As households face a rise in energy bills amid a cost-of-living crisis, new research reveals that Australians’ inefficient energy-guzzling cooking appliances are costing households almost $900 million [i], every year!
Saving money by using energy as wisely as possible in today’s economy just makes sense, and given the many ways we can do so, it’s no surprise that people worldwide are monitoring their energy usage and making adjustments to their lives as necessary.
You might not think your home’s oven is necessarily a big user of energy, but it turns out that it is. Recent research show that electric ovens tp the list of offending appliances when it comes to high energy usage. Owned by seven in ten (69%) Australians, in a typical week, electric ovens are used by households for 2 hours and 15 minutes, costing the nation an estimated $542 million[ii] annually. This is followed by electric cooktops/stoves at an estimated $340 million[iii].
So, when we were given the opportunity to talk with an Australian family that is making real efforts to monitor their energy usage, lower it and save genuine money, we felt it was worth learning more. We spoke with Anthony Plummer from Box Hill in Victoria, and that video interview is embedded directly below. More details from the research are below, please watch and read on!
Despite many Australians using inefficient cooking methods, four in five (79%) agree that it’s important their kitchen appliances at home are energy efficient. This is particularly true over the past 12 months, with seven in ten (68%) people increasingly doing more cooking at home as they curb their spending on meals out.
Yet almost two thirds of Australians (64%) aren’t sure how to estimate the energy usage of their kitchen appliances at home, with households potentially wasting millions of dollars every year.
But one savvy Australian isn’t letting his hard-earned dollars go to waste. Anthony Plummer from Box Hill in Victoria started his journey to reduce his family’s carbon emissions more than a decade ago and has been closely monitoring their energy usage ever since.
“When our son was born, we wanted to do our bit to make the world a better place. We’ve installed solar panels on our home and do all our high energy activities like using the dishwasher or washing clothes during the day,” he explained.
“We drop our son at school on bikes and our gas heating hasn’t been on in over a year. Individually these are small changes, but collectively they make a difference and it’s a good feeling to know we’re minimising our emissions for our son’s future.”
“In the kitchen, the biggest change we’ve made is cooking with a Thermomix which we’ve found is much more energy efficient. We use it for everything – to make our porridge in the morning, we might bake a cake during the day before using it again at night for our evening meal. It’s literally our second pair of hands in the kitchen. In the last year, we’ve made over 2,000 meals and saved over $1,000 in ingredients and food alone by cooking more efficiently with the Thermomix.”
Grace Mazur, Thermomix ANZ Founder and Managing Director, explains that as Thermomix is capable of ‘multi-layer’ cooking, you can often cook multiple or even all elements of a meal using just the one appliance, as opposed to multiple ones.
“There are so many layered cooking options with Thermomix. Just recently we added a new recipe to showcase at our Cooking Demonstrations – Chinese-style chicken and rice, which cooks a complete meal for four people using just the Thermomix in under 30 minutes,” says Grace. “It’s a really efficient way to cook – if you’d like to see it in action, book in for a demo!”.
Vorwerk, the manufacturer of Thermomix, also ran its own energy efficiency trials earlier in the year in Germany, revealing meaningful results in energy saving potential.
The tests found that in some cases, only 35 to 45% of the electricity was used by the Thermomix TM6 compared to some cooktops or steamers to prepare a meal for a family of four.
Further, Vorwerk’s overseas testing with bolognese (one of the most popular recipes in Australia, according to Thermomix’s recipe platform) in the Thermomix TM6 Slow Cooking mode, consumed up to 65% less electricity than some ceramic or induction cooktops used in the tests[iv].
The new Australian research also revealed that it’s not just the inefficient use of appliances that is costing consumers money, it’s inefficient cooking habits too. Three in five (59%) of Australians admit to boiling food without a lid at least sometimes, while over half (54%) will open the oven to take a peek when it’s on at least some of the time[v].
And many Australians are investing in items that are simply gathering dust. This same research found one in four Aussies (24%) have 11 or more kitchen appliances at home and four in ten (39%) admit to not using the kitchen appliances they own every week. This percentage is even higher among those who have 11 or more appliances, with nearly half (48%) admitting they don’t use all of them every week[vi].
For Anthony and his family, cost saving in the long term is about investing in energy efficient appliances like the Thermomix, equalling value for money over the long term.
“The value-add investing in a small collection of appliances that actually work has been life-changing for our family. My parents became in awe of our Thermomix and the value it brought our family and bought one for themselves so they can reap the benefits too.”
The footnotes listed above are detailed here:
[i] In the study commissioned by The Mix Australia and New Zealand, based on combined estimated hourly running times for electric ovens, and electric and induction stoves/cooktops.
[ii] Based on an estimated hourly running cost of $0.682. (sourced from Ausgrid data, adjusted to 2023 assuming an electricity cost of 32.5 cents per kWh based on Canstar Blue’s estimates) and 9,808,428 households in Australia).
[iii] Based on an estimated hourly running cost of $0.549. (sourced from Ausgrid data, adjusted to 2023 assuming an electricity cost of 32.5 cents per kWh based on Canstar Blue’s estimates) and 9,808,428 households in Australia).
[iv] In a test carried out by SLG Prüf- und Zertifizierungs GmbH. 3062-22WW-23-PB002. 2023-01.* Tests are based on overseas models and results will vary depending on appliances and individual circumstances.
[v] In the study commissioned by The Mix Australia and New Zealand.
[vi] In the study commissioned by The Mix Australia and New Zealand.
