Homeowners are becoming more proactive in their attempts to complete their goal of saving energy. Although all rooms in a home use electricity in one form or another, few rooms use more than the kitchen. Kitchens have numerous appliances that require electricity to run, such as an oven or microwave. It can be hard to decrease your electricity usage for this reason, but saving energy in the kitchen is possible!
Use Energy Efficient Appliances
Getting rid of your oven or microwave isn’t an option; without those items your kitchen becomes just another room. You can, however, replace your current cooking and washing appliances with energy efficient models in order to start saving energy in the kitchen.
The simplest way to tell if the current model of your kitchen appliance is saving energy is by checking to see if the appliance is Energy Star certified. The Energy Star is a designation given by the EPA to help consumers identify the most energy efficient products. By switching to an Energy Star certified refrigerator, you can save up to $270 in energy costs over 5 years compared to older models.
Don’t Hand Wash Dishes
It’s a common belief that hand washing dishes can help with saving energy in the kitchen because no electricity will be used on the dishwasher. Surprisingly, this belief is wrong.
The average person uses 3.5 kWh of electricity when washing dishes by hand. The same study found that an energy efficient dish washer only used anywhere from 0.5 to 1.3 kWh of electricity per use. This is mostly because humans aren’t as efficient as machines. We waste a lot more water, which increases the usage of water heaters. Save your time and energy by putting your dish washer to work.
Be Smart When Cooking and Baking
Ovens and stoves use more electricity than most kitchen appliances, which can make saving energy in the kitchen difficult if they aren’t being utilized properly. Some useful energy saving tips when using your oven or stove are to:
- Utilize all of your baking space – It’s better to fit two batches of cookies in at once than it is to have to run your oven for twice as long.
- Turn off the oven early – Ovens are built to hold heat; by turning it off early, the food will continue to bake without wasting energy.
- Bake in glass dishes – Glass holds heat better than most materials, which can help the food cook faster.
- Use the lowest heat setting that can properly cook your food – It requires less energy to obtain lower temperature settings.
To learn more about saving energy in the kitchen and throughout the rest of the house, get in touch with Tim Kyle Electric. You can talk to an expert about new installations of lighting and wiring, among other things, for your home or business.
About Tim Kyle Electric
Tim Kyle Electric has been delighting our customers with responsive, trusted and professional electrical services since 1986. We provide residential, commercial and solar power services and are experts in our field. Our team of professionally trained employees uphold our core values of honesty, respect and integrity. We are available 24/7 for your electrical servicing needs. Get in touch with us today to discuss your next electrical project.