Are Air Fryers Energy Efficient? Benefits, Downsides & FAQs

With the global crisis and the prices rising rapidly, people are searching for more ways to be cost-effective. Air fryers are common kitchen appliances that don’t fry your food but instead heat it using convection. The air circulates the small chamber, cooking your food with a similar principle to a convection oven. Saving money on minor activities such as cooking and preparing a meal may seem insignificant, but it can make a vast difference once the numbers add up.

Once you learn that you can shorten the time of preparing a meal by almost half simply by using an air fryer instead of a convection oven, you can understand how energy efficient this little appliance is. Continue reading to learn more details about the consumption of air fryers and how energy efficient they really are.

Benefits of Air Fryers

Compared to deep-fried food, air fryers are a real treat for your body. The most crucial benefit of air fryers is cooking healthy meals. Air fryers are perfect alternatives to greasy and oily food fried in a deep fryer. Air fryers still use some amounts of oil, which has been reduced to a minimum, providing you with a healthier meal.

One significant advantage that air fryers have over any other type of oven is faster food frying. This appliance has a small chamber that generates heat faster than any other fryer. While an oven usually requires 10 minutes to preheat, the air fryer is ready to go immediately. This makes it great for having easy and quick snacks and saves a lot of money on electricity bills.

Downsides to Using an Air Fryer

While air fryers are straightforward and practical for everyday use, they lack the capacity for cooking larger meals. Depending on the size of your meal and the fryer basket, you may need to cook in batches, which is quite inconvenient for some people.

While a meal cooking fast with an air dryer is a significant advantage, it is actually a double-edged sword. A meal that cooks that quickly has a much greater risk of burning. If you are not that experienced at handling an air dryer, you may not be aware that your meal is already finished and ruin your entire meal by leaving it for way too long. The air fryer also generates very high temperatures, so if you’re used to the traditional oven, you may need some getting used to this new device.

Are Air Fryers Energy Efficient?

Another reason air fryers are gaining popularity is the energy efficiency of this excellent appliance. Since this device has a smaller chamber than an oven, it requires less energy to heat up and does it much faster, almost immediately. This is excellent news for the environment and your electrical bill. Air fryers are considered to be much more energy efficient than most appliances. It works quickly and effectively, spending minimal energy throughout the day.

They are very versatile; you can make snacks, meals, and desserts in them or even heat your leftovers. With a system of heating the chamber right away, you don’t have to wait very long to begin cooking, saving you many hours of using the oven to prepare a meal.

Are Air Fryers More Efficient Than Convection Ovens?

While an average oven will use up to 3,000 watts per hour, an air fryer will use only up to 1,800 watts of energy. To put this into perspective—using an oven for one hour will cost you around $0.49 and using an air fryer for an hour will cost you about $0.29. This may seem insignificant but considering you will use an oven much longer than an air fryer to achieve the same results, the difference in price keeps rising. With an air fryer being so effortless and quick to use, you can save a lot of money and time. A convection oven also needs more time to preheat before preparing your meal, while an air fryer heats up immediately.

Final Thoughts

Every appliance has pros and cons, and while an air fryer may be energy efficient, it lacks some other features that traditional devices may possess. After reading about this interesting and valuable kitchen appliance, you may consider cutting some costs. An air fryer may seem like a wise alternative, considering all the hours spent in the kitchen with multiple appliances working simultaneously.

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