Everyone prefers efficient ways to carry out daily chores in today’s busy world.
So do the cooking lovers. It is hard for working people, especially women, to wait and check on the food to ensure it is not burnt or undercooked.
This is where innovative technology comes to the rescue. Slow cookers such as crock-pots allow you to cook food that requires a lot of time and attention.
Simply toss your ingredients into the crock-pot and walk away for a few hours.
Yet, one question that might pop into your head is whether crock-pots are energy efficient.
How Many Amps Does a Crock-Pot Draw?
People are understandably wary about investing in a popular product.
A product’s high price tag is no guarantee of its superior performance. Fortunately, crock-pots do not disappoint in this aspect.
You can form a more well-informed view of the crock-pot by learning how much electricity it requires and how efficient it is in practice. The major features of a crock-pot include its slow cooking time compared to the traditional methods (1).
Let us take a deeper look at what factors influence the energy consumption of a crock-pot.
For starters, a typical crock-pot utilizes around 120 volts.
As for how much power they consume, we estimate between 0.20 and 2.0 amps. Compared to a normal electric oven or stove, a crock-pot ‘s figures are significantly low.
It may come as a surprise to learn that a conventional oven requires anything from 20 to 50 amps. Hence, a savvy person would choose a crock-pot over an ordinary oven in some instances.
Most individuals hold the false belief that crock-pots use excessive amounts of electricity.
In reality, the typical consumption of a crock-pot is up to 175 watts which is a very reasonable consumption rate. Still, there is no exact formula for calculating the amps a crock-pot uses!
How Is the Electricity Consumption of a Crock-Pot Determined?
The figures mentioned above depict the efficiency of your crock-pot.
These numbers greatly rely on the brand or model of the crock-pot you own. That brings us to our first factor, i.e., the make or manufacturer of the crock-pot.
Energy consumption varies from brand to brand.
The second factor that affects the amps drawn is the heat setting. Users can adjust the heat setting according to the application. Heat settings differ for various types of food. But when talking about the standard heat setting, a crock-pot uses about 175 watts.
Other factors that influence a crock-pot ‘s energy consumption include the cooking duration and the size of a slow cooker.
A longer cooking time will consume more electricity than quick and instant meals. Similar is the case with the cooker size. A large-sized cooker will require greater power to operate, while a small-sized cooker will work just as well on much lower power.
The bottom line is power consumption is not a fixed standard value.
How Is Power Consumption Measured?
As we discussed earlier, getting know-how about the power consumption of any electrical appliance is important.
The values give you an idea on whether you can easily operate it with available resources. The same concept applies here in the case of a crock-pot.
The most common terms you will come across while calculating the power are Amperage, Voltage, and Wattage.
Amperage
Amperage refers to the current flowing in the electrical circuit. It is measured in amperes. In technical terms, the current is the flow rate of charges per unit of time in a circuit.
When we talk about the amps drawn by an electrical appliance, this is what we refer to.
Voltage
In scientific language, voltage is the potential difference between two points in an electrical circuit. The higher the voltage, the greater the current.
Wattage
This signifies the resultant power of an electrical circuit.
Power is dependent on both amperage and voltage.
A simple way to grasp the concept is a comparison with a water pipe. You must have observed a water pipe at one point, right?
Now imagine the path of an electrical circuit is the length of the pipe.
The water flowing through the pipe is analogous to the current flow through the circuit. The water exerts some force on the pipe. This force is the voltage.
The product of amperage and voltage gives rise to the wattage.
That implies how much water flows through the pipe with a particular force, i.e., voltage. Wattage has a direct relationship with both of these quantities. If you increase either voltage or current, your wattage will ultimately increase and vice versa.
Are Crock-Pots Budget-Friendly?
The answer is yes.
These devices take a while to prepare meals. Now, you must be wondering how on earth this energy is efficient. Typically, more energy is used the longer food is cooked.
This is where the impressive design of crock-pots comes to play. You can place your food in the crock-pot for hours, which will still consume minimum electricity. The figures clearly explain this.
Typically, an average low heat setting leads up to 0.19 dollars if the crock-pot is operated for 6-7 hours.
Compared to crock-pots, electric ovens consume more amps per unit of time and cost you more money. For example, instead of 2 amps, electric ovens or stoves take up to 30-50 amps.
These numbers are drastically high and in no way cost-friendly.
