oven

Parking in the sun in Córdoba and in summer is like turning your car into an oven. Luckily, there is a key trick.

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Sometimes I wonder what a pizza will feel like when I put it in the oven. So I wait until 6:00 p.m., I open my car (which is parked on a street in Cordoba in the sun because I have no other option), I get in, and I think “ah, well like that.” It’s a penance because everything is very, very hot, from the seat to the steering wheel to the gear lever of my humble Seat Ibiza. The air conditioning goes as far as it goes, and by the time the car cools down, my clothes are already soaked in sweat. Since I can’t turn on the air conditioning remotely (I wish), a simple way to at least reduce the impact of the heat when getting in the car is to key trick. Windows down, windows up It is quite likely that your car opens and closes with a little touch. Well, there is a trick (it’s no secret, but it never hurts to remember it) to open and lower the windows remotely using only the controller: If you hold down the car unlock button, the windows go down. If you press and hold the car lock button, the windows close. Using this trick is one of those things that, over the years, I have become accustomed to. In my case, I only have automatic front windows, only the front ones go down. And let’s see, things as they are: This doesn’t work magic, but at least it’s progress.. The car is still hot because well, it’s hot, I’m in Córdoba and I’ve parked in full sun, but the initial shock when getting into the car is considerably reduced. If not even for those, we can always resort to the call “japanese trick“: open a window and open and close the opposite door to renew the interior air and reduce a few degrees. In my case, due to the area where I park, this is not always possible, but if you have space on the sides it may be a good idea. From here on, the mechanisms to cool the car are the same as always: Do the first few meters with the windows down and the air conditioning fan at low revolutions. Once you have reached cruising speed, roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning a little stronger. Use the air recirculation button. Point the air conditioner towards the ceiling. Image | Xataka Via | Gamestar.de

If the question is how to prevent our car from being an oven, some German experts believe that we have been making mistakes all our lives.

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Beach in the morning, visit to the beach bar and nap in the rented house. It doesn’t sound bad. You leave the beach bar with your belly full and your soul intoxicated with the sweet feeling of carelessness that invades you when dessert arrives and you say “why wouldn’t I eat that three-scoop ice cream.” But when going to the car, the harsh reality. The sun beats like never before. Touching anything inside the car is risking a trip to the hospital with a second-degree burn, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to lower the temperature inside. “But I put the parasol on”you will say. But… oh, friend. What if you have put it wrong? What if you have done everything backwards? That is what the German experts from the ADAC defend, a kind of German RACE famous for its reliability studies but they put the focus on everything that revolves around our cars. And his last publication is a good example of this. More “fresh” The automobile club ADAC has published an article in which it explains what temperature a car reaches in the sun and what measures we can take to reduce the temperature we will find inside. It must be taken into account that the temperature of the cabin in a car is not only important to avoid burns when touching the steering wheel or gear lever. According to the DGTdriving indoors that exceeds 30 degrees can have effects on our body similar to driving under the influence of alcohol. Therefore, when we get to a car that is parked in the sun, it is important to try to lower the temperature as soon as possible. The best idea is to launch what went viral as “the japanese trick”: open the windows and fan the car with the door itself to move the air inside and try to get it out as soon as possible. If you turn on the air conditioning, you must play with it to throw it at the feet or the ceiling depending on whether or not we are driving and the windows are open or not. But to make the task easier, it is very important to take precautions beforehand. One of them is, of course, the parasol. From the RACC they assure that using the sunshade can reduce the interior temperature of the vehicle by up to 11 degrees. We arrive at our destination, we grab the sunshade in the upper area and make sure that it covers the entire surface of the windshield, we close the car and we leave. Sure? What the ADAC experts say, this is not the best way to act. To do this, they have put five exactly identical Dacia Sandero in the sun and have looked for the best way to ensure that the temperature in the cabin is as low as possible. In his study, the car that was unprotected reached an internal temperature of 53ºC (blessed 53ºC if we compare it with the temperatures that the interior of our car can reach in the sun in Spain) and the lowest temperature had been achieved by covering the car with a tarp that reflects the sun’s rays. Obviously, this option is the least practical due to the size of the tarp that must be moved in the trunk and the inconvenience of putting it on and taking it off. Of course, the 43ºC achieved inside made the difference. The second least useful option was to put a white cloth over the car. In this case, the temperature reached was 50ºC. And here comes the interesting thing because it is the option that we use the most. The experts tried putting the sunshade inside the car, under the windshield, and outside the car, over the windshield. And the result was that putting it on the windshield reduced the temperature by 4ºC compared to putting it under the glass. In fact, putting the sunshade over the windshield left the temperature at 45ºC, very close to the best option. On the contrary, installing the windshield in the traditional way left the interior temperature at 49ºC. “Semi-garage” is Google’s translation of putting a tarp on the car to cover it The truth is that it makes sense. When the sun acts directly on the glass of the car, it heats up and acts as a magnifying glass, so the temperature in the cabin rises even more. Besides, his own glass emits more heat inside when it is hot, which is why it is not entirely advisable to buy a car with a sunroof without a curtain if you live in especially hot climates. In this case, the heat from the glass is projected onto the heads of the passengers. By placing the windshield inside we prevent the rays from directly hitting the glass and, therefore, its capacity to retain heat and raise the temperature further is lower. In that case, what we should do before leaving is to “grab” some ribbons from the parasol when closing the doors so that the parasol does not fly away. Photo | Andrew Bone In Xataka | The best way to use air conditioning in the car: the keys to fighting the heat

