Air fryers have become a staple in many households in recent years, loved for their ability to cook food fast. The appliance can cook anything from chicken to sausages to cupcakes, often in a shorter amount of time compared to an oven.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, 3% of the average home’s energy use comes from cooking. With energy bills still high, it’s worth considering which appliances you use when cooking meals. Depending on what you’re cooking, some appliances are more energy efficient than others. This can help lower energy bills and CO2 emissions.
Air fryers vs ovens: Which is cheaper?
According to the Energy Saving Trust, when cooking the exact same meal, air fryers are “cheaper” to run. But which appliance you need depends on how much you’re cooking. For example, air fryers are best when cooking for one or two people.
An air fryer works like a small conventional oven. Because they’re small, they are often cheaper to run than an oven for the same meal. When using the appliance, try not to open the compartment more than necessary to avoid releasing heat and wasting energy.
Ovens better for batch cooking
Ovens are generally bigger than other cooking appliances, so they use more energy to heat up. This means a typical electric oven can be the most expensive cooking appliance to run when cooking individual portions. However, their larger size means you can fit a lot more food in it at any one time. This makes an electric oven much better for batch cooking or cooking for a large group.
As with an air fryer, avoid opening the oven door more than necessary while the oven is on to keep hot air inside and reduce energy waste.
Microwaves best for reheating
If you need to reheat food, the best option is to go for a microwave. Instead of heating the air around it, microwaves heat the food directly. This means they work quickly, so the cost per use is likely to be much lower than that of other cooking appliances.
