Cost of living: Air fryer sales rocket by 3,000% as consumers seek to slash energy costs | UK News

Demand for energy efficient air fryers has soared by up to 3,000% since the same time last year amid soaring energy bills, figures suggest.

Sales of some air fryers are up 2,000% since the summer, according to price comparison website PriceRunner.

The most popular air fryer on the site, the Ninja AF400UK, has seen the number of units sold rise by more than 22,000% since October last year.

Analysts believe consumers are responding to research that found the kitchen appliance to be significantly more cost-effective in terms of energy use compared with conventional cookers and ovens.

Utilita found that air fryers – which cost anywhere from around £60 to £200 – run at an average cost of £55.71 a year, while an electric cooker runs at £335.57 a year.

Another study by Hometree in September found that while an oven with an average wattage of 3kW costs about 34p to run for 20 minutes, a 1kW air fryer would cost 10p.

PriceRunner consumer spokeswoman Evelina Galli said: “Air fryers, as we know, are massively popular right now and our data backs this up, with the most popular models on our website seeing more than significant increases since this summer alone – up 7,000% on some models – although we actually started seeing an uprising in air fryers back in 2020/2021 when they were all the rage on TikTok.”

It comes a week after supermarket Iceland challenged shoppers to switch off their ovens and use more energy-efficient appliances such as air fryers, microwaves and slow cookers instead.

The supermarket carried out a survey that found more than half of Britons (53%) planned to either reduce the number of hot dinners they eat or cut them out completely

The supermarket’s line of air fryers sold out in less than a week last month, but they are due to be re-stocked at the end of November.

Its own research indicated that households could save up to £426 per year by switching to more energy-efficient cooking appliances.

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“Choosing between heating and eating shouldn’t be a decision anyone ever has to make, we must do what we can to save hot dinners,” said Iceland Foods managing director Richard Walker.

Kitchen retailer Lakeland also said it had seen unprecedented demand for its range of air fryers, reporting more than 1,500 views of the Lakeland Digital Crisp Air Fryer in 24 hours alone.

“There is very little you can’t cook in an air fryer”, said Lakeland consumer spokeswoman Wendy Miranda.

“Our recent survey found that social media, particularly Tik Tok, is the first place Gen Z turns to for cooking inspiration and kitchen hacks, so no surprises that nearly five billion searches have been racked up.”