Juicer: how much electricity it uses, what it costs in Chilean pesos and which to buy, centrifugal or cold press

A centrifugal juicer draws between 500 and 800 watts and a cold-press or slow juicer between 150 and 250 watts. Even so, making one litre of juice costs almost the same with either: about CLP 6 to 7 on the power bill with electricity at CLP 255.27 per kWh from CGE, because the slow one runs for more minutes. What does change, a lot, is the purchase price: from CLP 29,990 for a centrifugal and from CLP 79,990 for a slow juicer, according to Solotodo on 9 November 2026.

This guide explains how much electricity a juicer uses, what it costs in pesos per litre and per month, the difference between centrifugal, cold-press and citrus presses, and which models are sold in Chile with their wattage and price.

A juicer is basically an electric motor. What changes from one type to another is how it uses that power to separate juice from pulp:

• Centrifugal: a disc with blades spins at thousands of revolutions per minute, grates the fruit and throws it against a filter. It is fast and needs a powerful motor, 500 to 800 W in the models sold in Chile.
• Slow or cold-press: an auger turns slowly, crushes the fruit and squeezes it against a mesh. It uses 150 to 250 W motors but takes several times longer.
• Citrus press: a cone spins under half an orange or lemon. It only works with citrus and uses very little: 25 to 160 W.

The wattage on the box is the maximum. With soft fruit the motor runs below it; with carrots or beetroot it gets close to the limit. These appliances also run for only a few minutes a day, so their monthly consumption is low compared with a fridge or an electric water heater.

Source: wattages from Solotodo on 9 November 2026; costs calculated by Energía Futura with electricity at CLP 255.27 per kWh (CGE, BT1, October 2026). Minutes per litre are a home-use assumption, not manufacturer data: they depend on the fruit and how finely it is cut.

To compare like with like, we calculated the cost of one litre of juice, which takes roughly 2 kilos of fruit and vegetables. An 800 W centrifugal juicer makes it in about 2 minutes of motor time; a 150 W slow juicer needs about 10 minutes. The result is very similar.

Source: Energía Futura calculations with electricity at CLP 255.27 per kWh and the stated minutes of use, at full power. The citrus press only works with citrus fruit.

The conclusion is simple: electricity should not decide your purchase. Even if you drink a litre a day all month, the juicer adds between CLP 128 and CLP 319. The fruit for that litre costs many times more. The real differences between types are fruit yield, juice texture, noise and the price of the machine.

The choice depends on which juices you want to make and how much you are willing to pay. These are the practical differences.

Source: prices and wattages from Solotodo on 9 November 2026; the features are general to each technology and may vary by model.

• Choose a centrifugal juicer if you make apple, carrot or pineapple juice, want speed and do not want to spend more than CLP 50,000.
• Choose a slow juicer if you make green juices with spinach, kale or celery, dislike noise or want to get more out of the fruit. It costs two to ten times more.
• Choose a citrus press if you only drink orange juice or lemonade. From CLP 6,990, and the electricity cost is close to zero.

A cheaper alternative is the blender: it makes juice with the pulp included, which you can strain if you prefer. Our guide to the blender and what it costs to run shows that its consumption per use is similar to that of a centrifugal juicer.

These are the juicers and citrus presses listed on Solotodo on 9 November 2026, with their wattage and the lowest price among the stores it tracks.

Source: Solotodo, 9 November 2026. Slow machines were classified by mechanism and low wattage; the 200 W Sindelen EXL-200 appears in the interactive table without a type because its product sheet does not state one.

Since the electricity cost is almost irrelevant, the decision rests on other features in the product sheet. These matter most in daily use:

• Feed chute: a wide chute takes whole apples or large pieces and saves chopping time.
• Speeds: two-speed centrifugal juicers handle soft fruit better at low speed and hard fruit at high speed.
• Jug and pulp container capacity: sets how much juice you can make without stopping to empty them.
• Continuous run time: the manual states how many minutes the motor can run before resting.
• Cleaning: dishwasher-safe parts and a brush for the mesh save a lot of time.
• Warranty and spare parts: for slow juicers, which cost more, check that augers and meshes are available in Chile.

To size the consumption: an 800 W centrifugal juicer running for 2 minutes uses about 27 Wh, the same as a 9 W LED bulb left on for 3 hours. Even if you used it every day of the year, it would add about CLP 2,480 a year to the power bill.

• Cut hard fruit into pieces: the motor strains less and lasts longer.
• Make the juice in one go: a litre at once uses less than four glasses at four different times, because each start-up loads the motor more.
• Respect the continuous run time in the manual: many centrifugal juicers should not run for more than a few minutes in a row.
• Clean the filter right away: a clogged mesh lowers yield and forces you to use more fruit.
• Use the pulp: it works in cakes, stocks or compost, and lowers the real cost of each litre.

If you want a single machine for juices, soups and dough, a kitchen robot can replace several appliances, although it does not squeeze like a juicer. We compared it in the article on the Thermomix and what it costs in pesos.

And if the juice is for shakes with milk or protein, the hand or stand mixer or the blender are cheaper than a juicer and use a similar amount of electricity per use.

How many watts does a juicer use?

Centrifugal models sold in Chile, between 500 and 800 W; cold-press ones, between 150 and 250 W; citrus presses, between 25 and 160 W.

What does a litre of juice cost in electricity?

Between CLP 4 and CLP 11 with a juicer, depending on the type and minutes of use, and less than CLP 1 with a citrus press.

Does a slow juicer use less electricity?

It has a smaller motor but runs for longer. Per litre, the cost is similar to a centrifugal juicer: about CLP 6.

How much is a juicer in Chile?

From CLP 29,990 for a centrifugal and from CLP 79,990 for a slow juicer, according to Solotodo on 9 November 2026. Citrus presses start at CLP 6,990.

What is best for green juices?

A slow or cold-press juicer, because it extracts more from leaves than a centrifugal one.