The fire in Los Gallardos reminds us of the car trap. Surrounded by 800 degree flames, it is not a shelter but an oven

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The unprecedented tragedy of Los Gallardos and the district of Bédar (Almería), which has left at least eleven fatalitieshas broken all the schemes in Andalusia. It is the deadliest fire of the 21st century in Spain, leaving us with a devastating image of people who have lost their lives inside their own vehicles or a few meters from them when trying to flee down the wrong path. The UME has mobilized 150 troops and, as the hours pass, the tragedy reveals an even more bitter face: the first hypotheses suggest that the deceased could be foreign tourists. People who, in panic and not knowing the labyrinthine relief of the area, tried to escape via alternative routes, losing their orientation until they were cornered. The collapse of the system. To understand why this hell has broken out, we have to analyze this perfect storm. On July 9, 2026, the Andalusian emergency system encountered an unfathomable scenario for three fundamental reasons. Extreme simultaneity: while the flames devoured the east of Almería, at the other end of the community, in Benahavís (Málaga), an urban-forest fire forced the emergency evacuation of some 1,000 people, and with the AP-7 cut off. Having two sources of very high life risk at the same time requires dividing the air and land resources of the INFOCA Plan and the UME. Flash ignition: the origin in Los Gallardos was the fall of a power line near the N-340. The spark fell on a forest mass stressed by the very high temperatures and lack of humidity. The wind did the rest. Treacherous topography: Bédar is an area of ​​irregular relief, full of ravines, boulevards and scattered farmhouses. The fire advanced, devouring the slopes faster than a car could travel on a dirt road. The main road was blocked by smoke, forcing desperate evacuations towards Lubrín. The vision of firefighters: as extinction professionals, there are a warning that professionals have been warning for years, although we ignore when panic takes control: the car is the worst place to take refuge from a forest fire. And based on the European Automobile Commissioner (CEA)road safety specialists warn that you should never try to cross a flame front. The vast majority of fatalities in forest fires occur due to trying to save property, delaying escape or delaying evacuation. For example, Australia maintained a Stay and Defend or Leave Early policy until the devastating Black Saturday fires in 2009, which left 173 dead. It was then that the National Center for Biotechnology Information (PMC) analyzed the causes and determined new action protocols. A Molina-Terrén study of 2019 detailed that when civilians are harmed or killed, it occurs almost exclusively during evacuations that are carried out too late, when smoke already impedes visibility and radiant heat blocks escape routes, or when trying to protect agricultural assets and homes. A recent study reaffirmed this thesis. The oxygen factor. As pointed out by the services of Red Crossan engine needs oxygen to run. When the fire consumes all the oxygen in the environment, the car simply suffocates and stops. According to the firm ISK Fire Survivalwhich designs fireproof protection systems for fire trucks themselves, details how radiant heat is lethal for a standard vehicle without thermal armor: windshields can burst at temperatures above 300 ° C, leaving the passenger compartment exposed. A sixth generation fire consumes all available oxygen and expels carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide. With melted wheels, traction is lost and thick smoke reduces visibility to zero in seconds. And, since the car’s ventilation system is not airtight, it is the toxicity of the air that begins to affect the body. And when the fire corners or the car is already partially trapped, the next few seconds are critical. The order of how to act from then on is capital. Expert advice indicates: Find a clearing and park. Here the important thing is to look for the area with the least possible vegetation, stopping far from trees or dense bushes. If you can park behind a stone wall (from some old construction) or in a dirt clearing, a large open field or a plowed field, the better. Turn off the engine and block the air. That is, close the windows, turn off the air conditioning and activate air recirculation to delay the entry of toxic smoke into the passenger compartment as much as possible. It is also important to flash and turn on emergency lights to be visible. Cover yourself with natural materialsnever with plastics or synthetic fibers. A wool blanket or cotton jacket does not melt or melt as easily, so it will not cause such serious injuries. get on the ground. Literally, lying below the level of the windows, crouched under the seats, protects from the direct radiation that enters through the windows and the smoke that accumulates at the top. Don’t go out. The passage of the flame front lasts between 2 and 5 minutes. The interior of the car can withstand more than a body exposed to the elements, which means that it should only be abandoned if the fire has entered inside. Then the car becomes a trap. Images | EMA Infoca In Xataka | We thought that the worst had already happened in France, but it seems that its problems have only just begun: after the “infernal” heat comes the fire

