Until fairly recently anyone who indicated concern about the degradation of the environment raised skeptical eyebrows. That’s a thing of the past now, with all people being aware of the problems besetting the planet and also the shared burden we have for turning things around. According to the specialists, to clean up the surroundings we are all going to have to make some adjustments. Each and every family should start generating changes that are environmentally friendly and they must do this soon. The kitchen is a good place to begin saving energy by going greener.
Light Bulbs
Let us begin with something really easy, changing the light bulbs. Naturally, you shouldn’t confine this to merely the cooking area. You really need to upgrade your incandescent lights with energy-saver, compact fluorescent light bulbs. These bulbs are energy-efficient which means electricity consumption is definitely lower, and, even though they cost a bit more to buy, will outlast an incandescent light ten times over. One of the pluses is that for every one of these lightbulbs used, it means that approximately ten normal lightbulbs less will certainly end up at a landfill site. Together with different light bulbs, you have to learn to leave the lights off when they are not needed. The family spends a lot of time in the cooking area, and how often does the kitchen light go on in the morning and is left on all day long. And it’s not confined to the kitchen, it takes place in other parts of the house as well. Do an exercise if you like; have a look at the amount of electricity you can save by turning the lights off whenever you don’t need them.
Freezers and Refrigerators
A large amount of electricity is actually consumed by freezers and refrigerators, and it’s even worse if they are working inefficiently. If you might be in the market for a new one, the good news is that compared with types from 10 or more years ago, they use about 60% less electricity. The right temperature settings for your fridge and freezer, whereby you’ll be saving energy and optimizing the preservation of food, is 37F as well as 0F. Checking that the condenser is actually clean, which means that the motor needs to run less often, will also save electricity.
Even though it may not taste as good, baking food in the microwave as an alternative to in the oven will save you a packet of money. The energy used by cooking in an oven is greater by 75%, and maybe this small amount of knowledge will spur you on to use the microwave more frequently. Countertop appliances can boil water or steam vegetables more quickly than your stove, and use a lot less electricity. You would be forgiven for thinking that an automatic dishwasher uses a lot more energy than washing dishes the old-fashioned method, but you would be wrong. Mainly if you make sure the dishwasher is full before starting a cycle. Don’t dry the dishes using heat, use the cool dry or air dry options to increase the money you save.
As you can see, there are many little elements that you can do to save energy, as well as save money, in the kitchen alone. Environmentally friendly living just isn’t that tough. It’s about being sensible, most of the time.