Hearth & Lawn

Best air fryers in the UK

Last updated: · By the Hearth & Lawn team

How we chose these: We haven't tested these air fryers ourselves. Our picks draw on published hands-on testing, mainly the Guardian's air fryer test, which measured each model's energy use. We also used Which?'s air fryer vs oven energy measurements and UK retailer listings. Running costs are recalculated at the Ofgem price cap of 26.32p per kWh. Prices were checked on 18 October 2026.

Air fryers are one of the few kitchen gadgets that can genuinely cut your energy use, as long as you use them instead of the oven, not as well as it. For a portion of chips, Which? measured an air fryer using about a third of the energy of an electric oven.

The best one for you depends mostly on size. A 5-litre single drawer suits one or two people. A dual-drawer model lets a family cook chips and something else at the same time.

Quick picks

Model Price checked 18 Oct 2026 Capacity Measured energy use per hour* Cost per hour at 26.32p
Best budget Tower AirX AI Digital Air Fryer (T17166) £79.99 at Tower 5L 0.606kWh 15.9p
Best single drawer Lakeland Slimline Air Fryer £89.99 at Lakeland 8L 0.674kWh 17.7p
Best dual drawer Tefal Easy Fry Dual XXL (EY942BG0) £179.99 at Tefal 11L (2 drawers) 1.154kWh 30.4p
Best compact dual drawer Ninja Double Stack XL (SL400UK) £269 at John Lewis 9.5L (2 stacked drawers) 1.049kWh 27.6p

*Measured by the Guardian's tester over an hour of cooking. Real use depends on what you cook and for how long. Most air fryer sessions are much shorter than an hour.

Air fryer vs oven: what it really costs

Which? measured how much energy an air fryer and an electric oven used to cook the same dishes. Here are its figures, re-priced at the October to December 2026 cap of 26.32p per kWh:

Dish Air fryer Cost Electric oven Cost Saving
Chips 0.287kWh 7.6p 0.863kWh 22.7p 15.2p
Jacket potato 0.392kWh 10.3p 1.084kWh 28.5p 18.2p
Roast chicken 0.54kWh 14.2p 1.157kWh 30.5p 16.2p
Cake 0.223kWh 5.9p 0.71kWh 18.7p 12.8p

What that adds up to. If you cook chips in an air fryer instead of the oven four times a week, you'd save about 0.576kWh × 208 = 120kWh a year, roughly £31.50. At that rate the £79.99 Tower pays for itself in about two and a half years. If you only use it once a week, it would take around ten years, so buy one for convenience and speed rather than just the saving.

When the oven wins. The Guardian's tester points out that for big batches, an oven can be just as efficient. If you'd need to run the air fryer several times to cook a family meal, one oven session may cost about the same. And an air fryer saves nothing if you already cook in a microwave.

Air fryers' rated power (often 1,500W to 2,700W) is the maximum draw. They cycle the heater on and off once up to temperature, which is why the measured figures above are much lower than the rating suggests.

Work out your own figures with our running-cost calculator

The picks in detail

Best budget: Tower AirX AI Digital Air Fryer, 5L (£79.99 at Tower)

The Guardian's best budget air fryer. Its colour screen and presets make it easy to program, and it was the cheapest to run of our picks in the Guardian's measurements, at 0.606kWh an hour (15.9p at today's cap). Rated at 1,500W. It was also £79 at Homebase.

The drawer isn't dishwasher safe, so it takes a little longer to clean. At 5 litres, it suits one or two people.

Pros

  • Cheapest to buy and run of our picks
  • Easy to program

Cons

  • Drawer is hand-wash only
  • Too small for most families

Best single drawer: Lakeland Slimline Air Fryer, 8L (£89.99 at Lakeland)

The Guardian's best single-drawer air fryer, praised for giving lots of cooking space for the price. It's tall and narrow, so it takes up less worktop than its 8-litre capacity suggests. Measured energy use was 0.674kWh an hour (17.7p).

