When it comes to saving energy, you might be surprised at some of the ways your kitchen appliances use energy without you realising it. Luckily, there are many simple ways to reduce your energy bills and increase your home’s energy efficiency. All it could take is a few small changes to your everyday routine.
Here are some easy tips to help you shrink your monthly energy bill from your kitchen.
Save money and energy with your dishwasher
Dishwashers are a very handy appliance in many households, especially for people who love cooking. While they’re also unfortunately one of the more energy-heavy ones, you can still save money with a dishwasher by following a few simple steps:
1. Remember to switch your dishwasher to ‘eco’ mode. Many modern dishwashers include this setting, which operates at lower temperatures and using less water.
2. Only wash full loads so you don’t run the dishwasher as often.
Use your fridge more efficiently
Refrigerators are one of the biggest contributors (about 15%) to a typical household energy bill, using a lot of energy to create a cool or freezing environment. .
- Don’t stuff your fridge too full. Too many items packed together will slow down the flow of cold air and decreases overall efficiency. An overly full fridge could also prevent some of your items from chilling properly, which could lead to food going off faster.
- Before storing items in the refrigerator, make sure they are cooled to room temperature. Putting warm items in the fridge raises the overall temperature inside, so more energy is used to cool everything back down again. Putting still-warm items in can also cause other food in the fridge to spoil faster, for example raw meat.
- Avoid opening the fridge when unnecessary or leaving the door open for too long to keep the cold air inside. .
Switch off appliances when not in use
It’s not just TVs and computers that use energy while on standby. Medium-sized appliances like microwaves and coffee machines continue to use a little electricity even when you’re not using them. You can avoid this by completely switching them off at the mains, and only switching them on when you want to use them.
Choose energy-efficient appliances
Making sure you have energy-efficient appliances gives you a great head start in saving energy. Appliances are rated on a scale from A to G, with appliances rated ‘A’ being the most efficient. Most modern appliances will already be more energy efficient than old ones, being designed to use less energy to do the same job as their older counterparts.
Choose the right sizes for your needs
As you might expect, bigger appliances often need more energy to run. While it’s difficult to stop using large appliances altogether, you can reduce the amount of times you use them and opt for more energy-efficient cooking methods. For example, cooking a casserole in a slow cooker uses a lot less energy than in an oven.
The way you use your appliances counts, too. For example, by only boiling the water you need in the kettle, you’ll save on the extra energy needed to boil the extra water (and it’ll boil faster, too). And if you live in a hard water area, remember to descale your kettle regularly, so it doesn’t have to work harder than necessary to heat the water.
Switch energy suppliers
Some gas and electricity providers like Utility Warehouse offer free smart meter upgrades. Smart meters let you see your energy usage in near-real time, and in pounds and pence. So you can take more control over the energy you use daily.
Utility Warehouse, also known as UW, also provides an opportunity to bundle two or more of their home services to unlock special deals. While the UW Cashback Card helps you make even more savings
Small steps go a long way
Many continue to worry about how their residential electricity bill will be affected by the energy crisis, and about how far government help will go to support individuals. So lots of people are looking to take matters into their own hands by making small adjustments at home. You may not notice a big difference right away, but over time, by making some of the above changes, you’ll start seeing the savings stack up. And the good news is that you can start saving energy almost immediately with the above tips.
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