how much energy does a 3Kw oven use?

[RobinBHM]

I know this seems obvious, but Im thinking once an oven reaches its set temperature, it then only needs enough energy to maintain that temperature

I dont know how an oven works, but I guess it has a thermostat and that calls for heat as required.

are there any electrical engineers that can shed some light

(my wife is asking about what meals would cost less in energy costs to cook -so Im interested to know before I have to spend all winter eating salads )

 

[nickds1]

You are right, that's how a normal electric oven works.

If you can, use the oven for multiple items at the same time, or use a microwave for smaller items and for veg etc.

Microwaves essentially have zero thermal intertia, i.e. all the energy you put in goes to the items being cooked rather than heating the oven mass and the air within it.

 

[Lorenzl]

I have noticed some modern ovens can run off a 13A socket. If yours does you could get a plug in energy meter to put inline.

If yours is wired into a isolator and you can access one wire ( live ) to your oven somewhere you could use a clamp meter.

 

[John Brown]

Not oven as such, which I expect have a thermostat,but I replaced the grill regulator on our Rangemaster a few years back. It was a sort of mechanical pulse width modulation device, a bimetal strip with a heating coil around it, and turning the knob changed the extent to which the bimetal strip deformed before breaking the switch contact, and thus varied the duty cycle. Not really relevant, but I found it intriguing, as I'd expected an electronic solution.

 

[John Brown]

More relevant to your question - if you have a so-called smart meter you should be able to estimate the power used during the ON cycle, and by watching the indicator that tells you when it's up to temperature, you can estimate the duty cycle at a given temperature setting.


It is a concern. We've been merrily baking bread in the oven for the last couple of years, but have now gone back to the Panasonic bread maker as a more economical method, and I'm struggling to get the really dense texture I prefer. First world problems, I know...

 

[johna.clements]

This is a bit like asking how much petrol does a car use. Depends on the car, how its maintained, how its driven, how long the journeys are, where its driven etc.

 

[Jameshow]

Also steamers are great either electric or hob top saves using several pans.

 

[johna.clements]

and pressure cookers.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

And Ninja Foodis.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If the op has the patience he could watch the oven on indicator light and time its going on and off over say an hour.

 

[johna.clements]

If the op has the patience he could watch the oven on indicator light and time its going on and off over say an hour.

Or video it then you can fast forward it.

 

[Lorenzl]

If the op has the patience he could watch the oven on indicator light and time its going on and off over say an hour.

Or he could get a camera and write some code that counts the time the light is on.

Great minds think alike @johna.clements

 

[John Brown]

If the op has the patience he could watch the oven on indicator light and time its going on and off over say an hour.

I already said that.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, sorry. I was sidetracked by your mentioning the smart meter.

 

[Bingy man]

Most ovens gas or electric will use the energy to bring the oven up to temperature and then as per the op the thermostat will cut in and the oven will drop to by-pass rate . Every time you open the oven door the heat escapes and the stat will open up and more energy is used . Hence why when roasting a joint you remove the joint and close the door. I recently fitted a kitchen with a 7.35 kw induction hob so 3 kw is quite small as long as you allow the oven to pre heat to your required temperature.

 

[Spectric]

I have noticed some modern ovens can run off a 13A socket.

But the european ovens like Neff and Siemens don't like things easy and require 16 amp supplies and cannot be run from 13 amp sockets.

I know this seems obvious, but Im thinking once an oven reaches its set temperature, it then only needs enough energy to maintain that temperature

That is why when designing the circuit requirements for an oven you don't have to supply a circuit that can deliver the full load current, what you do is take 30% of the full load current and add 10 amps. So if you BIG oven requires 100 amps then you take 30 amps plus 10 and design for 40 amps.

One way to find out how much your oven is using is to read the meter, use the oven for a known period and read the meter again, this will be worse case as you will have other loads in use. You could read the meter before using the oven to get a usage for these other loads.

To save energy I was surprised how much can be saved using a Ninja, they take a lot less time to get to temperature and cook quicker so saving energy.

 

[RobinBHM]

Thanks everybody, sorry for the delay in replying, I’ve been having a root canal done at a specialist dentist ( just under £1k)

Some really useful insights in the responses, especially given it’s a how long is a piece of string question.

Im considering whether I want to watch the oven light for a hour………,

 

[akirk]

Our cooker has figures online for kWh usage 'per cycle'
not sure what 'per cycle' means, but seems to be average usage of c. 1 hour per day...
Can you find any such figures?

 

[MJ80]

The ovens and wiring in Germany is different, each room is its own 16A radial split to supply lights and sockets. Each appliance is on its own 16A radial as well as they don't use ring mains and fused plugs. My consumer unit is utterly ridiculous. Seems to be this way on much of the continent. Also most houses here have 3 phase.
Our Rangemaster with induction is on 3 phase. When I put one in in the UK it had to have a serious cable. As to power usage when cooking I haven't really got a clue.

 

[RobinBHM]

Our cooker has figures online for kWh usage 'per cycle'
not sure what 'per cycle' means, but seems to be average usage of c. 1 hour per day...
Can you find any such figures?

I shall have a look at that.