The kitchen is one of the essential rooms in our houses. It’s where we cook and store our food, after all. Also, it helps us start our morning by being the place where coffee is produced and where breakfast is served. In short, without the kitchen, you wouldn’t be able to eat unless you buy take-outs or eat outside, which is not very cheap at all. The kitchen is also one of the most expensive energy usages.
With all the gadgets and appliances in constant use, it’s where most of our energy expenditure is found. If you want to save money on energy, reducing your energy usage in the kitchen should be the first thing you should consider. But how exactly are we supposed to do that? Here are some tips on how you make your kitchen energy efficient.
Choose Energy Efficient Products
The kitchen is the place where most of your appliances are found. And since those appliances are in constant use every day, it’s safe to say that the kitchen is the most energy-expensive room in your house. But, of course, we can’t simply reduce its energy usage by reducing its use time since they are all critical. So instead, why not change your appliances into energy-efficient ones?
When shopping for appliances, if you don’t know if an appliance is an energy-efficient product, you can look at its label. By law, white goods such as dishwashers, ovens, fridges, etc., must display their energy efficiency. The highest possible rating is A+++ in terms of energy efficiency. The lowest rating for this would be F or G, and the difference between these ratings is massive. If you want to delve deeper, you can check the Energy Saving Trust Register to see an extensive database of all energy-efficient appliances.
Use the Appropriate Size Appliance
Kitchen appliances have become more energy-efficient, especially dishwashers, kettles, fridges, and cookers. However, when comparing their energy efficiency with their models ten years ago, the difference is vast. However, when you buy these products, make sure you’re buying the appropriate size for your kitchen.
Why? This is because a product’s energy efficiency is directly tied to its size. So, if your oven is energy efficient, but its size is too big relative to your kitchen, its size would cancel out its energy efficiency when calculated with your whole kitchen. In short, if all your fridge has a few lemons and a bottle of champagne and you only have a relatively small wholesale dinnerware for three people, do you need to have a full-size fridge?
Avoid Having Your Appliances on Standby
While your fridges and freezers are traditionally the largest energy consumers of your kitchen because they are constantly on, you can turn off your other appliances when they are not in use.
For example, you can turn off your microwave, washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, electric oven, etc. And it’s not just turning them off either, but you also have to pull the plug on them. Even though your appliances are turned off, they continue to consume energy if plugged in. Try to get this into a habit whenever you are in the kitchen.
Save Energy When Cooking
You need to ensure that your food is cooked and prepared correctly, but thankfully, there are a few things you can do to save energy even while you’re cooking. For example, instead of reheating your food on a traditional gas stove or electric hob, you can instead use the microwave. Also, try to use your kettle more when heating water instead of using the stove. Speaking of water, try only to heat the water that you need.
This is because boiling a lot of water more than necessary eats up a lot of energy. Also, to lessen the time you use energy to boil your water and use the pot or the pan, cover them as that will boil the water faster. Also, if you’re cooking on an electric hob, you can turn it off whenever you’re almost finished cooking as it will slowly cool down but continue cooking the food.
Use the Convection Setting
Most modern ovens nowadays have convection settings. However, if yours doesn’t have it, it might be best to buy one because convection settings allow the oven to save energy and cook the food more evenly. Convection is a forced movement of heat from one place to another.
Because the temperature inside the oven is uniform, the 2nd law of thermodynamics doesn’t apply, which makes the oven use fans to move the heat. By blowing hot air around your food, it will cook more evenly and use less energy.
Final Words
Since the kitchen is the largest energy consumer in your house, looking to make it more energy-efficient should be in your best interest. You can start by looking at your appliances and changing them to more energy-efficient ones. Also, follow the tips discussed above, and you’ll notice a significant change once you see your energy bill next time.
Featured Photo by Mark McCammon from Pexels