The cost depends upon the duration and heat setting. Another item that adds to the pros list of using crock-pots is that they do not require any installation, unlike the usual ovens, which cost around $200 per unit on average for installation purposes before use.
Crock-pots prove to be cost-efficient while ensuring good quality food.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. How many watts do crock-pots use?
Crock-pots are an ideal choice when you want delicious food with little energy consumption.
While the watts consumed rely heavily on the recipe type, crock-pots still utilize reduced power. For simple recipes such as roasts and slow simmer recipes, 0.8kwh is enough.
On the other hand, similar recipes require up to 3kwh when you use an electric oven or stove. That is more than twice what crock-pots consume. Normally, a crock-pot must run for 8 to 9 hours.
The energy consumption varies in different models and the user’s preference.
Q2. Can I leave slow cookers overnight?
Yes, you can.
It is okay to leave food to cook overnight in a slow cooker. Slow cookers are designed to cook food on low heat over a long time. They are a good option when your recipe calls for a longer cooking time.
You can set the required settings before going to bed. The only thing you need to take care of is the temperature. Make sure the temperature is above 60 degrees.
The ideal heat setting for overnight cooking approved by USDA is in the range of 63-74 degrees. However, it is recommended that you keep an eye on the cookers for extra safety.
So, unless it is necessary to cook something overnight, you should use these cookers during the day.
Q3. Can a crock-pot be operated with a car’s battery?
To be honest, that is an interesting approach. Luckily, you can operate almost every appliance with your car’s battery.
So, plugging a crock-pot into your car battery is not bad. The only thing important here is to run a crock-pot on the car’s battery and ensure the engine is working.
You can not expect your crock-pot to run without driving. Using a car’s battery without driving will drain it, and you have to jump-start it or purchase a spare battery.
On the other hand, you can get an additional battery and directly connect the crock-pot to it. You can control the wattage using any regulator if your crock-pot doesn’t have wattage control.
Q4. Is cooking in crock-pots hard to manage?
Yes and No, both.
The answer to this question lies in your managerial skills. Now you know that your crock-pot s will take over 5 hours; you must pre-prep all your ingredients and other side tasks.
The longer cooking time is one of the drawbacks of slow cookers, but that is not a big deal. If you can manage your tasks well while your meal cooks, you can save a lot of time.
One of the perks of crock-pots includes overnight cooking. Just leave your food in a crock-pot without the thought of keeping an eye on it.
This way, you can wake up and enjoy your freshly cooked meal.
Q5. Are crock-pots a good investment?
Yes definitely.
What is better than an appliance that consumes little to no energy with the added benefit of amazing taste?
Crock-pots are famous for being money savers. Since you need to run a crock-pot for a long time, energy consumption must be your number one priority.
Luckily, the innovative design of the crock-pot lets you cook food with minimal power consumption. Crock-pots consume less electricity than electric ovens, stoves, etc.
But you must trade in an elongated cooking period for lesser electricity bills. This is the only setback in purchasing crock-pots.
Q6. Which generator size do you need to run a crock-pot?
The generator size varies depending on the watts your crock-pot needs.
If you need a crock-pot at low heat settings, a generator of 200 watts will work fine for you. On the other hand, you will need a generator of almost 1400 watts to run the crock-pot for high energy requirements.
Q7. Are crock-pots safe to use?
Yes, crock-pots are safe.
You do not need to worry about crock-pots running for hours when you are not home or cooking overnight. Today, crock-pots come with a built-in mechanism for the safety of their users.
This means it will automatically turn the device off when it is overheated. A surge protector can also help you avoid overheating the crock-pot.
Although, it is not wise to leave the surge protector connected for an extended time.
Q8. How long can you leave a crock-pot unattended?
Even if your crock-pot has a low energy consumption rating, we won’t advise you to leave it unattended.
Alternating current (AC) voltage fluctuations can cause burns and even sparks that can start fires. Unless you have a smart crock-pot with safety features, you can leave it unattended for up to 20 hours.
However, check it every once in a while to see whether everything is fine. On the other hand, some crock-pots have alarms to let you know if something is wrong.
In Conclusion
To sum up, crock-pots are one of the must-have items in almost every American kitchen.
Due to their ability to cook tastier and healthier food while drawing a little electricity, crock-pots are becoming increasingly popular every day.
If you are searching for a kitchen appliance that helps you make a nutritious meal without doubling your electricity bill, the crock-pot is what you should consider.
But, you must know that you will have to compromise cooking time to reduce electricity usage. If you think about it, it is worth it.
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