Its lowest temperature is 80°C, so it won't dehydrate food or prove dough. The drawer is hand-wash only. Lakeland's site showed £89.99 when we checked; we also saw it advertised at £69.99 in a sale, so it's worth checking.

Pros

  • Big capacity for the price
  • Slim footprint

Cons

  • No low-temperature settings
  • Hand-wash only

Best dual drawer: Tefal Easy Fry Dual XXL, 11L (£179.99 at Tefal)

The Guardian's best air fryer overall. Two large drawers let you cook two foods at different settings and finish at the same time. The tester found its results the best of the lot. Drawers are dishwasher safe.

It's big (38.5 × 45.8 × 33cm) and rated at 2,700W, and measured energy use was the highest of our picks at 1.154kWh an hour (30.4p). That's still well under an oven for most meals. The tester's main gripe was that most buttons are icons, which makes it harder to program without the instructions. The black version (EY9428G0) was £200 at Argos.

Pros

  • Best cooking results in the Guardian's test
  • Two big, dishwasher-safe drawers

Cons

  • Takes up a lot of worktop
  • Icon-only buttons

Best compact dual drawer: Ninja Double Stack XL, 9.5L (£269 at John Lewis)

The Guardian's best compact air fryer. Its two drawers are stacked on top of each other rather than side by side, so you get dual-zone cooking in a narrower footprint (28 × 47 × 38.5cm). Rated at 2,470W; measured use was 1.049kWh an hour (27.6p).

The tester felt its results weren't as impressive as some other Ninja models, and you may need to tweak settings. It's also the most expensive here at John Lewis. The Guardian saw it for £199.99 direct from Ninja earlier in the year, so shop around.

Pros

  • Dual-zone cooking in a compact footprint
  • 9.5-litre total capacity

Cons

  • Expensive at the price we found
  • Results may need tweaking

Air fryer safety

Electrical Safety First, the UK electrical safety charity, advises:

  • Don't overfill it: check the manufacturer's maximum fill level.
  • Be careful with paper. ESF recommends not using any paper, because if it isn't weighted down it could touch the heating element and catch fire. Always check the manufacturer's instructions first.
  • Keep the power cable away from hot surfaces and worktop edges.
  • Never leave it unattended while it's in use, and unplug it at the socket when you've finished.
  • Let it cool. Wait at least 30 minutes after use before cleaning, and never put it in water, apart from parts like the basket that the manufacturer says can be washed.
  • Stop using it if you notice an unusual smell or noise: switch it off and contact the retailer or manufacturer.
  • Buy from a reputable retailer, not a third-party seller online, and register your product with the manufacturer so you'll hear about any recall.
  • Check the plug and socket regularly for burn or scorch marks.

Our own advice on top: keep it on a stable, heat-resistant surface with space around it, away from cupboards and anything that can burn.

Our picks are from established brands sold by mainstream UK retailers. You can check for recalls at the Office for Product Safety and Standards' product recalls page on GOV.UK.

FAQs

What is the best air fryer in the UK? For most families, the Tefal Easy Fry Dual XXL (£179.99 at Tefal) was the Guardian's best overall. For one or two people, the Tower AirX AI 5L (£79.99) is the best budget choice.

Is an air fryer cheaper to run than an oven? Usually, for small to medium portions. Which? measured chips costing 7.6p in an air fryer against 22.7p in an electric oven at the current price cap. For large batches the gap narrows.

How much does an air fryer cost to run per hour? Between about 16p and 30p an hour for our picks, based on the Guardian's measured energy use and the 26.32p per kWh price cap. Most cooking takes 15 to 30 minutes, so a typical session costs much less.

Is a dual air fryer worth it? If you regularly cook for three or more, yes. Two drawers let you cook a main and a side at the same time, so you're less likely to need the oven.

Is it safe to put foil or paper in an air fryer? Electrical Safety First recommends not using paper at all, because paper that isn't weighted down can touch the heating element and catch fire. If you do, follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Sources