Every summer Spain is more of an oven. This map of AEMET records demonstrates it station by station

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Climate change is bringing increasingly hot summers and a rather hopeless consolation: increasingly it’s harder to remember a cool summer and the feeling that this torrid summer will be the coolest of our lives (this applies equally this summer to the previous one or next summer). And it’s not just sensations: there is data. Without going any further and according to AEMET datathe Spanish state has just experienced the most extreme heat wave ever recorded in the month of June with some days, June 22 and 23, 2026, which were the warmest of that month in Spain since at least 1950. +7.1 °C above usual values. Faced with this reality, someone has thought of marking the maximums recorded by the Spanish State Meteorological Agency on a map that reveals that the frequency and severity with which the temperature breaks records happens more and more often. And if the pattern holds, this historic June could be, in a few years, just a normal June. The dev and data analyst Adrian Maqueda has developed an interactive map from Spain showing each station in the AEMET network and the latest heat record that he has beaten. That there is a new record? (because unfortunately this summer it will surely happen again) Well, the map updates automatically. This system works with both maximum and minimum temperatures. The updated reading data and historical records come from AEMET’s OpenData. From here the readings are crossed to, in case of a new record, indicate it. The more recent the milestone, the more striking the color and the older the color, the more subdued. In this way it is intuitive to detect the thermal records on the map with the naked eye. Of course, it is not the same for a centennial station to set a record as for one that is only a few years old to do so. How hot it is (it doesn’t matter when you read this) Spain, in maximum temperatures Precisely what makes this map so valuable is how visual it is to verify that They are not isolated phenomena applicable to a specific areabut a pattern that covers the entire territory. And it happens more and more frequently: according to the Report on the State of the Climate in Spain 2025 According to AEMET, in Spain in the last decade 221 records for warm days have been broken and only 7 for cold days. Seen with perspective, the average temperature in Spain has gone up 1.75 °C since 1961 and The 12 warmest years in the historical series are all from the 21st century. The widespread and sustained increase in temperatures has direct consequences for health. In fact, the heat already kills us more than the cold. This trend is not exclusive to Spain: according to the World Meteorological Organizationheat waves in Europe are becoming more frequent, more intense and extending to regions that barely suffered from them before. And be careful because Europe is also the continent that comes out worst off. The Tama station (Cantabria) has just renewed its maximum Returning to the map, last week’s heat wave meant renewing a few of those orange circles to set records because of the network of 828 AEMET stations, 13 new maximum temperature records were recorded. For example, it is the case from Tama station (Liébana), in Cantabria: it reached 43.7 degrees on June 23, the highest temperature recorded in that community in any month of the year. The days were an oven, but the nights became tropical: in southern cities like Jaén or Segovia, the nighttime minimums exceeded 28 degrees. In Xataka | This map reveals the exact ‘climate clone’ of your city (and the result is surprising) In Xataka | The easiest way to understand global warming, in this climate map with data from 1940 Cover | Adrian Maqueda

