Does an air fryer use a lot of electricity?

No. A typical air fryer is rated 1,200 to 1,800 watts, but it runs briefly and its element cycles rather than firing continuously. A 20-minute cook at 1,500 watts consumes roughly 0.5 kilowatt-hours, which at the US average residential rate of about 17 cents per kWh reported by the Energy Information Administration costs 8 to 9 cents. Used daily for a year, that is around 30 dollars — a fraction of what a refrigerator or clothes dryer contributes to the same bill.

How much does it cost to run an air fryer for an hour?

About 20 to 30 cents, depending on your rate and the model. A 1,500-watt unit running a full hour would use 1.5 kilowatt-hours at full draw, or roughly 26 cents at 17 cents per kWh — but the real figure is lower because the element cycles on and off to hold temperature after the initial climb. In practice very few air fryer cooks last an hour; the appliance exists precisely because most of them last 10 to 25 minutes.

Is an air fryer cheaper to run than an oven?

Almost always, for small portions. A conventional electric oven draws roughly 2,000 to 5,000 watts and needs 10 to 15 minutes to preheat a large insulated cavity, so even a short bake carries substantial overhead. An air fryer heats a few quarts in three minutes and cooks faster once it is there. The exception is volume: once you are cooking enough food to fill an oven, the oven wins per serving, because the air fryer would need several sequential batches.

Does the air fryer draw its full rated wattage the whole time?

No, and this is why the label overstates the cost. The rating is peak draw. Once the chamber reaches the set temperature the thermostat cycles the heating element on and off to hold it, so the average draw over a full cook is meaningfully below the rated figure. Treat any cost calculated from the nameplate wattage as a ceiling rather than an estimate. The initial preheat is the only period during which the element runs more or less continuously.

Will using an air fryer daily show up on my bill?

Barely. Daily 20-minute use at 1,500 watts is about 15 kilowatt-hours a month, roughly 2.50 dollars at the national average rate — well under one percent of a typical household bill. The Energy Information Administration puts average US household consumption near 900 kilowatt-hours a month, so an air fryer is a rounding error next to heating, cooling, water heating and refrigeration. If it displaces oven use, it may lower the bill rather than raise it.

Do Air Fryers Use a Lot of Electricity?

Written & researched by Derek Holt Home & Appliances Editor

Updated August 2026

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No. A typical air fryer costs about 8 to 9 cents per 20-minute cook. The 1,200 to 1,800 watt rating looks alarming next to a light bulb, but energy is wattage multiplied by time, and air fryers score well on time. Short cook times still have to reach the USDA safe minimum internal temperature chart, which puts poultry at 165 degrees Fahrenheit and whole cuts of beef, pork and lamb at 145 to be worth anything. At 1,500 watts a 20-minute session uses roughly 0.5 kilowatt-hours; at the US average residential price of about 17 cents per kWh — the figure published in the US Energy Information Administration's published average retail price of electricity to residential customers — that is under a dime. Daily use adds around 2.50 dollars a month, and if it replaces oven cooking, your bill may go down.

How much energy does one cook actually use?

The arithmetic is simple enough to do for your own machine: watts divided by 1,000, multiplied by hours, multiplied by your rate per kilowatt-hour. Your rate is printed on your utility bill and varies enormously by state — under 12 cents in parts of the South, over 30 cents in Hawaii and California — so the national average is a starting point, not your number.

Cook length at 1,500 W	Energy used	Cost at 17¢/kWh
10 minutes	~0.25 kWh	~4¢
20 minutes	~0.50 kWh	~8–9¢
30 minutes	~0.75 kWh	~13¢
Daily 20 min, one month	~15 kWh	~2.55 dollars
Daily 20 min, one year	~180 kWh	~31 dollars

Those figures assume the element runs at full rated draw throughout, which it does not, so treat them as an upper bound.

Over-the-shoulder view of a person's hands lifting food from a countertop appliance in a bright kitchen, in soft overcast light

Why does the label overstate the real cost?

Because the rating is peak draw, not average draw. During preheat the heating element runs more or less continuously; after that the thermostat cycles it on and off to hold the setpoint, so the average over a full cook is below the nameplate figure. The chamber is also small and insulated, meaning less energy is spent simply keeping a large empty cavity hot. That combination — brief run time plus duty cycling in a small space — is the entire energy story of the appliance, and it is why a device rated like a space heater costs pennies to use.

Wide environmental view of a person's hands lifting food from a countertop appliance in a bright kitchen, in warm evening lamplight

How does it compare with other kitchen appliances?

Against a full-size electric oven the air fryer wins decisively on small portions, mainly because it skips a 10 to 15 minute preheat of a large cavity. It loses once you are cooking enough to fill an oven rack, since it would take several batches to get there.

Appliance	Typical draw	Notes
Air fryer	1,200–1,800 W	Short cooks, 3 min preheat
Electric oven	2,000–5,000 W	10–15 min preheat, large cavity
Toaster oven	1,200–1,800 W	Similar to an air fryer per cook
Microwave	1,000–1,500 W	Cheapest per reheat, no browning
Slow cooker	70–300 W	Low draw, very long run time

Overhead view of a person's hands lifting food from a countertop appliance in a bright kitchen, in soft overcast light

Does it matter next to the rest of the bill?

Not really. The Energy Information Administration puts average US household electricity use around 900 kilowatt-hours a month; heating, cooling, water heating and refrigeration dominate that total. An air fryer used daily contributes on the order of 15 kilowatt-hours — under two percent. If reducing your kitchen energy use is the goal, the higher-leverage moves are running the dishwasher only when full, keeping the refrigerator coils clear, and using the smallest appliance that will do the job, which is exactly what an air fryer is.

Where to go next

For the underlying figures see how many watts an air fryer uses, and for the head-to-head, do air fryers use less electricity than an oven. If you are choosing between formats, toaster oven vs air fryer compares both on running cost. Ready to buy? The best air fryers ranks models on aggregated owner ratings, within the small kitchen appliances hub.

We never buy or physically handle the products we rank — our picks come from aggregated owner reviews and expert consensus, explained on how we rank.