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Toaster ovens use between 1,200 Watts to 1,400 Watts of electric power to function. Of course, a few factors affect the electricity usage by your preferred toaster oven.
Factors such as the set temperature and cooking time can increase the wattage use, especially if you’ve set a high cooking temperature while cooking for an extended period.
Your set cooking programs could also increase electricity consumption. For example, cooking programs such as Bake, toast, and keep-warm use more electricity on average than broiling or slow-baking foods.
So, if you’re looking to save electricity bills, you might want to use the recommended cooking time and temperature. You can consult your cookbook for more information.
But toaster ovens remain one of the most energy efficient kitchen appliances. They use up to ½ less energy than many conventional electric ovens, especially when a small meal.
What’s more, they occupy less space during usage and when in storage. They are the perfect countertop ovens with all the cooking programs you need for usage versatility.
Be sure to read on for more information on these kitchen appliances.
Does A Toaster Oven Use More Electricity Than a Regular Oven?
A toaster oven and conventional oven are all energy efficient. But these two kitchen appliances don’t draw the same amount of energy from a wall outlet.
A full sized conventional oven draws between 2,500 Watts to 5,000 Watts of electricity from the wall outlet.
On the other hand, a toaster oven draws between 1,200 to 1,400 Watts of electricity from the socket. As such, a toaster oven is more saving energy.
What’s more, a toaster oven is more space-saving. You can place it on a countertop and cook food. And once you’ve finished cooking food, you can tuck it away in a closet.
But a toaster oven cooks less food than a full-size oven. Toaster ovens can only fit a half-pan of cookies for cooking cookies, muffins, and scones.
As such, they are an ideal choice for cooking small meals. For larger meals for a whole family, a conventional oven is a perfect choice. Besides, a regular oven can roast a whole turkey for a larger family!
Is A Toaster Oven More Efficient Than a Microwave?
So far, a toaster oven is more energy efficient than a conventional oven. But if you compare toaster ovens with microwave ovens, it might surprise you that microwaves are more energy efficient.
On average, a microwave uses between 700 Watts to 1,300 Watts of electricity.
But on the other hand, toaster ovens use between 1,200 Watts to 1,400 Watts. You can also find other toaster oven models using up to 1,800 Watts of electric power.
Therefore, toaster ovens cook food with more electricity than microwaves. That means microwaves are more energy efficient.
Besides, according to the energy star rating, microwaves use up to 30% less energy than toaster ovens. So, you might want to cook your food using a microwave.
But microwaves are not as versatile as toaster ovens. A toaster oven usually features basic cooking programs: toast, bake, broil, and keep warm. But you can be sure to find toaster ovens with more cooking programs.
They are more versatile and cost more. But these toaster ovens don’t match the energy efficiency of the microwaves.
As such, microwaves end up using less energy than these versatile kitchen appliances. So, if you need to cook food by heating it only, a microwave is your best kitchen appliance.
But if you need to use other cooking programs such as toasting slices of bread or baking cakes, a toaster oven offers unmatched cooking results.
How Much Does It Cost to Operate a Toaster Oven?
A toaster oven uses less energy than a conventional oven. And a microwave uses even less energy to cook food.
But still, you might want to know how much you will pay in electricity bills to cook your food with a toaster oven. First, the wattage rating of your toaster oven affects the electricity cost significantly.
The higher the wattage rating, the more money you will pay in the long run. Also, the cooking time affects the overall electricity cost.
Your set cooking temperature also adds to the amount you will pay in the electricity bill by the month’s end. But still, all these don’t explain how you arrive at the electricity cost.
Electricity companies measure electric units in Kilowatt hours (kWh). These companies sell electricity in this unit differently.
So, the cost of electricity in your area might differ from another area’s electricity cost. Finding the electricity units your toaster oven uses is a lot easier than you might think.
You multiply the toaster oven’s wattage by the cooking time. But you will convert the wattage into Kilowatts and the cooking time into hours.
Converting the wattage into Kilowatt is easy: divide the wattage by 1,000. If the cooking time is in minutes, divide it by 60 to express it in hours.
For a toaster oven rated 1,400 Watts cooking for 50 minutes, you will calculate the cost of electricity as follows:
1,400 Watts × 50 minutes. Express these values to the correct formats, and you get 1.4kW × 0.83 hours. That means you will use 1.162 kWh of the electric unit.
If the electricity supplier charges 10.54 cents per one electricity unit (kWh), you will spend 1.162 kWh × 10.54 cents = 12.25 cents, equaling $0.12.
Therefore, you will spend less than a dollar on electricity to cook food using a 1,400-Watt toaster oven for 50 minutes.
Is A Convection Oven More Energy Efficient?
Toaster ovens come in various designs, with some featuring a built-in fan. These are the convection oven since the convection fan built-in circulates super-heated air within the interior cooking space.
As a result, they cook 40% faster and yield crispier results.
Since they shorten the cooking time significantly without compromising quality, they are a perfect choice.
Convection toaster ovens are also more energy efficient as they use less electricity for cooking similar foods of the same quantity. Therefore, consider investing in toaster ovens with convection technology.
Conclusion
Toaster ovens are more energy efficient than regular ovens. They use less electricity and occupy less space during usage and while in storage.
Also, they feature various cooking programs, making them more versatile than microwaves.
If you’re looking to cook pizza, cakes, toast bread slices, or air fry French fries, among other foods, a toaster oven is the kitchen appliance to pick.
But not all toaster ovens are the same. Some feature convection technology that increases efficiency while cooking your food evenly and perfectly. They are the best models if you want to save energy in the long run.
Since toaster ovens use between 1,200 to 1,400 Watts of electricity with many cooking times falling below 5 hours, you can be sure to spend no more than a dollar to cook food with your kitchen appliance.
Therefore, toaster ovens use less electricity to function.
