Power-hungry kitchen appliances cost Aussies almost $900 million every year

Anthony Plummer and his family

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.

Topping the list of offending appliances are electric ovens. Owned by seven in ten (69 per cent) 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].

Despite many Australians using inefficient cooking methods, four in five (79 per cent) 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 per cent) people increasingly doing more cooking at home as they curb their spending on meals out.

Yet almost two thirds of Australians (64 per cent) 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 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent) of Australians admit to boiling food without a lid at least sometimes, while over half (54 per cent) 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 per cent) have 11 or more kitchen appliances at home and four in ten (39 per cent) 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 per cent) 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.”

METHODOLOGY

This study was commissioned by The Mix Australia and New Zealand and conducted by YouGov online between 31st July – 2nd August 2023.

The sample comprised of a nationally representative sample of 1,017 Australians aged 18 years and older.

Following the completion of interviewing, the data was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.

ABOUT THERMOMIX® AUSTRALIA

When Grace Mazur started Thermomix® in 2001, she did so with the unwavering belief that she was sharing something truly incredible – in both the appliance and the business opportunity. Her passion was so genuine and so heartfelt, it was infectious. It’s that contagious energy, shared by our field, staff and customers, that has fuelled our success over two decades – and counting.