After having avoided the worst of the great European heat wave, Spain has just launched the “Iberian oven”

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The countdown has begun. If we pay attention to the European weather forecast model, in Spain all the mechanisms have just been activated to find temperatures between 42 and 44 degrees in a good part of the center, west and south of the country. In recent years, rivers of ink have flowed about the idea of ​​the ‘Iberian oven’. Well, now we have it back. What exactly is the “Iberian oven”? Although we associate extreme heat with the eruptions of Saharan air masses, that is not usually the case. Not only because, no matter how hot the air arrives from Africa, it usually comes with suspended particles that block the maximums. But because we don’t need it: Spain has more than enough capacity to turn its own air into hell. And it happens a lot: usually when a mass of warm air (often combined with Saharan air) is blocked over the Peninsula. High pressures, clear skies, almost absolute stability… all of this causes the air to descend, compress and increase temperatures greatly. It is not uncommon for them to exceed 45 degrees in these situations. And is that going to affect us now? The forecast is quite clear: more than 40 degrees in the interior and west with anomalies of more than eight degrees above normal for this time of year. Between Sunday the 5th and Tuesday the 7th there will be peaks of up to 35 in the north. And none of that is going to be the most exasperating: the worst is going to be the nights that, in many places, are not going to drop below 25 degrees. Is it a “heat dome”? Well, the term ‘heat dome’ is a copy of the English “heat dome” and became fashionable after the 2021 pacific northwest episode. In addition to its ‘spectacularity’, it is usually used because it has no technical criteria behind it. Unlike heat waves, anything with a configuration slightly resembling a “heat dome” is a heat dome. Yes, yes, it will be; although it doesn’t help much that it is. Why should we care? Above all, because it is not an isolated event. Europe has not yet left the most severe heat wave on record. The dead are counted in the hundreds (orpossibly in the thousands). Continuing to chain extremely high temperatures is not good news. Image | Tropical Tidbits In Xataka | In 2014, French television imagined August 2050 as hell. This week’s heat wave has already overcome it

My PC case makes what’s inside an oven. I want one with good airflow and this is the one I have on my radar

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I assembled my PC in parts back in 2021. Five years have passed and, since then, I have been little by little changing some parts. First it was the graphics card and later came the sudden change: I jumped to DDR5 with motherboard, processor, new air cooler and RAM memory (yes, before prices skyrocketed). The box is the same and that has been a problem lately: my PC is an oven if I demand a little from it. He airflow (i.e. airflow) of it is not good enough for the configuration I have right now and I think it’s time to change. For several reasons that I will explain a little below, the one I have had in my cart for a few hours is this Corsair Air 5400 RS-R ARGB: costs 156.50 euros. That its RRP is almost 280 euros is one of these reasons, but not the only one. CORSAIR Air 5400 RS-R ARGB Triple Chamber Panoramic Mid-Tower PC Case – 3 Pre-Installed RS120-R ARGB Reverse-Rotor Fans – High Flow and Low Noise Ducting – Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A box with good airflow and cable management system Let’s go in parts. The first reason I like this box is not the most important, but I love its design. Both the front and the side are made of tempered glass, allowing you to see the interior at all times. In fact, they are two independent panels that connect and both can be opened. This allows you have much more space and leeway to remove components or to clean the inside (something I have to do constantly because I have two cats at home). The above is combined with a cable management system that is not only quite tidy and easy to place, but it remains hidden. Since you have a box with a very cool design that allows you to see what is inside, it is better if it is with the fewest cables visible. However, the best thing about this box is that it has a triple chamber design. What does this mean? Which is designed so that the parts that generate the most heat (such as the graphics card, power supply or processor) have an independent air flow that allows them to be well cooled. It is worth mentioning that the box includes three 120 millimeter air intake fans, although it has enough space to place three more of these, both in the front and on the top. All of this combined with the fact that it is currently historical minimum price It makes it a box that seems to me to be one of the best options available right now. You may also be interested CORSAIR Air 5400 LX-R RGB iCUE Link Triple Chamber Panoramic Mid-Tower PC Case – 3 Pre-Installed LX-R RGB Reverse-Rotor Fans – High Flow, Low Noise Ducting – Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links CORSAIR Air 5400 RS-R ARGB Triple Chamber Panoramic Mid-Tower PC Case – 3 Pre-Installed RS120-R ARGB Reverse-Rotor Fans – High Flow and Low Noise Ducts – White The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Corsair In Xataka | Best laptops in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and seven recommended models In Xataka | Liquid cooling or air cooler? What to choose so that your CPU doesn’t smoke without having to spend a fortune

