With the cost of living crisis and colder months ahead, we’re all making small changes at home to keep costs down. When it comes to cooking, many of us have been turning on our air fryers more frequently and experimenting with how we use them instead of depending too heavily on the oven.
To save energy at home, finding out what the most energy-efficient kitchen appliances are is a good place to start. After all, kitchens and bathrooms are the rooms in the home that tend to use the most energy. Hometree (opens in new tab), a boiler, heating and home cover company, has revealed that slow cookers are the cheapest cooking appliance to run.
Time to cook up some casseroles, stews and curries…
(Image credit: Morphy Richards)
What’s the cheapest kitchen appliance to run?
Your best slow cooker will cost around 5p an hour to run, according to Hometree. Slow cookers have a low wattage, so even if you leave it on all day, it will only use about the same amount of energy as a lightbulb.
On average, they use about 1.2kW over the course of 8 hours, says Hometree. This means a slow cooker will only use around 162.5w per hour, which works out at just 5p per hour.
Leaving your slow cooker on all day (let’s say eight hours) will only cost around 40p, while your oven will cost 34p in just 20 minutes. So, if you want to cook in a more energy-efficient way, it is well worth investing in our top-rated slow cooker, available at Amazon (opens in new tab).
(Image credit: Future PLC / Colin Poole)
- Slow cooker – 5p per hour
- Microwave – 1.98p every 5 minutes (23.76p per hour)
- Cost to run an air fryer – 5p every 10 minutes (30p per hour)
- Hob – 17p every 15 minutes (68p per hour)
- Oven – 34p every 20 minutes (£1.02 per hour)
What’s the most expensive cooking appliance to run?
On the other end of the scale, the oven (gas or electric) is the most expensive kitchen appliance to run, which comes as no surprise. Avoid storing baking trays inside the oven while cooking, as this can block the airflow and use more energy.
(Image credit: Future PLC / Colin Poole)
Knowing how to clean an oven will also help to keep it running efficiently. As for what uses the most electricity in the home overall, wet appliances like the washing machine come out on top.
Updating your kitchen fittings will also help to save energy in the longer term. Paul Bailey, Leader, Product Management, LIXIL EMENA (opens in new tab) and GROHE UK says upgrading your kitchen fittings, such as taps, is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce your usage at home.
Changing them to models that have resource-saving features like a reduce water flow or cold-start functionality will help reduce how much energy you’re using.
