Air fryers have become all the rage these days, and to be honest, we certainly could not do without ours. Whether it is the kids just popping in a slice of pizza or some chicken nuggets to warm up, or the family preparing a Sunday roast together, our air fryer sees a lot of use… so much so that we have a spare basket, which we swap-in whenever the older basket needs cleaning.
But, with all of this use, is an air fryer cheaper to use than an oven, deep fat fryer, or a microwave? Is there a real benefit to using an air fryer, apart from the convenience and the extra crispy meals that come out of it?
The short answer is yes. An air fryer costs far less to operate than a regular oven, deep fat fryer, or stove per minute or hour of cooking. Not only is an air fryer using less electricity, in general, it takes less long to cook in an air fryer than other appliances, except for the microwave.
The longer answer is that it depends on many other factors as we shall see below.
How much energy does an air fryer use compared to an oven, a convection oven, a microwave, a stove, or a deep fat fryer?
Overall, an air fryer costs far less to operate per hour of use than other appliances. However, the real question is whether using an air fryer to cook a meal for 4 people is cost-effective using an air fryer. This will depend on just how much food is cooked and whether it takes longer or less long to cook the entire meal.
As a quick example, it is possible to cook 4 crumbed fish portions at a time in the air fryer, or to cook 4 portions of fries in the air fryer, but one cannot cook both at the same time. If the fish takes 10 minutes to cook and the fries take 20 minutes, then the overall cooking time is 30 minutes. If I can cook the same amount of food in an oven for less time, then it is better to use the oven. If the oven takes a long time to preheat, then it is better to use the air fryer instead…
For the table below, I have used standard sizes of all appliances as found in my local store and I am using an average electricity cost of 13 cents per kWh.
| Item | Air Fryer | Oven | Convection Oven | Microwave | Stove | Deep fat Fryer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wattage | 1,400 – 2,200 watts | 2,000 – 5,000 watts | 2,000 – 5,000 watts | 800 – 1,500 watts | 3,000 watts | 1,200 – 1,800 watts |
| kilowatt-hours (kWh) | 1.4 – 2.2 kWh | 2 – 5 kWh | 2 – 5 kWh | 0.8 – 1.5 kWh | 3 kWh | 1.2 – 1.8 kWh |
| Costs per hour | 18.2 – 28.6 cents per hour | 23 – 65 cents per hour | 23 – 65 cents per hour | 10.4 – 19.5 cents per hour | 39 cents per hour | 15.6 – 23.4 cents per hour |
| Does the food take longer or less time than in an oven? | Less time | Same | Same | Less time | Same | Less time |
Looking at this table, it is clear that some devices are more energy-efficient than others. However, there is more to cooking smartly than energy use. Where I can bake a single small loaf in an air fryer, I can bake 6 medium-sized loaves of 12 small-sized loaves in my oven, making it far more efficient overall. Looking at it another way, as our party guide shows, we can cook a big batch of fried chicken for 30 people faster in a deep-fat fryer than in an air fryer…
Can Using an Air Fryer Help Preserve Homemade Bread and Keep It Fresher for Longer?
Using an air fryer for homemade bread freshness tips can help retain moisture and crispness, preserving it for longer. The hot air circulation in the air fryer creates a dry environment that can prevent staleness and keep the bread fresher for an extended period of time.
What is the average energy consumption of an air fryer?
Depending on the size, make and model, and temperature at which it is used, an air fryer can consume between 800 watts to 2,200 watts, with the average model with a 3-cup capacity using 1,500 watts per hour. This translates to 0.8 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to 2.2 kWh with an average model using 1.5 kWh.
How many amps does an air fryer use?
The average air fryer (1,500 watts) will use around 14 amps of power while it is being used. Smaller systems can use as little as 9 amps.
Always check the socket ratings in your house and do not overload them by using too many high-powered devices from a single socket.
Are air fryers energy efficient and economical?
Air fryers are considered to be more energy-efficient and economical than the devices that they replace. This is achieved by using a lower wattage – 1,500 watts vs 3,000 watts for an oven – and by greatly reducing the cooking time, for example, removing the pre-heating time entirely.
How does an air fryer’s size affect its electricity usage?
