Kitchen efficiency tips to be thankful for

Your electric and water rates haven’t gone up with inflation, but it seems like just about everything else has. These days, we’re all looking for big and small ways to save money on living expenses, and the kitchen is a great place to start – especially with the holidays upon us. IMU offers up this easy guide to conserving energy in the kitchen. Some tips are just common sense reminders, and all are simple to follow!

Cooking

• Love your lids. Did you know that covering your pans when you cook uses 60 percent less energy than cooking without lids? Covering your pot allows you to lower the temperature while cooking your food more quickly and evenly.
• Micro-manage. Microwaves use a lot of power, but less than your electric stove for small jobs like warming a meal. Use electric pans, toaster ovens, or convection ovens for small meals instead of the big stove or oven. A toaster or convection oven uses one-third to one-half as much energy as its full-sized cousin.
• A good reflection. Keep stovetop burners and reflectors clean. The more heat they can reflect, the less energy they use.
• Matchy-matchy. Try to match the burner to the pan size. Small burners have to work longer and harder to heat large pans, and large burners allow lots of energy to escape around the edges of small ones.
• Get inducted: Induction stoves are now the most efficient and provide features not available with traditional electric or gas stoves. They are still more expensive, but the energy savings can repay the extra cost (especially if you cook at lot).
• Boil smart. Use an electric kettle instead of running hot water or using the stove. They run at about 80 percent efficiency, while stoves run 70 percent or less. And running the tap until cold water is hot just wastes electricity, water, and your money.

Food storage

• Goldilocks zone. Your refrigerator operates at peak efficiency when it’s about three-quarters full. Too stuffed and air can’t circulate around your food; too empty and your fridge has to work hard to maintain an even temperature.
• Keep it closed. It seems obvious to say that leaving your fridge open while you cook or put away groceries is a no-no. Not only does cool air escape, ambient air warms your refrigerated food.
• Are you going to drink that? How key is that beer fridge, really? A second unit, especially an older one, greatly increases your energy costs, and even more so in a garage or other non-heated/cooled space.
• It’s all about balance. Keeping your refrigerator 37 to 40 degrees is the ideal balance between your food staying cold and optimizing your electricity use. Freezers run well between 0 and +2 degrees.
• Take the “airtight test.” Check refrigerator door seals by closing the door over a piece of paper, leaving half in and half out. If you can pull the paper through easily, the latch may need adjustment, or the seal may need replacing.
• Avoid icy buildup. Frost buildup greatly reduces the energy efficiency of your fridge or freezer. A good guideline is to not let frost to build up more than a quarter inch.
• Automatic out. Avoid the automatic ice maker and drink dispenser on your refrigerator. Over time, they cause more breakdowns and leaks, in addition to increasing energy use.

Other ways to save

• Dial back your dishwasher. Your dishwasher uses the most power of any appliance in your home. Load it fully before washing and skip the drying cycle.
• Get certified. Look for the Energy Star label when purchasing new, energy-efficient appliances.
• Flip off your strips. Every appliance draws power, even when not in use. Consider putting your microwave, electric kettle, toaster oven, and other small appliances on shared power strips. Turn the strip off when you’re not actively using anything on it.

Appliance science!

According to the National Renewable Energy Lab:

• A microwave is about 50 percent efficient. Most of the energy is lost in the process of converting electricity to microwaves.
• An electric stovetop is about 70 percent efficient, although it varies. Most of the energy is lost heating the air around the stove.
• An electric teakettle is about 80 percent efficient, although again this varies. Electric kettles are generally very well insulated, and the heating coils sit directly in the water, so less heat is lost to the air.
• An induction stove or hot plate is about 85 percent efficient. It creates an electromagnetic current directly in a pot to generate heat, losing very little to the air.