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How many Amps does an Air Fryer pull?

How many Amps does an Air Fryer pull?

If you love your air fryer as much as I do, your electricity bill will be your next concern. So I expect you to ask questions like, “How many amps does an Air Fryer pull?”, “Do air fryers save on electric bills?” or “how much electricity does my air fryer use?” or even “doesn’t my oven use less power?” In this article, I will walk you through the energy usage of the air fryer and compare it to other conventional ones for a deeper understanding of the air fryer.

However, if you are new to the air frying game but are looking for an energy-efficient way of cooking, look no further. The popularity of air fryers has grown so much that it has replaced deep fryers and ovens in our homes and hearts. They’re a fantastic way to making cooking faster, easier and give you the most desired result.

Air fryers

An air fryer is cooking equipment that circulates heat at extremely high temperatures to grill, fry, and bake food. The air fryer’s cooking chamber radiates intense heat from a heating element close to the food; the hot air is circulated to the cooking chamber. Hot air is created by turning the electricity supplied into heat using a heating element. The hot air is blown over the food and moves, cooking the outside to crisp it and cooking the food internally.

This is similar to how a convection oven works, but the oven has more space for heat circulation. The temperature of a typical air fryer can go up to 482 °F depending on its model. A regular Air fryer has power ratings based on its size and food cooking capacity. While smaller units can be as low as 1000W to 1200, larger ones tend to be 1700W to 2000W.

Component of The Air Fryer

Air fryers come in a variety of styles but with the same basic design. However, the Air fryers are slightly different depending on the brand. The essential component of a typical air fryer is;

  • Food container: it is a nonstick-coated basket with a slotted bottom in which food is placed. The slotted tray fits inside the basket, and it allows fat and other residues to fall to the bottom, away from food.
  • Drip tray: it is a nonstick surface tray where the basket bottom section where melted fat, water, crumbs, and other residue collects for easy cleaning after cooking.
  • Electric heating element: it is a small version to those seen in a standard oven. It converts electrical energy into heat energy.
  • Electric fan: This is placed just over or below the heating element to force hot cooking air over the food. This helps for an even cook in the air fryer.
  • Temperature and cooking time controls: They offer push-button controls for the temperature and timer. But, again, it differs for different models.

Some added features like preheating and timer are enabled in some models, but these components are universal to all air fryer designs.

Are Air Fryers Energy Efficient and Economical

Now we know how an air fryer works and its essential component, it is necessary to look at how energy efficient it is. One thing that distinguishes an air fryer from cooking appliances is the time it takes to reach cooking temperatures. Unlike a conventional oven, an air fryer is a compact and small meaningless space to circulate the hot air. Therefore, the bigger the size of the chamber, the longer it takes for the air to reach higher temperatures. And in that aspect, the air fryer’s restricted space becomes an advantage.

Because of the air fryer’s powerful heating and smaller size, the air fryer can cook a quicker meal than many other appliances. Therefore, the appliance runs for less time, which equals less power used per session.

How many Amps does an Air Fryer use?

With a bit of science (Ohm’s law), we can use the power rating and current to approximate the amps of different air fryers. While America uses 110V, some other countries use 220 Volt; therefore, include both in the table below. I am also using the power rating of small air fryers (1000W to 1200W) and larger ones (1700W to 1800 W)

Air Fryer Vs. other Cooking Methods

In the real sense of it, Air fryers don’t fry food just like a convection oven. It even shares a share a lot in common with the traditional ovens its convection baking design. Food in both is exposed to hot air forced onto it using a fan.

It cooks food with a crispy outside, similar to how a deep fryer does with grease. This was why it was given its name as a healthy alternative to oil fryers. What makes it different include;

  • Do not need cooking oil that saturates the food as frying does. So less energy is required to raise the temperature of the oil in the case of electric deep fryers.
  • Air fryers use less electricity because of a faster preheating time (about 3 to 5 minutes).
  • It uses a lower maximum temperature than ovens because of its smaller size. For example, convection ovens have a maximum temperature of 450-500°F, while Air fryers typically use 400°F.
  • It takes roughly half the time (or less) for an air fryer to reach its maximum preheat temperature. On the other hand, convection ovens/traditional ovens often take around 10 minutes because they have more air volume and more surfaces to heat inside.

Bottom Line

Air fryers, because of their size & cooking efficiency, use less electricity than other methods. But the best one to get depends on personal preference and use case. A higher-power air fryer can cook smaller portions faster if time is more important to you. Additionally, it generally has a larger basket for cooking more food as well. On the other hand, if energy usage is the priority, a lower power air fryer is the best option.


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