YOU will find an oven in most kitchens – but you might not know how much it costs to run one.
And with energy bills setting households back more than usual, it’s important to know how much it could add to bills and how to keep the cost down.
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Yesterday, Prime Minister Liz Truss announced a price freeze to energy bills for two years, with the typical family paying £2,500 a year from October, after they were due to rise to £3,549.
But even with a freeze on, people will be keen to know how much running their oven will cost them come October.
Below, we reveal how much it currently costs to run an oven and how much it will increase to.
How much does it cost to run an electric oven?
The cost of running an oven will vary depending on the model you have and the new Energy Price Guarantee.
The Energy Price Guarantee will replace the price cap on October 1.
It will set a limit on how much energy suppliers can charge per unit of energy and for the standing charge (what you pay to have your home connected to the national grid).
According to uSwitch, an electric oven powered at 0.97 kilowatts and used for 30 minutes costs roughly 14p under the current price cap.
So if you used it for 30 minutes every day for a year, that would cost you just over £50 a year.
Under the new October price cap, which is 36p, the cost of using an electric oven for 30 minutes costs roughly 18p.
If you used it for 30 minutes every day for a year, that would could you roughly £66.
However, we do not know what the unit charge for the Energy Price Guarantee will be yet. We will update this article when we do.
Of course, the exact cost of using an electric oven will depend on how often you use it, and how powerful it is.
If you use it more, it will cost more, and if you use it less, it will cost less.
We explained if it’s healthy to use an air fryer and the best slow cookers to buy.
One blogger revealed how using the convection setting on your oven will save you money as well.
And you could even go for a solar-powered oven which uses the suns rays to cook your food.
Is it cheaper to use a different appliance?
The oven might be a more traditional way to cook food, but sometimes it works out cheaper to use a different appliance.
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uSwitch worked out how much it costs to cook a boiled potato for example.
It found it costs 27p in an oven, 3p in a microwave and 14p on an electric hob.
While cooking breaded chicken in an electric oven costs 14p compared to 11p in an air fryer.
And to make a casserole in a slow cooker will set you back 22p but 54p in an electric oven.
Of course, you can’t always say using an oven will be the most expensive appliance, and sometimes you might be willing to sacrifice spending a bit more to cook something in order to get more flavour.
In certain cases, like with a slow cooker, you might not be willing to wait as long for your meal to be ready either.
And whether an electric oven is more expensive than another appliance will also depend on what you’re cooking and for how long.
Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch.com, said: “Microwaves and slow cookers use less energy than ovens, while the size of an air fryer determines its efficiency – some air fryers are similar in power to an oven, but the difference is the speed at which they work.
“Air fryers generally take less time to heat up and cook food. “
How else can you save on your energy bills?
Beyond staying wary of the appliances you use to cook your food, there are other ways to save on energy bills.
For instance, you can turn so-called “vampire devices” draining your energy off standby.
Or you can use an air-dryer instead of a tumble dryer.
Cutting down time spent in the shower by just one minute can shave £60 off a family’s yearly water bill as well.
We previously explained how much it costs to run a hoover and a dishwasher.
Or if you want to know how much it costs to run a hot tub, we’ve explained that as well.
