Kitchen Energy Saving Tips

The following kitchen energy saving tips are ways to help you save energy in your kitchen and save yourself some money too.

Refrigerator and freezer:

·   The refrigerator and freezer are the biggest energy users in the kitchen. Because they cycles on and off all day, 24-7, they consume more electricity than nearly every appliance in the house except for the HVAC systems. The average refrigerator or freezer cost about $105 per year to operate.  Adjustments the thermostat down can save you about $40 to $45 a year.

·   Adjusting the refrigerator thermostat so that it stays in the 37-40 degrees range. Adjust the freezer thermostat to between 0-5 degrees. If they don’t have a temperature gauge buy an inexpensive thermometers to monitor the temperature.

·   Clean any accumulated dust on the condenser coils at the rear or on the bottom of the refrigerator. It restricts air flow and forces the unit to work harder and longer than necessary.

·   Use an ice tray rather than an automatic ice maker. Automatic ice makers are convenient but they use a lot of energy to operate, about 15% more than making ice with ice trays. You can either turn off the ice maker or a DIY homeowner can remove the ice maker in a few minutes. Removing it will also increase the room in your freezer.

Ovens and ranges:

·   By using gas or electric stove more effectively you can save energy. When cooking, turn the burner off early. The heating elements stay hot a long time after they have been turned off. That residual heat will finish the last few minutes of cooking the food.  Apply the same technique to the ovens. This technique for saving energy can save you about $3 a month.

·   Match the burner sixe to pan size. When a small pan is placed on a large burner you are heating a lot of hot burner space for nothing.  When using a large pan on a smaller burner it will take considerably longer to heat the pan. Don’t let the flames lick up the sides of the pot or pan on gas stoves.  

·    Stop preheating. Many professional cooks agree that the practice of preheating is unnecessary for all but a few recipes such as baking breads and cakes. The 20 to 30 minutes of preheating is a waste of energy. It may take a few minutes more of cooking time but it will eliminate the preheating time.

Dishwasher:

·   Most of the energy used by dishwashers is for heating the water. You can reduce the energy use by managing the load. Most dishwashers use the same amount of water and energy whether they’re run full or partially full. You can cut your operating cost by one half by running the machine only when it is completely full.  

·   The drying cycle also uses a lot of energy. Most dishwashers have an energy saving selection so you can turn off the drying cycle and let the dishes dry in the free air or dry them by hand. If they don’t have this energy saving feature you can just open the door after the last rinse cycle is complete.

·   You can save both water and energy by washing the dishes by hand. Sounds old fashion in today’s world but you will save a lot of energy by doing them by hand.