Energy Saving BS

Astria

[Deleted User] said:

FreeBear said:

mmmmikey said: Assumptions:

1. 30 minutes per day (as per your question)

2. Air fryer is rated at 1500W (I've had a look and seems fairly typical)

3. Air fryer runs continually for the 30 minutes

4. Air fryer uses half the energy as the oven (this is just a guess but seems resonable or possibly conservative - has anyone measure this?)

You also assume that both an oven and air fryer are consuming full power at all times.

My oven, once up to temperature, cycles on & off. So if the element is 2KW, typical consumption (once up to ~200°C) is around 1KWh. I would expect an air fryer to exhibit similar characteristics - This will impact on your savings calculations and RoI times.

Not sure really, be good if someone with a Tapo plug or similar can measure this. With the conventional oven (a) you need to let it heat up first (b) you're heating a larger space (c) cooking times are longer hence my "finger in the air" assumption that it takes twice the amount of energy to cook things.

I have a Tefal Actifry which only has a single cooking temperature and seems to run continually, i.e. doesn't cycle on and off - not sure if that is the case with other air fryers. Are they thermostatically controlled "turn themselves on and off things", or do different power levels simply adjust the temperature of the blown air?

I don't remember what Air Fryer I have but I think it's a Russel Hobbs, the first one stopped working after 3 months but the 2nd one has been going for years Anyway, to the point: I set it to 200c for some chips (or fries, or whatever you want to call sticks of potatoes), and it definitely kept turning the heating element on/off as I could hear the relay. They were done after just over 20 minutes and the power plug said 0.11 kWh, so about 3.5p?

wild666

malc_b said:

Hi All,

With the drive to save energy I see the papers etc. are coming out with the same old BS about standby.  Let me quote the EU page

https://ec.europa.eu/info/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/energy-label-and-ecodesign/energy-efficient-products/mode-standby-and-networked-standby_en

"A wide range of equipment – computers, TVs, audio and video equipment, microwave ovens and electric toys – can have standby and off modes."

"Since 2009 these devices are required to switch into a low power mode (such as standby) after a reasonable amount of time"

"Since 2013, they must not consume more than 0.5 Watts in standby or in off mode"

So unless you have a TV more than 9 yrs old then when "off" it consumes 0.5W or less, that means it takes 2000hrs to consume 1 unit of electric.  There are 8766 hrs in a yr of 365.25 days so that is 4.4 units per year or around £1.50 per year, ~0.5p/day, ~12.5p/mth.  In other words a couch potato probably spends more on the food needed for the effort of getting off the couch to walk to the TV wall switch than he/she saves in electric :-).

My TV is either on using the games consoles or off at the wall socket meaning it is using absolutely no electricity at all. The same can be said for over 95% of the other electrical appliances in my home the only items left on 24/7 are the fridge, freezer and router. The TV connects to the internet in seconds once it's turned on, only once have I had any trouble with the internet connection and that was because of a firmware update to  the TV that meant I had to input the wi-fi password again.

[Deleted User]

Astria said:

I don't remember what Air Fryer I have but I think it's a Russel Hobbs, the first one stopped working after 3 months but the 2nd one has been going for years Anyway, to the point: I set it to 200c for some chips (or fries, or whatever you want to call sticks of potatoes), and it definitely kept turning the heating element on/off as I could hear the relay. They were done after just over 20 minutes and the power plug said 0.11 kWh, so about 3.5p?

Interesting - my chips took 30 minutes and 0.43kWh - a big difference. The Tefal Actifry isn't a bog standard air fryer, it has a shallow pan with a paddle that slowly rotates and agitates the chips. So not a like for like comparison. Using your numbers rather than mine, the air fryer would pay for itself much quicker.

wild666

[Deleted User] said:

poppellerant said:

I think another one of the BS things going round is how air fryers are going to save people money.  Okay, so Joe Bloggs buys an average £100 air fryer and uses it for say 30 minutes every day.  How long will it take for the air fryer to pay for itself?

I'm all for economising where possible, but not when it literally takes years to recoup the money invested in the purchase.

