Argos and Amazon shoppers go wild for £56 oven that costs less than an air fryer to run

As energy prices continue to sky rocket, Brits are looking to keep bills as low as possible. The energy crisis has seen bills increase sharply and the smallest changes can make the biggest difference right now.

Many people have gone to air fryers as a solution. But shoppers are now swearing by halogen ovens as an “amazing” alternative to the air fryer, and at a fraction of the price to run. One selling at Argos for £56 has hundreds of reviews, with one woman saying it’s the “best buy ever”.

She said: “Had a few halogen ovens in the past, This one beats them all. It’s digital, the lead can be removed from the lid, works brilliantly and saves lots of fuel as you are only heating up a small area instead of a large oven. You don’t need to spend hundreds on an air fryer, when you can buy this. Best buy ever.”

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Another said: “Excellent oven. Very easy to use, efficient, does not use much electricity for what it does. Good for cooking from scratch or for just finishing off (e.g. roasting potatoes).”

A third commented: “Be just got this to replace my old one but bought the same one, we use this everyday for everything to the point I never use my actual oven, it quick and easy and Cooke to perfection and now with the cost of energy we can still enjoy all the meals we like but not the cost of fuel yup even a roast dinner.”

Amazon has an even cheaper halogen oven to buy. The £49 Emperial Premium Black 17L Halogen Convection Oven Cooker has proven popular with shoppers, and has racked up thousands of five-star reviews.

One five-star reviewer said: “ Versatile, large enough for a roast, it does great spuds. It comes with two stands and an air fry tray. Some instructions on how to use the supplied parts would be good, a quick YouTube video showed me that there’s an extension ring too, as a novice, I didn’t know. Overall, I think it’s an economical way to replace a conventional oven.”

Another wrote: “A very affordable air fryer, well made and the digital controls are really helpful and so easy to use. We’ve cooked two Sunday roasts for 4 people in this including pork and crackling with roast spuds and rosted veg and they were spot on (plus some extra steamed veg in the microwave). Easy to clean too. Not very much to fault it. Takes a little learning but not much really and we will have to acquire more accessories – but the learning is part of the fun and we’re very happy. Will now try all sorts of things. Our old oven will be redundant unless we have a big crowd around..”

A halogen oven consists of a glass bowl with a lid that contains a fan and halogen bulbs. When switched on, beams of infrared radiation are released from the halogen bulbs to produce heat. The fan circulates hot air over and around the food to cook.

Research by Utilita in August 2022 revealed that the annual savings of using an air fryer could be up to £279.66 per year. Air fryers on average were found to run at £55.91 per year, versus gas cookers at £121.06 per year and electric cookers at £335.57 per year.

Despite the difference, it is worth noting that halogen ovens are still around 75% cheaper to run than the standard electric oven, meaning you are still saving some pennies.

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