Eco-Tips: In the Kitchen

To reduce your electricity consumption, there are several simple measures you can take which will help you optimise the use of your applicances.

The best place to start is the kitchen

First of all, we'll look at how to maintain and use your fridge, then we'll move on to optimising energy consumption when cooking.

Firstly: Maintaining and using your fridge

The grill at the back of the fridge disperses heat.

When this grill gets dusty, it's less effective at dispersing heat which can reduce the performance of your fridge.

Therefore, you should take care to dust the grill behind your fridge.

Pull the fridge away from the wall to let the hot air on the grill circulate.

Keep an eye on the thickness of the layer of frost in your freezer. If it gets beyond 5mm thick, it's time to defrost your freezer.

IF you don't, your freezer will use energy to chill the frost, before chilling the air around your food.

Once defrosted, your freezer can maintain your desired temperature whilst using as little as half the energy it did before.

Finally, learn to distribute your foods well in your fridge to optimise its efficiency.

You can also lower your fridge's cooling power by one notch without impacting the shelf-life of your food.

Your fridge has 4 different zones of cold temperature

The coldest, between 0 and 4°C, can be found either at the top or bottom of your fridge, depending on the model.

To locate it, check the manual of your appliance or simply use a thermometer.

Keep your meat, cold cuts, poultry, fish, cream, cooked foods and defrosting foods at this level.

The temperature of the middle section will be between 4 and 6°C.

Here you should keep home-cooked foods, cooked fruit and vegetables, cooked meat and fish, yoghurt and ripe or soft cheese.

The vegetable trays are between 8 and 10°C, this is the warmest part of your fridge.

Keep fresh fruit and vegetables here along with maturing cheeses.

Finally, the door of your fridge is kept at a moderate temperature: between 6 and 8°C.

Here you can keep eggs, butter, milk and fruit juice once opened.

Secondly: optimising your energy consumption while cooking

When you cook, you can also save energy.

For example, adapting which hob you use to the size of your pan.

That way, all heat produced will be used solely to heat your pan and its contents.

Another idea is to cover your pan with a lid so that the food cooks quicker, therefore reducing the cooking time.

Pre-empt turning the oven off. You can turn it off several minutes before your food finishes cooking, the temperature will stay the same.

Pre-empt turning the oven off.

You can turn it off several minutes before your food finishes cooking, the temperature will stay the same.

After using your oven, you can leave the door open.

The remaining heat will warm the room. Always be careful if there are children around.

It is also important to clean your oven and the seals so you don't waste energy by burning grease

Wait until the oven has cooled before cleaning it

Don't put heat sources next to your fridge.

For example, don't place your oven next to your fridge. The heat from the oven will warm your fridge, forcing it to consume more energy to maintain its low temperature.

Finally, remember to dust and clean your extractor hoods and fans and to make sure it's working optimally.

Now you know the practices to follow in order to optimise your energy consumption in the kitchen.