OK, taking your question literally, here's a starting point to scale the costs:

Assumptions:

1. 30 minutes per day (as per your question)

2. Air fryer is rated at 1500W (I've had a look and seems fairly typical)

3. Air fryer runs continually for the 30 minutes

4. Air fryer uses half the energy as the oven (this is just a guess but seems resonable or possibly conservative - has anyone measure this?)

5. Electricity costs 33p/kWh (that's current price for single rate tariff in East Midlands & may well go up when the EPG ends)

Cost per day:

Airfryer 30/60 * 1.5 * 33 = 24.75p

Electric oven = 24.75 * 2 = 49.5p

Saving per day: 24.75p

So if the air fryer costs £100, it would take 404 days (just over a year) to pay for itself

If the air fryer costs £60 (and there are basic models at that price), it would take 242 days (about 8 months) to pay for itself

Happy to be challenged on any of the figures, but the bottom line is that if you do indeed use an air fryer every day instead of the oven it seems likely to pay for itself fairly quickly (a year or so) which in my view makes it a very worthwhile money saving investment. And that's at the EPG prices which may well be significantly higher next year.

My Ninja air fryer has used 0.937 kWh in the last 5 days that's 30p or 6p per day and I use it every day. The usage is from my Tapo 110.

[Deleted User]

wild666 said:

My Ninja air fryer has used 0.937 kWh in the last 5 days that's 30p or 6p per day and I use it every day. The usage is from my Tapo 110.

Thanks - so that's more like @Astria than mine. Will check mine again in case I did something silly with the Tapo 110. Roughly how long do you run it for each time you use it - obviously it will vary, but a typical time would be useful to help the comparison. Thanks, Mike

Raxiel

I know it's nowhere near as healthy, but our deep fat fryer has been getting a lot more use lately.

Similar peak draw to the oven, but it only takes a few minutes to warm up and cooks a full basket of food in 4-5 minutes.

Not suitable for every dish, but for stuff like chips, chicken nuggets, fish fingers, it's qucker, cheaper, and tastes much nicer too.

[Deleted User]

Raxiel said:

I know it's nowhere near as healthy, but our deep fat fryer has been getting a lot more use lately.

Similar peak draw to the oven, but it only takes a few minutes to warm up and cooks a full basket of food in 4-5 minutes.

Not suitable for every dish, but for stuff like chips, chicken nuggets, fish fingers, it's qucker, cheaper, and tastes much nicer too.

Then once you've built up a nice layer of self-insulation, you won't need the heating on so much either! Win-win.

[Deleted User]

Makes me wonder what unused small kitchen appliances I've got lurking at the back of cupboards that might be worth blowing the dust off. George Forman grill maybe? Lamb cutlets for dinner tomorrow I think

Miser1964

wittynamegoeshere said:

I thought they all had that sort of thing.  So some are basically just a hair-dryer in a box then?  Must be very profitable for those making them.

Yes, the 'ring' from an electric cooker mounted above the pull-out tray with a fan blowing air down over the ring and onto the food, so you have radiant and convection heating. 

I have one and it's good for food like Chinese Spring Rolls but I find it makes chicken pieces too dry.  

jrawle

malc_b said:

So unless you have a TV more than 9 yrs old then when "off" it consumes 0.5W or less, that means it takes 2000hrs to consume 1 unit of electric.  There are 8766 hrs in a yr of 365.25 days so that is 4.4 units per year or around £1.50 per year, ~0.5p/day, ~12.5p/mth.  In other words a couch potato probably spends more on the food needed for the effort of getting off the couch to walk to the TV wall switch than he/she saves in electric :-).

It's not "BS". Although manufacturers claim < 0.5W, I find when measuring devices in the real world, they can actually use more than this. Plus most people will have multiple devices. Plus they are not all TVs; some are microwaves or built in ovens fitted over 10 years ago. It all adds up.

Also, don't only think about yourself and how it can cut your costs. If all of the the UK's 28 million households could cut 20W background load on average, that would mean a 0.5 GW reduction, or 5-10% of typical CCGT power generation. That would in turn mean a reduction in CO2 emissions. It might also mean we stand a better chance of avoiding blackouts this winter. Please do your bit!