I’ve got a long list of reasons to love an air fryer. Speed and convenience and results are at the top. Air fryers also pose no risk of contaminating your home’s air, unlike natural gas ovens. Better still, you don’t have to spend more than $100 to get a good one.
Summer heatwaves are on the horizon and that should have you planning for how you’ll keep the temperature down in the kitchen. Air fryers cook fast and are easy to clean and these ferocious countertop cookers are far cheaper and energy-efficient than large wall ovens. Used instead of the big oven, an air fryer can save you hundreds in utilities in a single year — even more if you factor in having to use the AC less since an air fryer won’t turn your kitchen into a sauna or steam bath.
So how much less energy does an air fryer use? After some deep oven energy calculations, I found that air fryers use about 50% less total energy, and that’s before factoring in the shorter total time needed for most food when cooked in an air fryer versus a big oven.
Here’s how we got that figure and a breakdown of how much you can save using your air fryer instead of the oven.
How much energy does an air fryer use?
The answer won’t be the same for everyone since energy costs vary by state in the US. Oven efficiency also varies and newer models tend to use less gas or electricity. For this exercise, we’ll use some averages and estimates to assess how much you can potentially save if you fire up the air fryer instead of the oven. Oh, and saving money on energy is just one of many reasons we think air fryers are a worthwhile investment. More on that in a bit.
Cost of oven versus air fryer
| Gas oven | Electric oven | Air fryer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per hour of cooking | 40 cents | 52 cents | 25 cents |
So how did we get these numbers? The easiest way to figure out how much an air fryer might save you versus a big oven was to calculate the wattage pulled per hour versus how much an electric stove would use. The same goes for a gas oven, although for that you need to figure out the amount of natural gas used for a stove as well as the cost of natural gas in your state.
Don’t worry. We did the hard part.
How much energy do wall ovens use?
Ovens have become more energy efficient but they still can’t hold a candle to air fryers.
Depending on what type of oven you have, gas or electric, operating costs will vary since natural gas prices and electricity costs vary rather dramatically by state and service provider. While both use a similar amount of energy and have somewhat similar upfront costs, if you own an older oven there’s a good chance it’s less energy-efficient than a newer model.
How much energy does a gas oven use?
Natural gas-powered ovens are thought to cause health complications among children.
To calculate the operating cost of your gas stove and oven, we take the energy rating of the oven in Btu and divide it by 100,000. Multiply the result by the cost per therm of natural gas in your state, which varies greatly, then multiply by the number of hours the oven is used. You should be able to find the energy rating of your oven online if you know the model name or number. It is likely somewhere on the unit itself. If you still have the owner’s manual, you can find the energy rating there, measured in Btu.
To calculate the operating cost of an 18,000-Btu oven, you’ll divide 18,000 by 100,000, giving you 0.18. We’ll also need to find the average price per therm of natural gas in your state. This chart has the most recent prices via the US Energy Information Administration. Note that this chart is listed in dollars per thousand cubic feet, so you’ll need to divide by 10. For instance, if the chart price is $23, you’ll use $2.30 to calculate the cost.
In New York where I live, the price is currently $2.20 per therm (about average for the US). Next, we’ll multiply that price for a therm by the number you calculated in the last step (0.18 in this example) to get the operating cost per hour of using your gas oven.
For me, it would cost about 40 cents per hour to run an 18,000-Btu oven. If I were to run an oven for 1 hour per day, it would cost $146 per year. In some states (including Georgia, Florida and Ohio), natural gas is about 30% higher than the national average. In Hawaii, it’s more than double.
How much energy does an electric oven use?
In New York, an electric oven costs about 50 cents an hour to run.
To determine electric stove consumption you’ll calculate the wattage pulled per hour of cooking. Most electric ovens draw around 3,000 watts, depending on the temperature. Once you find the wattage of your oven via the appliance tag, owner’s manual or an online product listing, multiply that by the…
Read More: Air Fryers Are Cheaper (and Cleaner) to Run Than Wall Ovens. Here’s How Much You