Has your rising electric bill motivated you to look into the energy efficiency of your home? Let’s see. Do you ever find yourself preheating your oven multiple times a day? We know it’s easy to do when you might want to prepare for the week ahead, and then cook a meal for the present night, and then maybe you want to bake some cookies! While there is nothing “wrong” with this, here are some tips to be more efficient with your appliances.
Plan ahead = Energy Savings
Planning ahead will help you understand what needs to be done in a week. By having this idea in your head or on paper, it will be easier to see opportunities to use your appliances more efficiently. Planning is sort of like a catalyst to saving energy.
Bundle = Efficiency
Since you have planned ahead, you can start to see what you have the ability to bundle in the week. Examples of this would be:
- Cooking multiple meals or baking all together while your oven is already heated. This will decrease the number
of times that your oven needs to heat all the way from room temperature to baking temperature. A pro tip if you decide to do this is always start with the dish that needs the lowest temperature. If you start with the highest temperature dish, you might have some crispy dishes to follow and we want your meal bundles to be a success. - Another example is doing multiple loads of laundry back to back. The dryer heats up during a cycle so if you do multiple loads, it will decrease the work your dryer puts in to dry the clothes.
Full = Energy Efficient
Whatever task you are doing, try to make it a full load. This applies to the dishwasher and laundry the best. A dishwasher uses the same amount of water if you wash one dish versus if the dishwasher has a full load. Making sure you only run your dishwasher full will be the most efficient use of this energy. The same goes for your laundry. A smaller load will waste more energy whereas a fuller load will be most efficient.
Smaller Appliances = Less Energy
If you have the option, use smaller appliances for different tasks. This often works well in your kitchen. If you have a toaster, that makes a lot more sense to use than toasting bread in the oven. Using a crockpot instead of an oven is another example of thinking small. A convection oven will also use less energy than your full size oven.
Energy Efficient Appliances = Smarter Home
One of the best ways to make sure your home is most efficient is to have energy efficient appliances. You can use these tips and tricks, but smart appliances will make a huge difference. This does not all need to happen at once! If your home does not currently use smart appliances, look into them the next time you need to upgrade.
It is a great privilege to have nice appliances at home. Reading this blog shows that you care about your energy consumption and the damage to your wallet. Many people are facing increasing energy bills and it is good for all of us to know how we can help ourselves out. If you have further questions about making your home more energy efficient, reach out to Lux Electric today for a professional opinion.
