In this day and age we are all aware of our responsibility to do our part for the environment by reducing the amount of energy used in the home. When you cut down on your energy usage, another benefit is that you will slash your monthly bills, potentially saving you thousands of dollars per year. With all of this in mind, here are some tips to save energy in the kitchen that you can put into action today.
Pots and pans
Always try to use pots and pans that completely cover the stove you are using. The reason for this is simple, as it will reduce the amount of heat lost during cooking, as the majority of heat will being going into the pan.
Fill your oven
When you go to cook a meal in your oven, it is a very good idea to do a bit of prior planning so that you fill your oven up with more foods. You can do this by planning out the meals you will be eating over the coming days and then cooking them all at the same time. You can then store the meals that you are not going to eat right now, in the fridge or the freezer.
By implementing this simple yet effective cooking tip, you will not need to use the oven as much, which means less energy is used in your kitchen. The key to making it work is to spend thirty minutes at the start of the week working out your meals for each day, and then making sure you have the required foods and ingredients.
Make sure your dishwasher is full
The next in line of the tips to save energy in your kitchen, is to practice good dishwasher habits. A lot of people tend to run their dishwasher after every meal, regardless of how full it may actually be. If you want to save energy, then it is better to make sure that your dishwasher is fully loaded before turning it on.
Check your fridge and freezer settings
It is a good idea to check what the cold settings are on your fridge and freezer. There is a very good chance that they are on a setting that is lower than the recommended temperature, which means it is wasting more energy than it needs to. Fridges should have a temperature of about 38 degrees Fahrenheit, and freezers should be around 5 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no need to set your freezer to Arctic conditions.
Don’t look in the oven
A great tip to save energy in your kitchen is to not open the door while food is cooking to have a look. This is because every time you open the oven door heat is lost, which over a long period of time can amount to a substantial amount of energy. A good habit to get into is to set a timer for your food, and then only open the oven door when that timer goes off so that you can have a look.
Allow foods to cool
Before placing any recently cooked food into your fridge, you should allow it to rest at room temperature for a little while until it has partially cooled down. The reason for this is that putting hot foods into your fridge will take more energy to cool.
The final word
By following the above tips to save energy in the kitchen, you will find that you are doing your bit for the environment and becoming more “green,” and also saving a nice sum of money every month on your energy bills.
About the Author
Guest article provided courtesy of Claire, owner of eFoodProcessorReviews.com – an excellent consumer resource for food processor reviews. We also provide the most important info that you need to know about the Braun multiquick 3 k650.
We were looking for new fridge.. Wanted the newer style with bottom freezer but didn’t want to pay the big bucks.
Two things:
1) We were amazed how much more energy efficient they are now.
2) THE time to buy a fridge is November! We were shocked to find about a dozen refrigerators HALF price at Lowes! I don’t know if there are other months with equally good price slashing but just thought I’d pass that on.
Dee