8 Super Easy Ways to Save Kitchen Energy

Cooking and other kitchen activities can use up a lot of energy. Unless you’re using eco-friendly power (i.e. solar generated, etc.) cooking will cost you both in your footprint size and in money you pay for electricity or gas. However, there are some extremely easy things you can do to save money and energy in the kitchen…

Don’t peek! Peeking in the oven is fun sure, but each time you open that oven door energy escapes and food takes longer to cook. Set your timer or peek in through the door window if you have one.

Unplug like mad. Don’t unplug the fridge (unless you’re willing to go extreme green) but you can unplug the toaster, blender, microwave, coffeepot and more when they’re not in use. Even if a gadget is turned off, it garners electricity use when plugged in.

Use well sized pots and pans. Match your pot or pan to the stove top burner size. If you’ve got an 8-inch burner don’t put a 6-inch pot on it.

Cook in multiples. By cooking in multiples I mean meals. If you need to bake potatoes why not toss in a batch of cookies too or some chicken breasts and save them for chicken salad later. Cooking one small item in the oven is a massive waste of energy.

Use that microwave. People used to think microwaves were unsafe, and some were. However, nowadays most new microwaves are eco-friendly and perfectly safe. In fact, in some states energy assistance programs will give the families they work with a microwave as part of the package.

Use those lids. When cooking on the stove top, use lids to cover your pots and pans. Food will cook faster and you’ll save energy.

Shave off some time. Turn off your stove or oven five minutes early every time. If you’re baking cookies turn the oven off 5 minutes early when you get to the last batch. They’ll still cook (don’t open the door). If you’re making noodles, turn the pot off 5 minutes early, and leave the pot lid on. They will finish cooking. 5 minutes may seem like small potatoes, but imagine if you saved 10 minutes per day of cooking time – that’s about 5 saved hours a month or 60 saved energy hours a year – it does add up.

[image via stock.xchng]