The larger the air fryer, the more energy it will need to heat up and maintain that heat during the cooking process. Simply put, larger spaces take more energy and time to heat up and also have more surfaces where they can lose heat. However, the effect is not always linear, and often getting a larger air fryer does not mean using a lot more energy. Sizing the air fryer to your needs becomes crucial.
For example, a Philips HD9220/20 has an 800g capacity while using 1,425 watts of power. Moving to a Philips HD9240/90R1 increases the capacity to 1.2 kg (50% increase) while requiring 2,100 watts to operate (45% more).
In contrast, the Ninja AF701 air fryer can hold 4 quarts while using 1,550 watts to operate while switching to the Ninja AF161 (Ninja Max XL) means that you increase the capacity to 5.5 quarts (40% more) for only 1,750 watts (12% more energy).
| Size | Cooking Time (minutes) | Power (Watts) | Energy Use (kWh) | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.2 quart | 15 minutes | 1400 Watts | 0.35 kWh | $ 0.046 |
| 3.2 quart | 30 minutes | 1400 Watts | 0.7 kWh | $ 0.091 |
| 3.2 quart | 45 minutes | 1400 Watts | 1.05 kWh | $ 0.136 |
| 3.2 quart | 60 minutes | 1400 Watts | 1.4 kWh | $ 0.182 |
| 3.2 quart | 15 minutes | 1700 Watts | 0.425 kWh | $ 0.053 |
| 3.2 quart | 30 minutes | 1700 Watts | 0.85 kWh | $ 0.055 |
| 3.2 quart | 45 minutes | 1700 Watts | 1.275 kWh | $ 0.166 |
| 3.2 quart | 60 minutes | 1700 Watts | 1.7 kWh | $ 0.221 |
How does an air fryer’s setting affect its electricity usage?
Air fryers can have multiple settings which affect energy consumption. The most basic settings are temperature and time. The longer the air fryer is in use, the more energy it consumes. The higher the set temperature, the more energy it also consumes.
The relationship between these is not linear as a hotter object loses heat faster, so more energy is required to keep that temperature constant.
How does the food in your air fryer affect its electricity usage?
The type of food that you cook affects the cooking temperature and cooking time. Larger portions require considerably longer times to cook while various produce cooks at different temperatures. This has an effect on how hot and how long the air fryer is on and therefore how much energy it consumes.
How to make the most out of your air fryer?
Size and features – to make the most out of an air fryer, you need to consider what is most important to you. What kinds of food do you like to eat? What is your family size? How do you eat? How busy is your everyday life?
Most air fryers use up a little counter space – roughly the same as a coffee maker and are easy to pack away into a cupboard. Others are much larger, bigger even than a microwave but are suitable for more complex meals or larger families.
To help save money while using an air fryer, always make sure that your food is fully thawed as this drastically reduces looking time and use shorter cooking times, checking more frequently until you understand how long each item takes to cook. Unlike an oven, it is actually very easy to pop the food back in for another 2-5 minutes.
How often will you eat specific types of foods? Air fryers save you the most time and electricity when they form an integral part of your routine, and the only way to get the benefits of low-energy consumption is to use the device regularly instead of the stove or oven.
Where does an air fryer really save you money?
As an air fryer does not take long to pre-heat but is limited in size, the ideal use of an air fryer is just like for a microwave – cooking smaller meals or reheating smaller portions of food for 1 to 4 people.
An air fryer only needs 2-3 minutes to pre-heat and most of the time, we do not even bother, increasing the cooking time by 1 minute to compensate instead. In comparison, a convection oven can easily take 20 minutes to reach 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees celsius. A deep fat fryer preheats in 15 minutes. This is energy that could have been spent cooking food in the air fryer. Having said this, the cost-to-benefit calculation changes when much larger portions need to be prepared for a larger group. There, the size of an oven or speed of cooking for a deep fat fryer compensates for this lost energy, and using those appliances becomes more favorable.
How does an air fryer compare to an oven?
An overlooked benefit of an air fryer is the design of the unit. As an air fryer is a much smaller device with a lot less surface area, the air fryer dissipates or loses far less heat into the kitchen. An oven in contrast loses much more heat during cooking, often making the kitchen unbearably hot, making the air conditioner work harder, wasting money.
An air fryer uses roughly half the electricity of a conventional oven while using less time, essentially reducing your energy consumption here by roughly 60%. This is convenient as my oven uses 4 kWh in the evenings for about 70 minutes if I roast a chicken.
