There are reasons when the wattage of your air fryer matter. Maybe you want to save on your electricity bill or maybe you are looking an air fryer for your RV where it matters.
Most air basket-style air fryers range from 1000 watts up to 1700 watts with a few exceptions on both end.
In this low wattage air fryer review I am going to present the best ones that will keep your electricity bill in order.
We are going to review the following air fryers:
- DASH Tasti-Crisp™ 2.6QT – The golden middle road of a low wattage air fryer with a myriad of satisfied customers
- CHEFMAN 2 QT – Smaller in size but same in wattage. Still a very good choice
- Elite Gourmet EAF-3218BL 1QT – The lowest wattage option out there. Also the smallest and cheapest
- Chefman 4.5 QT – Bigger in size but still low on the watts.
Our favourite is the Dash Tasti-Crisp because it is the golden middle road in case of a low wattage air fryer as I mentioned. Let’s find out why I put each one on this list.
Comparing the best low watt air fryers
DASH Tasti-Crisp™ 2.6QT
Basket size: 2.6 QT
Item Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 10 inches
Functionality: Manual air fryer without presets
Wattage: 1000 watts
Why we like it:
- Cool design with different colors
- Easy to use and clean
Limitations:
- Bit hard to clean the tray
On the top of our list lies the Dash Tasti-Crisp 2QT. In my opinion this is the best choice for a low wattage air fryer although it is not the lowest wattage, smallest or cheapest air fryer. And that is exactly why I choose this air fryer to be on the top.
It is the golden middle road when choosing a low wattage air fryer. It has a 2 quarts capacity which is enough for 2 person usually depending on what you cook inside them.
It has 1000 watts which is more than enough power for a 2QT air fryer. If you divide the 2 numbers it is 500 watts/quarts that should be enough. If you check out our wattage guide you can see that bigger basket air fryers have a watts/quarts number below 200.
It has more than 26,000 reviews and 90% of them are 4-5 stars. That is quite reassuring regarding the quality of this product.
There is nothing special about the Dash Tasti-Crisp though. It has no presets or a fancy digital display. It’s a simple air fryer that will perfectly do the job that it is destined to do: Air fry delicious food in no time.
What I like about Dash is that you can get it in cool colours (Aqua, Teal, Red etc.). I’m quite into interior design and I like if my kitchen looks great too so this is a huge plus for me.
CHEFMAN Small, Compact Air Fryer 2 QT
Basket size: 2QT
Item Dimensions: 9.75 x 9.75 x 12.5 inches
Functionality: Manual air fryer without presets
Wattage: 1000 watts
Why we like it:
- Cheap
- Easy to use
- cETL approved (long lasting durability)
Limitations:
- No presets
- Booklet is not accurate
The Chefman 2QT manual air fryer also has a lot of positive Amazon reviews. It has over 17,000+ reviews with a 4.6 average rating. Chefman is also one of the leaders on this market.
The Chefman is using 1000 watts so it can be considered as a low wattage air fryer but it has a smaller capacity than the Dash Tasti-Crisp so its energy efficiency is smaller (it cooks less food with the same electrical power).
Several people complained about the plastic smell while they were using their Chefman air fryer. But as one customer pointed out there are plastic stoppers at the bottom of the basket that you have to take out before the first use. It will solve this problem.
One disadvantage though is that this is a manual air fryer without any presets. This mean you have 2 knobs where you can set the temperature and the timer and that’s it. It comes with a little booklet that will tell you the different cooking times but several reviews said that it is not very reliable. So in the first few tries you have to give attention to your food while cooking and experiment with different cooking times.
On the plus side it is an extremely cheap air fryer that you can get now below $40. It makes it one of the cheapest air fryers out there and the highest rated in this price category.
Elite Gourmet EAF-3218BL 1QT
Basket size: 1 QT
Item Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.5 x 8.5 inches
Functionality: Manual air fryer with no presets
Wattage: 700 watts
Why we like it:
- Very compact and fits everywhere
- Cheapest on the list
Limitations:
- No presets
- Timer is stuck once set until it goes of (can’t change it while cooking)
So this Elite Gourmet air fryer is probably the smallest air fryer that you can find out there. With its 1QT basket size it is strictly for 1 persons. It cooks around ¾ pounds of food in one go.
