MARTIN Lewis has issued a warning to households who have ditched their ovens for microwaves and air fryers in order to save money.
The Money Saving Expert has called on people to be mindful that they aren’t using more money as a result of the switch.
Air fryers have become hugely popular in recent years, and are the must-have kitchen item for many.
Soaring energy bills have accelerated the switchover for many people, with air fryers promising to use less energy than cooking in an oven.
However, Martin Lewis has called for people to be careful when swapping an oven for an air fryer or microwave to save money, with the air fryer costing more in some instances.
Speaking on The Martin Lewis podcast, he said: “A microwave gives you consistent heat whereas an oven is warming up to full temperature and then topping it up so it isn’t running at full power the whole time.
"If you were doing a full roast dinner and you were cooking many jacket potatoes, it’s probably cheaper putting them in the oven than putting five or six jacket potatoes in a microwave because each additional object you put in a microwave, you need to keep it on longer because a microwave just heats the individual object.
“General equation is, find the wattage of an item, then work out how many kilowatts or what fraction of a kilowatt it's using, then multiply that by 34p per hour of use.”
Research from Which? agrees with Mr Lewis, that air fryers are the cheapest option for cooking most foods but “it is still better to use your oven if you’re cooking large quantities”.
Emily Seymour, the consumer group’s energy editor, said: “There has been a surge of interest in air fryers and smaller cooking appliances in recent months, and our research shows that the hype could be justified in some cases, as we’ve found these products cost less to cook certain foods than conventional ovens.
“The cost savings will soon be lost if you have to cook more than one batch though, so it is still better to use your oven if you’re cooking large quantities.”
