Although I’m fairly thrifty, I never had to think twice about using my oven before the cost of living crisis. However, after reading a report by Utilita in August 2022 which said the annual savings of using an air fryer could add up to £279.66 per year, I decided to give it a go myself. But did my new air fryer live up to expectations and help me save money on my energy bills?
Air fryers have become one of the most talked about kitchen appliances with experts claiming they could help significantly reduce people’s energy bills.
Air fryers cost around £55.91 per year to run, compared to gas cookers at £121.06 per year and electric cookers at £335.57 per year.
It means those using an electric oven right now, could see big savings by swapping it for an air fryer even after the initial cost of the purchase is factored in.
When you look at the compact size of an air fryer, it’s not surprising they cost less to run as there’s less to heat up – but they also cook food much quicker.
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This air fryer also comes with a really useful recipe book which has also inspired me to shake up our meal plan and be a little more imaginative.
Instead of our usual Sunday roast last weekend, I served up a healthy chicken pesto traybake and I also dished up a delicious breakfast frittata with bacon, sausage, mushroom and tomato instead of a full English breakfast on Saturday morning.
Although I love it, larger families may find air fryers more of a struggle especially if parents tend to cook more than one option at mealtimes to please fussy eaters.
It’s a good idea to always check air fryer timings by doing a quick internet search – it may sound daft but the first time I used it, I automatically put a pizza in for the time it would take to cook in a normal oven and needless to say it came out burnt!
When I received my January bill, I was pleasantly surprised to see my energy bills are still £25 lower than they were this time last year.
I can’t put this all down to the air fryer though – I’ve also been using a slow cooker and have swapped the hob for the microwave.
However, my bills go to show that a lot of small changes add up if you stick to them consistently which is good news for people who want to lower their bills.
Other things that I’ve been doing to save money include resisting putting the heating on and washing clothes on a shorter cycle.
I’ve been testing money saving tips for the last few months and my best money-saving swap so far has been ditching the central heating for a heated throw from Vanhaus which costs around five pence an hour to run.
That’s much less than it costs to put the heating on and it keeps me much warmer than the central heating ever would.
I’m also really happy with my slow cooker and air fryer and now that I know they cost so much less to run – and make my life much easier – I’ll be sticking with these changes too.
Express Money readers can use a really useful online tool which helps people work out how much each of their household appliances is costing them so they can decide which swaps they are prepared to make.
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