Saving Energy in the Kitchen

The hot weather won't stop us from using fans, air coolers and aircons. This is also considered as one of the most 'used' and 'abused' season wherein children are in their school vacation and consume the electricity together.

Thinking of how you can able to conserve energy? Well, you can send your children to some special summer trainings like in sports, music, arts, cooking or acting. You can also start with your nature outdoor adventure together with the entire family. Since most of us are on a 'tight-budget,' you can also save energy in the kitchen. How? Well, read the entire article to find out :)

Energy Conservation is probably the best thing that you should be considering if you want to decrease the amount of your monthly bills. Perhaps you haven't noticed but there are many ways of saving energy. Don't just rely on switching off your main lights, or turning down your thermostat in a degree or two - although these may be a big help of course. But look around you, there are tons of things that might be done when it comes to conserving energy.

Maybe you haven't thought about this one, but as proven, you can actually save electricity just by the way you serve meals, how you prepare and cook foods, and the way you work on your general kitchen tasks. According to the U.S Department of Energy, the kitchen is said to accommodate 15% of the energy used in your home. Indeed, some of the biggest electricity consumers in a house is in the kitchen.



If you modify few of your food preparation habits, you can probably save energy and money. Here are some steps you might use in order to make your kitchen one of the most energy-conserving spots in your home.

In Cooking...

• Cover pans to prevent heat loss.


• Make sure your cooking pan covers the coil of your gas range. You are wasting energy once the coil comes out from your pan. It's advisable to use a bigger pan.


• Stews, soups, and other simple meals? Better cook them in a single burner. This is called One-pot cooking.


• Just before the food is completely cooked, turn off the burner and let the heat in the pan continue the cooking process.


• Take note that if you use less amount of liquids and fats, the quicker the cooking time will be.


• Always prepare more food. Then freeze the leftovers for your own “fast-food.” Bear in mind that leftovers take less energy to reheat.


• When boiling water, measure out just what you need. Or better yet, purchase a countertop kettle. It boils faster and uses less energy than a conventional stove.

The Oven

• Make sure the oven doors seal is in tact. A leaky seal will release heat.


• Clean your oven! Dirt and leftover particles will keep the seal from being tight against the oven frame.


• It's not necessary to preheat an oven. In fact, most foods don't actually need it. It'll just burn more energy.


• During the baking/roasting process, never open the oven to peek. This will let lots of heat out forcing your oven to work harder and burn more fuel. You may use the light in the oven to check on food progress.


• Put the oven racks where they should be before the oven is turned on and the food placed inside.


• Cook foods together in the oven. Separate cooking requires different temperatures.

Cool Appliances: The Fridge and the Freezer

• Never place a fridge or a freezer in a direct sunlight or next to an oven. This will increase energy consumption substantially.


• Don't put warm foods inside a refrigerator. Once done, your fridge will work harder just to maintain the proper temperature, leading to increased levels of energy usage.


• Keep both appliances full. If you don't have enough food to fill the space, keep bottled waters on the doors to act as insulators. This will result to greater energy savings.


• Don't open the door more frequently than you need to. Also, make sure the door seal is clean and tight.


• Don't set the temperature too low. A change of one degree can effect energy consumption by 5%.

Microwaves, pressure cookers, and toasters

• Use your microwave. It uses almost 50% less energy than ovens. Microwaves are also a good choice for steaming veggies, melting chocolate and reheating leftovers.


• Invest in a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers can cook food more efficiently than microwave ovens.


• For smaller cooking jobs, use an oven toaster. It heats up faster and use less energy than conventional ovens.


• Use a slow cookers in when making soups. They use less energy and you can run them overnight.

Listed above were only few of the ways to lessen the amount of the energy you use. Try these tips on and see that you can actually conserve energy just by the little things you do.

This website also calculates and estimates the cost and operating of your total energy cost at home, http://www.meralco.com.ph/mac/

Image Credits
http://www.blueplanetgreenliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Family-in-Kitchen-art.jpg
http://cdn.freshome.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/conserve_kitchen-lighting.jpg