Cheapest kitchen appliance ‘by far’ costs just 5p per hour – save on bills

Experts have compared five different cooking appliances and identified how much it costs to run each of them per hour, to help those looking to save money in the kitchen.

The appliances which were compared with one another included an air fryer, slow cooker, pressure cooker, oven and microwave.

Greg Wilson, founder of Quotezone.co.uk, said: “People are increasingly choosing to use cooking gadgets that use less energy rather than conventional methods to cook their meals.

“Keeping costs down in the kitchen can make a big difference for households trying to amp up their energy savings amid the cost of living crisis.

“Each of these appliances has its own purpose and function so it’s good to know these comparisons to help families plan out energy efficient meals that can help them save money.”

1. Slow cooker – 5p per hour

According to the research, people can save lots of money on their annual energy bills by opting to use a slow cooker when cooking their meals.

This is after the research found running the slow cooker for five hours would still be cheaper than turning on the oven for half an hour.

The expert said: “The most energy-efficient kitchen cooking appliance by far is a slow cooker. It only costs 5p per hour to run it and most of them are quite large, so you can cook bigger quantities. 

“Slow cookers have low wattage, so even though it takes a few hours to cook a meal, you’ll still be saving money. Slow cookers are great for making low-cost casseroles, stews, pasta dishes, soups, pulled meats and curries.”

2. Pressure cooker – 28p per hour

A pressure cooker uses water and high pressure steam to cook food, and they use 70 percent less energy than normal saucepans as well as retain nutrients well.

According to the experts, they cost 28p to run them and their benefit over slow cookers is that it takes much less time to cook meals.

3. Microwave – 32p per hour

The pros said: “Microwaves aren’t as versatile as other cooking appliances and are mainly used for reheating and defrosting. However, you can still use them for some types of cooking jobs, for example, melting butter and chocolate, softening onions and steaming vegetables. 

“Cooking a jacket potato in a microwave takes about eight to 10 minutes, whereas it would take about an hour to do it in an oven.”

4. Air fryer – 42p per hour

Air fryers have soared in popularity because they cook food faster, use less energy than ovens and require little to no oil to cook foods, meaning they can be a healthy alternative to the frying pan.

They’re also good for cooking small portions as you don’t need to heat up the whole oven, but if you’re looking to batch cook, it may take a lot longer.

5. Oven – 60p per hour

Traditional ovens are the “least energy-efficient” method of cooking, costing around 60p per hour, depending on the size of the oven.

Because of their size, they take a lot of time and energy to heat up the whole space, which is why many people are opting to use other appliances.