Air Fryer vs Oven: Which One Actually Saves Money on Your Power Bill?
Published by Kitchen Alliance | Reading time: 6 min
Electricity prices in Australia have jumped more than 20% in the past two years. For most households, the kitchen is one of the biggest energy drains in the home — and your oven is a large part of that.
So when people ask us whether an air fryer is worth buying, our honest answer is: yes, and here's exactly why.
The problem with a conventional oven
A standard electric oven draws between 2,000W and 2,400W of power. Every time you preheat it — which typically takes 15 to 20 minutes before you've even put food in — you're burning through electricity without cooking a single thing.
Then there's the size issue. You're heating a 60–80 litre cavity to cook a tray of chips or a couple of chicken thighs. That's a lot of wasted energy warming air around food that only takes up a fraction of the space.
How an air fryer is different
An air fryer works by circulating hot air rapidly in a compact space — usually 5 to 20 litres depending on the model. Because the cavity is small and insulated, it reaches cooking temperature in 2 to 3 minutes. No waiting. No wasted heat.
The power draw is also significantly lower. Here's how it stacks up:
| Appliance | Wattage | Preheat time | Cook time (chips, 500g) | Total energy used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional oven | 2,200W | 18 min | 25 min | ~1.58 kWh |
| Air fryer (8L) | 1,700W | 2 min | 18 min | ~0.57 kWh |
| Air fryer oven (20L) | 1,800W | 3 min | 20 min | ~0.69 kWh |
At the current average Australian electricity rate of around 33 cents per kWh, that works out to:
- Oven: 52 cents per cook
- Air fryer: 19 cents per cook
- Saving: 33 cents every single time
If you cook in the oven five times a week, that's a saving of roughly $86 per year — just from switching to an air fryer for everyday meals. Over three years, you've paid for a mid-range model.
When the oven still wins
We're not here to tell you to throw your oven out. For certain jobs, it's still the right tool:
- Large roasts and whole birds — you need the capacity, and the oven's consistent ambient heat does the job properly
- Baking bread and cakes — precise, even heat distribution matters; air fryer fans can cause uneven rises
- Cooking for a crowd — if you're feeding eight people at once, the oven's size advantage kicks in
But for weeknight meals — chips, chicken pieces, roasted veg, reheated leftovers, fish fillets — the air fryer is faster, cheaper to run, and produces better results because the circulating air crisps the outside without drying out the inside.
Which air fryer makes the most sense for an Australian household?
For families and batch cooking: Devanti 8L Dual Zone Air Fryer
The dual-zone design means you can cook two different foods simultaneously at two different temperatures — chips in one basket, chicken wings in the other, both finishing at the same time. At 8L total capacity, it handles meals for four to five people comfortably.
It's the most popular model we stock for a reason: it eliminates the "I need the oven because the air fryer isn't big enough" problem that plagues smaller units.
View the Devanti 8L Dual Zone Air Fryer →
For people who want to replace the oven entirely: Devanti 20L Air Fryer Oven with LCD
At 20 litres, this unit genuinely replaces a second oven. It handles a whole chicken, a full baking tray of vegetables, or a family-sized pizza. The LCD control panel gives you precise temperature and time settings across multiple cooking functions — air fry, bake, roast, dehydrate, and more.
If you're in a smaller home, renting, or doing a kitchen renovation and want to reduce your reliance on a fixed oven, this is the one to look at.
View the Devanti 20L Air Fryer Oven →
The bottom line
An air fryer doesn't replace an oven for everything — but it replaces it for most things. And for the meals you cook most often, it does the job in less time, at lower cost, and with less heat pumped into your kitchen (a bonus in an Australian summer).
The numbers are straightforward: the average Australian household would save $60–$100 a year by using an air fryer instead of the oven for everyday cooking. A good model pays for itself in 12 to 18 months, then keeps saving you money for years after that.
If you've been on the fence, that's the honest case for making the switch.
Browse our full air fryer range →
Kitchen Alliance is an Australian-owned appliance retailer. All products ship free across Australia and come with comprehensive warranties. Questions? Contact our team.