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An air fryer uses about 1.3 to 1.5 kWh for every hour it runs at full power. At Meralco’s October 2026 rate of ₱15.06 per kWh, that is about ₱20 to ₱23 an hour, and a typical 20-minute cook costs roughly ₱6.50 to ₱7.50. Real use is lower, because the heating element cycles on and off once the air fryer is hot.
Short answer: watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × your rate per kWh. For a 1,400 W air fryer at ₱15.06 per kWh, that is about ₱21 an hour at full power and ₱11 for 30 minutes. Those are ceilings — a real cook uses less.
Air fryer electricity cost by wattage
Find the rated power on your air fryer’s plate or box, then read across. This is the same arithmetic as the formula below, at Meralco’s October 2026 rate of ₱15.06 per kWh.
| Rated power | kWh for 1 hour at full power | Cost of 1 hour | One 20-minute cook | 30 min every day, a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 800 W | 0.8 | ₱12 | ₱4.0 | ₱181 |
| 1,000 W | 1.0 | ₱15 | ₱5.0 | ₱226 |
| 1,200 W | 1.2 | ₱18 | ₱6.0 | ₱271 |
| 1,400 W | 1.4 | ₱21 | ₱7.0 | ₱316 |
| 1,600 W | 1.6 | ₱24 | ₱8.0 | ₱361 |
| 1,800 W | 1.8 | ₱27 | ₱9.0 | ₱407 |
These are ceilings, not what a cook actually draws. For the models we checked, see the table further down.
The formula, and the rate we use
Electricity is billed in kilowatt-hours (kWh). An appliance’s power is printed on its rating plate in watts; divide by 1,000 to get kilowatts, multiply by the hours it runs, and you have the kWh it used. Multiply by your rate and you have the cost.
We use ₱15.06 per kWh. That is Meralco’s overall rate for a typical household in October 2026 — ₱15.0615, up from ₱14.7424 in September — as announced by Meralco for a home using 200 kWh a month. Rates change every month, and outside Meralco’s area your utility’s rate will differ. Your own bill is the better number: divide the total amount due by the total kWh on the statement.
What each air fryer costs to run
Every wattage below is the manufacturer’s published figure, taken from the spec sheets we checked for our reviews. Same rate, same arithmetic, so the models compare directly.
| Air fryer | Rated power | 1 hour at full power | One 20-minute cook | 30 min every day, a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaabor AF-35M01A (one of the two “4 L” Gaabors) | 800 W | ₱12 | ₱4.0 | ₱181 |
| Asahi AF300, 3.0 L | 1,300 W | ₱20 | ₱6.5 | ₱294 |
| Simplus KQZG007, 4.0 L | 1,300 W | ₱20 | ₱6.5 | ₱294 |
| Tough Mama NTMAF4, 4.0 L | 1,400 W | ₱21 | ₱7.0 | ₱316 |
| Simplus KQZG018, 6.0 L | 1,500 W | ₱23 | ₱7.5 | ₱339 |
| Gaabor 8L (AF-80M01A) | 1,600 W | ₱24 | ₱8.0 | ₱361 |
Read the table as a ceiling. Rated watts are the most an air fryer can draw; once it reaches temperature the heating element switches on and off to hold it, so a real cook uses less than watts × minutes. The last column assumes half an hour every single day, so treat it as a heavy-use month.
The 800-watt question
Gaabor sells two 4-litre air fryers: the AF-35M01A at 800 W and the AF-40M01A at 1,300 W. The best-selling ₱1,199 listing does not say which one you get. As a running cost, the gap is ₱7.5 for every hour at full power, or about ₱113 a month at half an hour a day. It is not a large sum. It is a good reason to ask the seller for the model code before you pay, because a 500-watt difference also means noticeably different cooking times.
What actually moves the number
- Minutes matter as much as watts. Ten minutes on a 1,600 W unit uses 0.27 kWh; twenty-five minutes on an 800 W unit uses 0.33 kWh. A faster machine is not automatically the costlier one.
- How often you cook. The table’s monthly column is a daily habit. Cooking three times a week comes to under half of it.
- Size. In the models we checked, power runs from 1,300 W at 3 litres to 1,600 W at 8 litres. Buy the size you actually cook for, not the biggest basket on the shelf.
- How full you run it. A bigger air fryer draws more per hour but cooks more in each batch, so the cost per serving depends on how full you fill it.
Work it out for your own kitchen
Put your air fryer’s wattage, your usual cook time and the rate from your bill into our electricity cost calculator and it will show the monthly and yearly figure. If you are still choosing, our air fryer picks under ₱3,000 show each model’s verified wattage next to its price.
Running a rice cooker as well? Its cost works differently — the keep-warm setting is where the money goes — and we worked it through in how much a rice cooker costs to run.
Related reading
- How much electricity an electric fan uses: real wattages, and when a DC fan pays off.
- How much electricity a turbo broiler uses: every model we checked is 1,300 W.
- Best air fryer in the Philippines under ₱3,000: our roundup, with the price each pick has to beat.
- Is an air fryer worth it?: when it earns its counter space and when it does not.
- What the litres on an air fryer really mean: how to size one and read a listing.
- Electricity cost calculator: enter watts and hours to see what any appliance adds to your bill.
Frequently asked questions
How much electricity does an air fryer use per hour?
Most air fryers we checked are rated between 800 W and 1,600 W, so 0.8 to 1.6 kWh for an hour at full power. A 1,400 W model uses 1.4 kWh, which at Meralco’s October 2026 rate of ₱15.06 per kWh is about ₱21. Real use is lower because the heating element cycles on and off once the air fryer is hot.
How much does it cost to run an air fryer for 30 minutes?
At most about ₱6 to ₱12 at October 2026 rates, depending on whether the air fryer is rated 800 W or 1,600 W. A 1,400 W model comes to about ₱11.
Is an air fryer expensive to run?
Not by the numbers. A 20-minute cook costs at most about ₱4 to ₱8. Even half an hour every day for a month tops out around ₱181 to ₱361.
Does an air fryer use more electricity than a rice cooker?
Per hour, yes: a 1,400 W air fryer draws several times the 310 W of a small rice cooker. Per meal the gap is smaller because both run for a short time. Cooking three cups in the 310 W Panasonic SR-G06 takes about 0.13 kWh, roughly ₱2.0, while 20 minutes on a 1,400 W air fryer is about 0.47 kWh, or ₱7.1. That rice cooker figure excludes keep-warm, which is where a rice cooker’s real cost is.
Do bigger air fryers cost more to run?
Per hour, generally yes: the models we checked go from 1,300 W at 3 litres to 1,600 W at 8 litres. But a bigger basket cooks more per batch, so the cost per serving depends on how full you fill it.
Which rate should I use if I am not on Meralco?
Your own bill’s. Divide the total amount due by the total kWh on the statement and use that number in the formula. The ₱15.06 we use is Meralco’s October 2026 rate for a typical household, and it changes every month.
How many kWh does an air fryer use?
Most air fryers we checked use 0.8 to 1.6 kWh for every hour at full power, so a 20-minute cook is about 0.27 to 0.53 kWh. A 1,400 W model uses 1.4 kWh an hour and about 0.47 kWh for 20 minutes. Real use is lower once the heating element starts cycling.
