Given the state of the economy, people everywhere are looking for ways to save money. Did you know that you spend an average of $120 more than you need to in energy bills every year? Your kitchen can be a huge source of energy and with a few simple tips and tricks you can help eliminate unnecessary spending in no time.
Let’s review some of the most common appliances in the kitchen and evaluate what you can do to start cutting back on energy usage. We will begin with the fridge, since it is the largest appliance in the kitchen.
Use an Ice Tray
Even though ice makers are a wonderful convenience, they cost an estimated $15 per year on your electricity bill. On average, ice makers can increase your fridge’s energy consumption by around 20 percent. You can begin using ice trays immediately to reduce the amount of energy your fridge is using.
Adjust Your Thermostat
A great majority of consumers have their thermostat set lower than what it needs to be. Your fridge needs to be set to around 37-40 degrees F, while your freezer should be between 0-5 degrees F. Making these simple adjustments can save you around $22 per year in energy costs. Now, on to the next large kitchen item in your home, your stove.
Match Your Burners to Your Pan
When you place a small pot on a large burner you are practically throwing your money into the air. The extra heat that is being produced for the larger burner is just going into heating your kitchen, instead of the pot. On the other hand, if you have a larger pot on a smaller burner it will take twice as much energy to heat the pan. If you have a gas stove, you need to avoid having the flames lick the outside of the pot. You can see how important it is to have the pot size match the burner size. Just by doing this simple trick you will cut a few dollars every month from your energy bills.
Eliminate Pre-heating
Just through the elimination of preheating your oven you can save yourself a coupe of dollars off your energy bill each month. Many people think it is necessary to preheat their ovens, regardless of what they are cooking, but that is not the case. The majority of recipes can go without any preheating at all. You may need to add a few extra minutes to the recipe for cook time, but that will be far less than the time it takes to preheat the oven, thus saving you energy. The only recipes you need to worry about preheating the oven for are breads and cakes. Otherwise, you can eliminate the whole process of preheating and save yourself time and money every month. The final appliance that we are going to examine is the dishwasher.
Manage Your Loads
It doesn’t matter if you are running the dishwasher with a full load or a half load because in the end it will cost you the same amount of money. The best thing you can do is to make sure you have a full load before starting your dishwasher cycle. Just by incorporating this simple trick you will save around $27 each year in operating costs. The next time you need to wash dishes just make sure you load your dishwasher as full as you can before starting it. The kitchen is an essential piece of your home, but saving money is important no matter who you are. What energy savings tips have you found useful in your own home?
About the author: Isaac works with the marketing department of Cliq Studios, a kitchen cabinets company specialising in oak kitchen cabinets, in his spare time, Isaac is a serial DIY enthusiast, blogger and cyclist.
Nice article! The tip about too-low fridge settings is a good one that I frequently tell my friends about. Another dishwasher tip is to turn off the dry cycle and air dry your dishes.
One way of saving in the kitchen is to cook a lot of food enough for 2 meals, eat half of it for the day and serve the other half for another day.
I like to use a grill that sits on counter top if i am cooking hamburger or chicken instead of stove or oven. Uses less energy and is faster. I also put a led flat screen tv in kitchen and it saves energy because old tv used twice as much. I noticed ice dispenser on fridge used more energy also and i saw that the flap that lets ice out would not close all the way so it used more energy. I know use ice trays also.