Is a slow cooker cheaper than an oven?

It depends on the dish. A slow cooker wins on a long braise, but an oven run for one hour uses less than a slow cooker left on for eight.

Each figure above is that appliance at its own typical use, which is why they differ. The reasons below are what actually settle this comparison — the running cost of the electricity each draws is not the whole story.

Why the running cost does not settle electric oven versus slow cooker

• A slow cooker draws roughly 250 W against an oven's 3,000 W — about one twelfth the nameplate power. On a long, slow dish that would otherwise keep a full-size oven hot for two or three hours, it uses less electricity despite running all day.
• But a long runtime is not free. Eight hours in a slow cooker is roughly 2 kWh — more than the 1.2 kWh an oven draws in an hour once its element cycles to hold temperature — which is why the figures above, each at its own typical use, show the oven lower. They are not cooking the same meal.
• Its real advantage is insulation: it heats a small sealed vessel and loses almost nothing to the kitchen, so the saving is largest on the slow, all-day dishes it is built for.

Both figures use each appliance’s typical wattage and default usage at the U.S. average of 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour, and exclude fixed charges, taxes and time-of-use rates. Change the wattage, usage or state on either appliance’s own page to compare them on your terms, or read how to check a running-cost figure before trusting any of them.