Europe throws away 16 billion a year in electronic waste. Spain has just turned on the first oven in Europe to recover them

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Those cell phones, computers and small devices that are gathering dust in a drawer and ending up in a landfill contain valuable minerals such as copper, silver and platinum inside, which also end up there. Every year in the Spanish state almost 930,000 tons of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are thrown away, which makes Spain the sixth state on the continent in generation of this type of waste. according to data from the UN E-waste Monitor by 2024. Of these, less than half is documented and recycled waste. In a context in which rare earths and critical minerals are a strategic resource of which Europe wants to achieve sovereignty, Spain has taken a step forward with a CSIC pilot plant pioneer in the old continent: a furnace capable of melting that electronic waste to extract valuable metals from it. The pioneer oven. A few days ago the National Center for Metallurgical Research of the CSIC inaugurated in Madrid the first European pilot plant capable of recovering critical metals from electronic waste using a submerged lance furnace, which exceeds 1,200 °C to melt electronic waste. The milestone was formalized with the first experimental casting of metals obtained directly from electronic waste and obtained materials such as copper, gold, silver and platinum in a clean and efficient way. In conventional furnaces, the heat comes from the outside, but in this case a metal lance is introduced that injects oxygen and fuel directly into the molten bath, which generates intense turbulence that mixes and homogenizes the material, accelerates chemical reactions and improves energy efficiency. Why is it important. Because every year Europe generates millions of tons of electronic waste containing copper, gold, silver, platinum and strategic minerals necessary for the energy transition and digitalization. A part of them is not recovered: it is lost or used outside the continent. The facility in question is an advance in advanced pyrometallurgy and the management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment that shows that it is possible to treat this waste in Europe, thus preventing the associated economic value from leaving the continent, which allows the raw materials to be reincorporated into the European production chain itself. In addition, it connects directly with the Critical Raw Materials Law of the European Union, which fixed that at least 25% of the critical raw materials consumed by the EU by 2030 must come from recycling. The EU is currently heavily dependent on imports of critical raw materials, often from a single supplier, which poses a serious geopolitical risk in the form of dependence on strategic sectors such as renewable energy, digitalisation and defence. Context. The generation of WEEE is out of control and breaking records. According to the UN international waste observatoryin 2022 the world generated 62 million tons, 82% more than in 2010, but less than in 2030, when the estimated figure is 82 million tons. Europe takes the cake: in 2022 it was the region with the highest volume of WEEE per inhabitant with 17.6 kg per person, of which only 7.3 kg were recovered. But that garbage is money: the UN E-Waste quantifies the economic value of those 62 million tons at 91 billion dollars a year. If of this global total of WEEE, 13 million tons of garbage per year They belong to Europe. Calculated proportionally, it would be equivalent to losing about 19,000 million dollars annually due to poorly managing these materials (about 16,340 million euros at the exchange rate). While we search for deposits and accelerate their exploitation in a sector dominated by China, we have a deposit pending to be exploited: the “urban” mine with WEEE recycling. The situation regarding WEEE in Europe in 2022. UN E-Waste 2024 How it works. He submerged lance furnace is based on the ISASMELT processso that the raw materials only need to be pre-mixed, there is no need for fine grinding or drying, which simplifies the feeding with materials as heterogeneous as WEEE. The separation of materials is based on the difference in densities: once the waste is melted, copper and precious metals such as gold or silver tend to sink to the bottom of the reactor due to their greater density, while the slag (which is non-metallic) floats on the surface, which makes extraction simple. The project has been possible thanks to a public-private collaboration between CENIM-CSIC and two companies, the European copper smelting giant Atlantic Copper and the metallurgical company Glencore Technology. Yes, but. The CENIM facility is a pilot plant, not an industrial plant, and this leap in pyrometallurgy is not exactly small: engineering issues must be resolved such as the management of the gases emitted in the process or the useful life of the furnace’s refractory materials, among others. And this project may find its political framework in the Critical Raw Materials Act, but this It’s more of a statement of intent. than anything else: it does not have a roadmap nor has it made available new funds to accelerate these initiatives. However, the biggest problem is not in the oven, but in recycling or the absence of this: 46% of WEEE and the critical materials it contains are lost before reaching any recycling facility, simply because collection is poor. There is little point in developing highly efficient recovery technology if electronic waste ends up mixed with organic waste in the brown container. Or if it is exported outside of Europe. The real bottleneck remains collection. In Xataka | Mortadelo and Filemón work for the CSIC: TIA agents explain the history of science to us with their comics In Xataka | The CSIC wants to create quantum solar energy capable of self-regulating its temperature. His inspiration: painting Cover | yasin hemmati and Nathan Cima

