so you have to take that into account as well.
Yahoo Finance reports that you lose 50% of your oven heat every time you open the oven door, so the oven uses more energy to return to its desired temperature.
There’s also the preheating time to consider, so it’s wise to know how long it takes and put your food in as soon as possible to save energy.
Air fryer: Cost to use
The cost of running an air fryer depends on a few factors, such as how powerful it is, its capacity and how long you cook in it.
TechRadar reports that an average air fryer with a wattage of 1500, used for 30 minutes, will consume 0.75 kWh. Meanwhile, an average oven with a wattage of 3000 will use 1.5 kWh during the same 30 minute period.
Air fryers range from 800 watts to 2,000 watts, and the more powerful, the more expensive they are to operate.
The purchase cost of an air fryer can range from as low as $100 to anything around $500, according to Today. The brand you go for and how powerful it is plays a big role in the price.
Your household dynamic will make a difference. Take into account how many people you live with and cook for, as well as the size of your portions.
Although air fryers cook at a lower cost, they have a small compartment to put food in and may require you to cook in two to three rounds, costing you double or even triple.
Most air fryers suggest they cater for three to four people, but this is quite common and depends on what you’re cooking. Only you know how the portion sizes work in your home.
If you want to spend more on a larger compartment or even a dual air fryer that comes with two compartments, you can benefit. However, these models are more expensive and also cost more to use, as they require double the energy.
The verdict
In general, an average air fryer is cheaper to run than an average oven. The difference is about 50% less total energy used, not even considering the shorter time required to cook in an air fryer than an oven.
But if you own an air fryer that is much more powerful, you can use almost the same energy as an oven.
And the most important factor is the amount of food you cook. If you know that one compartment in an air fryer will not be enough for your size family, it may be better for you to use the oven where you can cook the food in one go, rather than in two to three different intervals.
With air fryers, don’t forget to add the initial purchase price to your price savings equation. Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are a great time for deals that add to the cost savings over the life of the air fryer.
English
French
Spanish