Save Energy in Kitchen
Fridge
Checklists of things that will help any fridge do its job more easily, and more efficiently.
Cover liquids and wrap food stored in the fridge. Uncovered foods release moisture (and get
dried out), which makes the compressor work harder.
Clean the door gasket and sealing surface on the fridge. Replace the gasket if damaged. You
can check to see if you are getting a good seal by closing the refrigerator door on a currency
note. If you can pull it out without resistance, replace the gasket. On new fridges with
magnetic seals, put a flashlight inside the fridge in the evening, turn off the room lights, and
check for light leaking through the seal.
Unplug the extra fridge or freezer.
Move the fridge out from the wall and clean its condenser coils at least once a year. Some
models have the coils under the fridge. With clean coils the waste heat is carried off faster,
and the fridge runs shorter cycles. Leave a couple of inches of space between the coils and
the wall for better air circulation.
Check to see if you have a power-saving switch or a summer-winter switch. Many refrigerators
have a small heater inside the walls to prevent condensation build-up on the fridge walls. If
yours does, switch it to the power-saving (winter) mode.
Defrost your fridge if significant frost has built up.
Turn off the automatic ice maker. It's more efficient to make an ice in ice trays.
If you can, move the fridge away from heat producing equipments like stoves, dishwasher, or
direct sunlight.
Set your refrigerator's temperature between 0◦C and 4◦C, and your freezer between -12◦C
and -9◦C. Use a real thermometer for this, as the temperature dial on the fridge doesn't tell
real temperature.
Keep cold air in. Open the fridge door as infrequently and briefly as possible. Know what
you're looking for. Label frozen leftovers.
Keep the fridge full. An empty fridge cycles frequently without any mass to hold the cold. Cold
Beverages makes excellent mass, and you probably always wanted a good excuse to put
more of it in the fridge, but it tends to disappear. Plain water in old milk jugs works just as well.
Ten Cooking Tips
These ten tips are worth their weight in gold, especially with energy bills being what they are! And
they are so brilliantly simple that you’ll find them easy to incorporate without feeling put-upon or
strained in any way.
Find out the ten simple cooking tips that will save you some energy in the kitchen, right here:
1. Cover pans while cooking to prevent heat loss.
2. Make sure your pan covers the flame/coil of your stove/cooking range. If you can see flame/coil
peeping out from the sides of your pan, you are losing energy and you need a bigger pan!
3. Try one-pot cooking. Stews, soups, and other great peasant meals only take one burner to cook
and they are so nourishing and satisfying!
4. Just before your food is cooked completely, turn off the oven or burner and allow the heat in the
pot or pan to continue the cooking process for you.
5. The less liquid and fat you use, the quicker the cooking time.
6. Always make more food than you plan to use and freeze it for your own “fast food.”
7. Leftovers take less energy to reheat on top of the stove rather than in the oven.
8. Make extra and keep in the fridge so you don’t have to heat an entire pot of water to the boiling
point every time you want some.
9. If you have a pressure cooker, use it. It really saves on energy.
10. Try using a solar box cooker.

 By Anohar John