It is the cheapest option in this list but if you compare it with the food capacity you are better of with the Chefman 2 quarts which has a similar price but twice the capacity.
If you are looking for the cheapest, smallest, simplest air fryer than this should be your choice.
It runs only on 700 watts and it is the lowest wattage air fryer that I have ever seen. Although since it is only 1 quarts if you take my newly invented watts/quarts metric it has the highest number (due to its low capacity of course).
This is also another reason why I think you are better off with the other options.
On the other hand I think a 1QT air fryer has several limitations. You can’t cook for your friends or if you are prepping for more than 1 meals than you have to use it multiple times. Although air fryers cooks so fast that it is not a huge problem.
If you are very very low on space or looking for the lowest wattage air fryer then this should be your choice definitely.
This air fryer is great if you are really low on available space. For example it is great for people who are looking for air fryers that fit into an RV.
The air fryer only heats up to 395 degrees which is slightly lower than the standard 400 degrees but this doesn’t make such a difference.
It is a manual air fryer with a mechanical timer that is really easy to use.
One disadvantage that once you set the timer it is stuck until it goes of and can’t change it while cooking.
Chefman 4.5 QT
Basket size: 4.5 QT
Item Dimensions: 14.5 x 10.4 x 14.8 inches
Functionality: Digital air fryer with presets
Wattage: 1200 watts
Why we like it:
- Has a shake reminder
- Digital touch control with presets
- Stainless steel body
Stainless steel design
Limitations:
- A bit pricy
If you are looking for a bigger air fryer but with a low wattage then the Chefman 4.5 QT can be a perfect choice. Although it uses more elctricity than the other models on this low wattage air fryer list.
Most air fryers in this category usually run on at least 1400 watts compared to the 1200 watts that the Chefman 4.5 QT has.
Also this is the only air fryer on the list that has a LED display and as stainless steel body.
The only down side is the price tag but that might be due to the high quality stainless steel finish.
Anyways it is a great choice for someone who wants to cook for more than 2 people but is searching for a low watt option.
It also has almost 3000 reviews with 92% of them 4-5 stars so it is a safe choice for people looking for quality. Chefman is also a big player on the air fryer market so it can be trusted in our opinion.
Frequently asked questions about low wattage air fryers
Is 1000 watts enough for an air fryer?
1000 watts for a low capacity basket-style air fryer is definitely enough. Above 3 quarts though air fryers usually have a wattage of above 1300 watts
What wattage should my air fryer be on?
For smaller air fryers (from 1QT to 3QT) It should be between 700 watts to 1200 watts
Medium sized air fryers (3 QT – 6 QT) should be between 1200 watts to 1600 watts
Big air fryers (6QT – 10 QT) are usually between 1600 watts to 1800 watts
Also other types of air fryers, like an air fryer grill combo or an air fryer oven like the Kalorik MaXX will be higher in watts.
There are exceptions of course. Check out our wattage guide where you can analyze the wattage of 33 air fryers.
How many amps does an air fryer oven use?
That’s actually very easy to calculate. First you should find out your voltage system. The US runs on a 120 volt system whereas Europe for example run on 220 volts.
If you have found out the wattage of your air fryer then you just need to divide the wattage with the volts.
For example a 1800 watt air fryer in the US uses 15 amps (1200 watts / 120 volts = 15 amps)
Can you run an air fryer on a generator?
Depends on the wattage of your generator. If the generator has more power than an air fryer you can sure run an an air fryer on a generator. For example an 1200 watt generator can run an air fryer up to 1200 watts which is really straight forward. In our list we have listed several air fryers that an 1200 watt generator can run.
If you are looking an air fryer for your RV be sure to check the generator of your RV.
Do air fryers consume a lot of electricity?
The short answer is no. Be sure to check out our complete article on air fryer energy efficiency
Conclusion
As you can see there are several low wattage air fryers on the market starting from 700 watts. They are usually very simple air fryers without a lot of functions and they usually have a manual turn knob style. They have a low basket capacity and also quite cheap usually.
