Kitchen Energy Efficiency | How to Save on Energy

Your kitchen is one of the rooms of your home that uses quite a bit of energy each day, and that is one of the reasons you could have an energy bill that’s a bit higher than you would like. If you are having some issues with high energy costs, you may want to take some steps  to help make your kitchen an energy efficient environment. Here are some tips you can use. The more of these you follow, the more $ you can save!

Refrigerator

Your refrigerator uses more energy than any other appliance you have in your home simply because it is always on and running. If you have a refrigerator that’s 10 years old or more, you might want to consider buying a new Energy Star qualified fridge. They use less energy than the older units do.

Dishwasher 

You should also look at the other appliances in your kitchen, such as the dishwasher. Again, if it is older, you might want to replace it with an Energy Star appliance. If you use the dishwasher, only run it when it’s completely full. One large load is going to use less energy than three or four smaller loads. You can also let the dishes air dry to save even more energy.

Cooking Appliances

When cooking, try to use the microwave as much as possible. Microwaves use far less energy than stoves use. For those times when you do use the stove though, always make sure  you have the right size pan on the right heating element. If you have a small pan on a large element, you will waste energy, and if you heat a large pan on a small element, it’s going to take longer, and thus more energy, to heat efficiently.

When using an electric stove, you can also turn the burners off a few minutes early while cooking. They’ll stay hot and food will continue to cook, but they are not going to use as much energy during that time. This is a good and simple idea, and once you start remembering to use it, it will become second nature.

When using the oven, try to plan your meals so you are cooking several things in the oven at once. This will reduce the amount of time you keep the oven running.

Even implementing just one of these tips can help heat up your energy savings so start today!