How much does it cost to use an air fryer? May 2023 cost

Do you own an air fryer? (Picture: Getty)

The cost of living crisis has seen rising costs across a number of staple grocery items, as well as energy bills and many are looking to see where they can cut corners and save money.

As everyone has started to think about ways we can tweak our day-to-day lives to save some pennies, many have turned to kitchen gadgets like an air fryer to try and cut back on costs.

An air fryer is an ideal way to cook things quickly, with the popular device able to produce everything from roast potatoes to chicken, fish, steak and veggies.

It is also a healthier way to cook your meals, as they don’t require much in the way of oil, and they generally are cheaper to run than a conventional oven.

But how much does it actually cost to use an air fryer?

How much does it cost to use an air fryer?

How much an air fryer costs for you to use depends on the size of the air fryer that you have.

A small air fryer will use around 800 to 1,000 watts, while larger air fryers will be around 1500 watts.

According to a recent study by Uswitch, the costs work out as follows:

1000 watts air fryer costs 17p per 30 minutes of use, and 33p per 60 minutes of use

1500 watts air fryer costs 25p for 30 mins, and 50p for 60 mins

Using an air fryer also cuts down on cooking time, which gives it the edge over using an oven when it comes to cooking meals.

Uswitch Energy expert Natalie Mathie told Metro.co.uk that ‘some air fryers use a similar amount of power to an oven, but you save money because you need to use them for a much shorter time.

‘It can take up to ten mins for some ovens to get up to temperature, whereas most air fryers are ready in just three.

‘So while it could cost around 17p to cook the chicken in an oven, it would cost about half that in an air fryer.

‘Cooking a jacket potato in an air fryer, for example, could save you 28p compared to using the oven.’

Using an air fryer to cook small meals for yourself and your partner will work out cheaper than using an oven. (Picture: Getty)

However, it should be noted that air fryers don’t really save you money when it comes to cooking bigger meals – like a full roast dinner.

Emily Seymour, Which? consumer group’s energy editor has said: ‘There has been a surge of interest in air fryers and smaller cooking appliances in recent months, and our research shows that the hype could be justified in some cases, as we’ve found these products cost less to cook certain foods than conventional ovens.

‘The cost savings will soon be lost if you have to cook more than one batch though, so it is still better to use your oven if you’re cooking large quantities.’

It is a sentiment shared by Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis, who stressed on his podcast that using an air fryer or a microwave is not always the most cost-effective solution.

‘If you were doing a full roast dinner and you were cooking many jacket potatoes, it’s probably cheaper putting them in the oven than putting five or six jacket potatoes in a microwave because each additional object you put in a microwave, you need to keep it on longer because a microwave just heats the individual object’ he said.

‘General equation is, find the wattage of an item, then work out how many kilowatts or what fraction of a kilowatt it’s using, then multiply that by 34p per hour of use.’

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Air fryers are all the rage.