Any chef will tell you that cooking is hot work. Not so with an air fryer, which is designed to circulate air in a very small space. the fact that the internal volume of an air fryer is so small means that it takes less energy to warm it up and keep it hot. The air fryer is also designed to keep the hot air circulating within the cooking space, minimizing heat losses in the process. Most air fryers do not even have a glass door or window, instead opting for better insulation right around the device. All of these features mean that the outer surface of the air fryer tends to be cool to the touch, in others words, less energy is lost, saving you money… now, how hot is your oven door?
How does an air fryer compare to a convection oven
Both of these appliances use fans and superheated air to cook the food. In essence, an air fryer is a miniature convection oven. However, the main difference between the two is that the air fryer holds the food in a wireframe basket, maximizing the contact between the food and the hot air while an oven tends to use solid surfaces such as trays or dishes.
There is an additional difference between the two – the materials used in each device are very different. Most racks in an oven are thicker metal bars while the air fryer has a very thin mesh. The walls of the oven are thicker metal while the walls of the air fryer basket are very thin. These differences come from design considerations – the oven has to support much bigger weights than the air fryer and therefore more metal is needed. However, the cost is that as there is more metal in an oven, it takes more energy to heat up the metal.
If you are looking for a crispy-baked product, or a close-to-fried result, then the air fryer is the better choice for 1 – 4 portions.
How does an air fryer compare to a deep fryer
Let us be honest here – there is something magical about a deep-fried doughnut or a juicy piece of piping-hot fried chicken. Does the air fryer come close and does it compete in terms of energy use?
For smaller portions of crumbed food, the air fryer is much faster and more energy-efficient than a deep fat fryer. For food coated in a batter, the deep fryer is probably a better device as the powerful fans in the air fryer will blow off the batter before it has had time to set. The runnier the batter, the worse the problem.
Basically, with an air fryer, there is no pre-heating time, which means that you optimize your energy consumption while cooking smaller amounts in an air fryer. Unfortunately, when it comes to cooking larger items or meat on the bone such as chicken pieces, the deep fryer is faster and often can hold more pieces. This means that when cooking for more than 8 people, the deep fryer is much more energy-efficient overall, including the preheating time.
In addition, the deep fryer is better if a batter is used. The fans on the air fryer tend to blow off anything coating the food that is not “glued” on. The thinner the batter, the worse the problem becomes. However, food prepared in a deep fat fryer is less healthy, so perhaps the inconsistencies in the batter coating are worth it. Simply try to make the batter as thick as possible or start the cooking process in a very hot air fryer. We certainly enjoyed our onion rings in the air fryer, though it took some practice to perfect.
Differences between an air fryer and a microwave
A microwave cooks food very differently from an air fryer and cannot easily be compared. A microwave tends to cook food faster but tends to dry the food rather than fry it. The air fryer takes longer to cook food but tends to leave it crispy and succulent.
The air fryer cannot replace a microwave when it comes to heating or cooking liquids, nor can it compete in terms of speed – with the microwave often cooking food 5x faster than the air fryer. But this comes at a cost – the food does not seem to taste as great, the outside is often soggy rather than crispy while the inside can be drier. So, what you gain in energy saving, you lose out on quality in the finished product, unless you are happy to fiddle with settings all the time.
Differences between an air fryer and an Instant Pot® or Pressure cooker
These appliances are as different as can be. An Air fryer uses hot air to cook in minutes while an Instant Pot®or pressure cooker uses boiling liquids and cooks over hours. Apart from that, both are healthy and energy-efficient ways to cook food.
These appliances are used to make very different types of dishes and cannot really be compared. The air fryer is more energy efficient as it does cook much faster than the Instant Pot®.
So, is an air fryer really worth it?
Air fryers pack so much utility in a small package that it is a perfect appliance for a small kitchen. A single person or a couple sharing a studio apartment or a small 1 or 2 bedroom apartment with a tiny kitchen definitely needs to have one of these devices.
Food uses less energy to prepare and a lot less fat, which makes it much healthier. It also can be prepared in a lot less time and generate less mess and less spattering.
It makes a lot of sense to buy a single, cheap appliance that can take the place of an oven and a deep fryer. If we had to choose, we would send off the kids with a kettle, a microwave, and an air fryer – they would be equipped for daily life.
