Saving Energy in the Kitchen Guide

The kitchen is the hub of any house; if an army marches on its stomach then most family homes operate in a similar way. It’s the beating heart of a house which gives warmth, light, and sustenance to a family. It is, of course, also the biggest user of energy in the home. While this simply has to be the case – you can’t cook anywhere else after all – it need not be quite the vast difference that it is now. With a few energy-saving tips you can bring your bills down and, possibly, save the planet penny by penny.

Saving Dishwasher Energy

Dishwashers can be very inefficient – they do have the advantages of being a way of making your life less chore-filled, but this doesn’t always balance out against the waste.

Washing by hand is the best way to clean dishes with a clean conscience. Having a separate rinsing bowl is a good way to stop you from leaving the tap on to rinse plates before drying.

If you are using a dishwasher, and it isn’t ancient, then there is no need to pre-wash any plates which need to go in it. Make sure that you do not start the dishwasher on a half-empty load – this is a waste of a washing cycle. If your dishwasher has an automatic air-dry switch, turn it off, leaving your dishes to dry by opening the door slightly is as effective without the use of all that energy.

If you can find your user manual you should check to see if you can turn down the heat at which your dishwasher washes at. Reducing it by a few degrees may have little effect on your washing but a large effect on your bill.

Refrigerators

There are a few things which you can do regarding your refrigerator to make it run more efficiently and cost you less.

Firstly you need to make sure your fridge is clean – vacuuming the back of the refrigerator coils a couple of times a year will allow air to circulate better. The heat which gets trapped behind there by dirt and dust increases energy consumption.

A well sealed fridge door is much more likely to maintain the temperature within – the less escaping cool air the less the fridge has to work to compensate. Another idea which ties in with this is to make sure the fridge is not situated next to a heat source – again, this will overwork the refrigerator. Equally, having the refrigerator at a milder temperature will keep your things cool and reduce your energy bill.

If you have a freezer compartment which doesn’t get used very much in winter you can always fill it with a couple of bags of ice. By doing this you have reduced the space which is required to be chilled.

A final option is to replace your refrigerator with a more up to date model which consumes less energy. Sometimes spending a little more on the day can save you plenty in the long run.