turn a neighborhood into an unbearable oven

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In some cities around the world, the shape of a building has come to alter its environment greatly. more than expected: from skyscrapers that generate dangerous winds at street level to facades capable of concentrate sunlight as if they were giant mirrors. Contemporary architecture, in its search for recognizable icons, has shown that even the most invisible details can have very real consequences. From icon to problem. At the end of the 20th century, the city of Los Angeles decided to build one of the most ambitious concert halls in the world and commissioned the project to Frank Gehryalready converted into a global figure after the success of Bilbao Guggenheim. The result was the Walt Disney Concert Halla shiny, curved steel building that promised to redefine contemporary cultural architecture. However, in this commitment to formal spectacularity, the a basic factor: the actual behavior of materials in a dense urban environment. What should have been an icon became a source of risk, capable of reflecting sunlight with such intensity that it turned nearby streets and homes into authentic ovens. The invisible failure. The problem was not simply aesthetic, but physical. Some of the stainless steel surfaces, especially the more polished ones with concave shapes, acted like parabolic mirrors capable of concentrating solar radiation at specific points in the environment. This effect, amplified by execution decisions that altered Gehry’s originally intended finish, generated extreme glare and raised the temperature in nearby areas to dangerous levels. What on paper was a play of sculptural light became a real thermal phenomenondemonstrating how small deviations between design and construction can trigger unforeseen consequences in large-scale projects. Heat, complaints and public alarm. Shortly after its inauguration in 2003, the complaints from neighbors and workers of nearby buildings. The main problem? The reflection of the sun on the façade generated heat spots that They exceeded 60 degrees Celsius, affecting homes, sidewalks and even traffic, where drivers reported dangerous glare. The building, intended as a cultural symbol, began to be perceived as a threat urban. The local press documented how some areas became practically uninhabitable during certain hours of the day, turning the work into a paradigmatic case of how iconic architecture can fail when it ignores its impact on the immediate environment. An unusual solution. In the face of growing public pressure, the solution was as radical as it was symbolic: sand the building. Specialized teams subjected part of the façade to a process “sandblasting” to remove the polished finish and reduce the reflective ability of the steel. In practice, this meant physically altering one of the most distinctive features of the original design. And although Gehry defended that the problem derived more of the execution From conception, the episode made clear that even the most celebrated works can require drastic fixes when they come into contact with reality. As various media reflected at the time, the icon had to be “domesticated” in order to coexist with the city. Lessons from a partial failure in modern architecture. The case of the Walt Disney Concert Hall It was neither a structural collapse nor a total failure, but it was a strong warning on the limits of spectacle architecture. He demonstrated that formal innovation, when not accompanied by a deep understanding of factors such as solar radiation, the urban environment or real materials, can generate problems as serious and unexpected. Not only that. It also highlighted the fragility of the balance between aesthetics, engineering and habitability in contemporary architecture. The legacy. There is no doubt, today, the concert hall continues to be one of the most admired buildings in the world and a cultural reference in Los Angeles. But his story carries an uncomfortable lesson: even the most prestigious architect and a client with unlimited resources can overlook the most essential. In their search for a global icon, they forgot for a time that architecture is not only looked at, you also live. And in this case, for a few months, living near the work could mean something as simple and brutal as enduring unbearable heat generated by the building itself. Image | Pexels, Wally Gobetz, Slices of Light In Xataka | If the solution to the housing crisis is to “build high”, Spain has the best possible example at hand: Benidorm In Xataka | If the question is whether a skyscraper can be erased without demolishing it, Paris has the answer: yes, in exchange for a fortune

