Mini ovens are cheaper to run than standard ovens, but they don’t offer as much cooking space so if you need to cook a lot of food a full-size oven might be more economical.
The average electric oven has a power rating of around 3 kW on full power, while the average mini oven has a power rating of around 1.75 kW.
Average electricity prices in the UK are 24.5 pence for the period from 1 October to 31 December 2024.
Therefore, if you ran the average electric oven at full power for an hour, it would cost 3 x 24.5 = 74 pence.
If you ran the average mini oven at full power for an hour, it would cost 1.75 x 24.5 = 43 pence.
As well as being cheaper to run per hour, mini ovens also heat up a lot faster than standard electric ovens. This is mainly because the space that needs heating up is a lot smaller. This means you spend less time waiting for the oven to heat up, and this does help save some money too.
Installation Costs
Most electric ovens need to be installed by a qualified engineer. This means that you must factor those installation costs into the cost of the cooker.
Installation costs for a standard electric cooker can range from £50-£100. That is the price of a mini oven! A mini oven doesn’t need to be installed because they have a standard UK plug that will work in any socket in your kitchen.
Purchase Cost
Mini ovens start from around about £100 and can reach over £200 for very high-end models with every cooking function you could need.
The cheapest electric cooker we could find while researching this article was £149. If you’re looking for a really high-end electric oven though, you’re looking at over a thousand pounds.
We aren’t saying that mini ovens are for everyone. A lot of us love our big ovens and could never part with them because we can cook our dinner, prep our lunches for the week and even grill a quick snack as we do it.
However, if a mini oven suits your way of life, perhaps you want to save space in your kitchen, or you live alone and simply don’t need a massive oven, the cost benefits are actually very impressive.
Not only are mini ovens far cheaper to run, but they are also cheaper to buy, and you don’t need someone to install one either.
We hope this look at mini ovens and how cheap they are to run has been helpful. See our list of the best countertop mini ovens if you need help choosing one!
Scott is a writer and a passionate home chef. His passion for cooking began when he was 10 years old. Scott has been writing professionally for over five years now and loves to combine his passion for cooking with his day job.
