With gas prices rising, now is the perfect time to consider making the switch to an electric grill. An electric grill doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice that delicious barbecue flavour we’re all seeking. Traeger wood-fired grills use electricity to power the grill’s auger and firepot, but burn 100% hardwood pellets as their fuel source, meaning you can get that amazing wood-fired flavour with all the ease and convenience of an electric grill.

But what are the costs associated with a Traeger grill, and are they actually any cheaper to run?

Start-up costs

The price of a Traeger grill varies greatly from the portable Traeger Ranger to the basic Pro Series models, all the way up to the newest Timberline range.

From the Ironwood range upwards, the Traeger grills are double wall insulated, increasing the grills’ fuel efficiency. The first-generation Ironwood models, such as the Ironwood 650 and Ironwood 885, are double wall insulated on the side, with a gasket along the bottom of the lid. The first-generation Timberline 885 and Timberline 1300, as well as the new Ironwood, Timberline, Ironwood XL, and Timberline XL, are all fully double insulated, with a full lid gasket.

These models with greater insulation, whilst more expensive than the non-insulated ranges, will be more fuel efficient, saving you money on pellets in the long run.

Pellet costs

Traeger’s wood pellets are made from 100% natural hardwood. The sawdust of pure hardwoods is compressed into pellets using heat and pressure, no binders or fillers go into Traeger’s pellets. For the best results and to avoid auger jams, you should always use Traeger pellets with your Traeger grill.

One average bag of Traeger pellets weighs 9kg and, as of May 2023, costs £17.99. You can expect a 9kg bag of pellets to last you between six and twenty hours of cooking, depending on the temperature you have your grill set to. This will also vary between the different grill sizes and ranges, due to the area that needs to be heated and the amount of insulation that your grill has.

This will give you on average 13 hours of cooking from each 9kg bag of pellets. As each bag is £17.99, this brings your pellet costs to £1.38/hour, with a high of £3/hour (at temperatures resulting in 6 hours from one bag) and a low of £0.90/hour (at temperatures resulting in 20 hours from one bag).

Electricity costs

As you are cooking with hardwood pellets, Traeger grills use a relatively small amount of electricity to run. The grill needs electricity to power the display, ignite the fire, and to power the auger and fan.

Traeger grills with Traeger’s D2 controller use 110W during ignition, and 10-20W once the grill has reached the desired temperature. Whereas the average oven uses around 2100W.

As of May 2023, electricity costs 34.0p/kWh. Your Traeger grill will reach the desired temperature within 15 minutes. Therefore, to ignite your Traeger at 110W for 15 minutes, this will cost you 0.94p. To cook on your Traeger at an average of 15W, this will cost you 0.51p/h to run your D2 Traeger.

If you have an AC Traeger, such as the Pro 22, this will use a little more electricity. The AC models use 300W during ignition and 45-100W for normal cooking. Thus, igniting an AC Traeger will cost you 2.55p, and cooking at an average of 78W will cost you 2.65p/h.

Traeger’s new Timberline grills use a little more power than their average D2 grills, running at 95W during both ignition and normal cooking. These grills will cost you 3.23p/h to run. The power usage to run the Induction cooktop on the new Timberline models will vary, but running the grill and Induction cooktop together will use at most 1756W. This will cost you 59.7p/h. The induction cooktop alone will cost you maximum 47.94p/h to run.

How much does a Traeger cost to run per hour?

With all of this in mind, the average cost to run your Traeger per hour is barely more than your pellet cost, or just under 60p more than your pellet cost per hour if you have a new Timberline and run the Induction cooktop on full heat for the full hour. For most D2 grills, cooking at a temperature that gives you 13 hours from a bag of pellets, your Traeger is going to cost you less than £1.39 per hour to run.

You can run a Traeger grill for as little as 91p per hour and, at most, £3.60 per hour, if you really put your back into it.

Electric pellet grills not only produce amazing results with that delicious wood-fired flavour you’re yearning for, but they’re cheap, reliable, and easy to run and use. Check out the full range of Traeger grills available at Riverside, and give us a call at 01992 514778 or email us at sales@riversidegardencentre.co.uk if you have any questions about the Traeger grills.