Perhaps you’ve heard some mixed reports on the news about the potential benefits of unplugging all of your unused appliances. Some people swear by it, claiming it saved them hundreds of dollars in their electric bills. Others, however, see it as a waste of time.
You should not leave an air fryer plugged while it is not in use. An air fryer consumes energy while connected to an energy source, even if it is technically “off”. Leaving a unit plugged in increases the potential for fires, damage to the unit, and wastes energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy refers to these unused appliances as “energy vampires” for a reason. However, no sensible individual would view these appliances as the cause of climate change.
The facts remain that they are unnecessary wastes of energy and a safety hazard. Keep reading to know everything you need about these energy vampires!
How Do Air Fryers Work?
Inside an air fryer, there’s a fan and a heating element. Together, they heat and distribute the heated air throughout the air fryer’s cooking space from all angles to cook food evenly. The food sits in a basket with multiples holes that allow the heated air to flow through. The air fryer dries the surface of the food while keeping the inside juicy.
Air Fryers are usually compared with deep fryers in their use, function, and design. While it is true that air fryers have a similar physical design and are typically used in a similar manner as a deep fryer, they are quite different.
An air fryer utilizes high heat vents to warm the food and crisp the exterior. Deep fryers, however, use high heat oil for cooking and crisping the food.
In this manner, an air fryer operates very much like a toaster oven. Both circulate air throughout the heating element or heating container and cook the food. But, an air fryer emulates a deep fryer by reaching high heat faster than a toaster oven and spreading the heat evenly.
Read more: How Do Air Fryers Actually Work?
Why You Should Unplug Your Air Fryer When It’s Not Being Used
Unplugging your air fryer is generally just a safer way to store your units. It helps prevent power surges and reduces the threat of fire.
It also helps preserve the life of your machine and prevent wasted energy. It’s a simple way to save money and the planet while also extending the machine’s life.
Reduce the Threat of Fire
Believe it or not, leaving your appliances (any appliance, not just air fryers) increases the likelihood of fires in the kitchen. There are several causes for this increased fire risk, but they typically revolve around the possibility of sparks and power surges.
When you leave your air fryer plugged in, it continues channeling energy from the outlet to the cord. If you have old power outlets or electrical work in your home, it increases the probability of fire.
Reduces Waste and Pollution
Every good child knows they should turn off the lights after leaving a room. Almost everyone agrees that when we leave lights on it is a careless habit that wastes valuable resources. The current energy crisis in America is hitting everyone hard due to the inevitable domino effect of the process.
With plugged-in appliances consuming a small yet significant amount of energy, it seems the most earth-friendly thing to unplug them. While many argue the waste is not significant, it adds up when you consider how many people do this constantly.
This argument would be similar to arguing that you should leave your lights on for no reason other than you do not believe it is significant. Perhaps the individual case is not significant, but it is significant when accumulated over time and over a vast population of people.
Extend the Life of Your Unit
An air fryer receives energy from the power outlet when it is plugged in. This, as we’ve discussed, includes when the unit itself is off or not in use.
These electrical charges wear out and age the unit faster than if the unit were unplugged. It does not simply happen from powerful electrical surges, either. If you have large units such as hot water heaters, AC, or heating units, they create an electrical charge every time they turn off.
We usually see this as the lights in our homes flicker as the AC kicks on. And this causes a small, but significant charge to all your appliances and causes small wear over time. This shortens the lifespan of your unit.
Save on Electricity
This is somewhat tied to the conservation of energy, but the good news is it focuses on the money you can save! Energy experts, such as the U.S Department of Energy, state that appliances and electronics which are left plugged contribute significantly to the monthly electrical bill of Americans.
Accordingly, U.S. citizens experience up to a 10% increase in monthly energy expenses due to these unnecessary items left plugged in. Of course, this will not be attributed to your air fryer alone, it includes cell phones, toasters, and other items.
But, it is an all-or-nothing type of trick. Therefore, it requires you to unplug all unnecessary items to see that 10% monthly savings.
Prevents Electrical Power Surges
As we discussed previously, power outlets are always transferring energy. Even if the item is not on or in use, it is getting and consuming electricity.
But, leaving your units plugged in increases the likelihood of an electrical surge from lightning or other bursts of electricity. This could also occur due to a transformer exploding or an issue at the power plant.
These types of surges are far more dangerous than the usual energy fluctuation from the AC or other units in your home. In fact, these surges can completely destroy your device by overloading it and burning it from the inside.
The best way to prevent these issues is to simply unplug the unit when you’re not using it.
Prevent Accidentally Overheating Your Unit
When you leave your unit plugged in it runs the risk of accidentally overheating or even turning on your unit. Some air fryers do not automatically turn themselves off after use, but enter a sleep mode or power save mode.
This could result in the unit being left on by accident or even turning on unintentionally. As a result, the unit may be blowing hot air throughout the heating element while nothing is inside of it.
Anyone who’s left a pot on the stove after the water boiled away will know that high heat over long periods can deeply damage a unit.
So, if you leave your machine plugged in, you run the risk of severely damaging your air fryer.
Are There Any Benefits To Keeping the Air Fryer Plugged In?
One main perk to leaving your air fryer plugged in is that it prevents it from resetting. Many air fryers permit you to program the unit to your preferences, which can be reset when you unplug it.
The clock is one notably annoying feature that most certainly gets reset when you unplug your unit or lose power. Many appliances have a digital clock and a timer built into them, which typically reset whenever power is cut off to the unit.
To a lot of people, however, these clocks are not necessary, and a lot of us never even set them properly. So, this is not a huge loss to many of us who primarily use our cell phones to tell time.
Some reviews on public forums claim unplugging their air fryers disrupts their air fryer’s performance. However, our research has not revealed any basis or explanation for this complaint, and it seems to be mainly conjecture rather than actual fact.
What Are the Main Risks of Leaving an Air Fryer Plugged in?
Fires are the greatest risk of leaving your air fryer plugged in. Electrical fires have greatly decreased over the past couple of decades, but this does not mean they do not happen. This is especially true when you are away from your home for extended periods, such as on vacation.
If you plan on taking an extended trip from your home, it is definitely a wise idea to unplug all of your unnecessary appliances. While away, if there is a power fault, a power surge, or an electrical storm, it could cause sparks or other flames.
The likelihood of an electrical fire increases the older your electrical wiring is and how many appliances you have in one outlet. Many people believe they can have multiple appliances plugged into one outlet so long as they have a power strip. This is not true.
You should pay close attention to the power capacity of the power strip. You should also make sure you do not plug in more than a couple of larger appliances into a singular strip. Even if it has more plugs still unused.
Do Air Fryers Shut Off Automatically?
Most air fryers do not have an automatic shut-off switch. Rather, they have a timer you can set for the cooking time of your food. This means once the timer goes off the heater will shut down and the machine will no longer cook your food.
This does not mean your machine is necessarily “off”. As we’ve discussed previously, many machines continue to consume energy while plugged in.
They also tend to have a slumber mode, which does not mean they are off by the strict definition of the word.
If energy is still being transferred from the outlet to the unit, it is still consuming energy. And, it can still potentially malfunction or experience an energy surge.
But, this feature does prevent the possibility of a unit overheating or turning on when you are unaware.