If it consumes more, turn on the oven or air fryer

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Every time the electricity bill arrives, we look at it with more attention than before. It is no longer enough to turn off the lights or unplug the cell phone charger: now cooking has also become an energy decision. Between hobs, ovens and air fryers, the kitchen has become the new battleground for savings. In recent years, the air fryer has come to staypromising lighter and faster meals. But the question remains in the air: does it consume more or less than the traditional oven? The modern dilemma. They may both cook with hot air, but their way of doing it makes the difference. The air fryer, Endesa explainsit works more like a miniature oven than a classic fryer. Its trick is to circulate hot air at high speed within a small compartment, achieving fast and uniform cooking. The traditional oven, for its part, heats a much larger space and needs to maintain the temperature for longer.And that’s the crux of the matter: the larger the volume, the more energy is expended. According to Naturgy, Although the oven is not the device that consumes the most electricity per year – barely 4% of the total – its specific power is one of the highest, and this can be noticed when the light goes up. Data and euros on the table. The power figures help to understand it better. An average air fryer has a power of between 1,000 and 1,800 watts, which is equivalent to a consumption of 0.8 to 1.5 kilowatt hours (kWh) per time of use, depending on the model and time. Meanwhile, a conventional oven has a higher power of between 2,000 and 5,000 watts, and with an average consumption of 1 to 1.5 kWh per use, although it may be higher for long cooking times or high temperatures. To understand it better, it is worth looking at how much it costs for our pocket. According to TotalEnergiesusing an air fryer for half an hour costs between 11 and 23 cents, depending on the model and the electricity rate. On the other hand, an electric oven can double that amount, especially if used at high temperatures or for more than an hour. Cooking a kilo and a half chicken at 220°C for just over an hour, for example, can cost around 30 or 40 cents. depending on the time zone. And although it may seem like little, consumption multiplies when it is used frequently or long preheats are performed. In addition, the oven requires preheating – between 10 and 15 minutes – and loses up to 25% of heat each time the door is opened, according to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU). Small gestures that increase consumption without us realizing it. The CNMC remember that the real cost It depends on the price of the kilowatt hour (kWh) at any given time. In 2025, the average domestic price in Spain is around €0.14/kWh, although it varies significantly between peak and off-peak hours. Therefore, rather than focusing only on the appliance, it is advisable to cook in the cheapest sections or take advantage of the residual heat, small gestures that can reduce final expenditure by up to 20%. Does size matter? That’s it the secret of the air fryer: a compact compartment that concentrates heat and reduces cooking time. The hermetic design and constant circulation of hot air allow it to reach temperatures of up to 200 °C in just a few minutes, which shortens times and prevents heat leaks. Therefore, for small portions or individual dishes, the air fryer wins by a landslide in efficiency. Of course, the most modern ovens have also learned to save. Those with energy class A or B and convection models with internal fan can consume up to 60% less than the old ones, and if their full capacity is used – cooking several dishes at the same time or using duo trays – the cost per serving can be very competitive. Beyond appliances. Efficiency not only depends on the appliance, but small gestures – such as not opening the oven while cooking, taking advantage of residual heat or planning several recipes at the same time – can reduce energy consumption. up to 30% annually. Unplugging small appliances when not in use avoids “phantom consumption”, and choosing appliances with an A or B energy label is an investment that pays for itself in a few months. In the words of the CNMCadapting use to the most economical schedules can mean savings of between 9% and 15% on the annual bill. The future is served. The air fryer has democratized energy efficiency in the kitchen. It is compact, clean, fast and economical. But the oven, far from disappearing, retains its throne as a versatile and robust tool for lovers of traditional cuisine. Ultimately, the savings do not depend so much on the device as on the use we make of it. Image | FreePik and Pixabay Xataka | Dreame no longer wants to be just the vacuum cleaner brand. Your order to conquer the home: washing machines, refrigerators and even ovens

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