Air fryers have become a must-have kitchen item for many people in recent years. Soaring energy bills have hastened many people’s transition, with air fryers promising to use less energy than cooking in an oven. However, Martin Lewis has warned people to be cautious when replacing an oven with an air fryer or microwave to save money, as the air fryer may cost more in some cases. The problem with the equation for heating equipment is an oven is going to be about 2000W,” the Money Saving Expert said on his podcast. I believe a microwave provides consistent heat, whereas an oven warms up to full temperature before topping it off, so it isn’t running at full power the entire time.” “Doing a jacket potato in the microwave for 10 minutes is going to be less expensive than doing a single jacket potato in an oven for an hour and a half.” “However, if you were doing a full roast dinner and cooking many of them, it would probably be cheaper than putting five or six jacket potatoes in a microwave because each additional object you put in a microwave requires you to leave it on for longer because a microwave only heats the individual object.” “The general formula is to find the wattage of an item, then figure out how many kilowatts or fractions of a kilowatt it’s using, and then multiply that by 34p per hour of use.” According to Which? agrees with Mr Lewis that air fryers are the cheapest option for cooking most foods, but “if you’re cooking large quantities, it’s still better to use your oven.” “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,” said Emily Seymour, the consumer group’s energy editor. However, the cost savings will quickly be lost if you have to cook more than one batch, so if you’re cooking large quantities, it’s still better to use your oven.
