Thanksgiving is meant to gather families and friends around your home to be thankful for what you have. It also means using a lot of energy in your home from cooking. About 15% of your home energy costs come from your kitchen. So why not trim down on some unnecessary energy use this Thanksgiving? Try these simple tips that will allow you to host the perfect holiday dinner while keeping your home energy bills reasonable.
Don’t peek! - It’s pretty tempting to check on the progress of a dish that you have cooking in the oven, but that’s costing you more than you think. Every time you open the oven door, the temperature can be reduced by at least 25 degrees causing the oven to do more work, and eventually costing you. If you really need to check on a dish, use the oven window and turn on the oven light if it has one.
Cover it up- Use the lids of the pots to retain the heat. The food that you cook on the stove top will cook faster if you use the lids.
Turn down the heat- Lower the thermostat a few degrees. The heat from the oven and the stovetop will transfer to the other rooms in the house and if you’re hosting a few guests, the house is likely to warm up.
Let your leftovers cool down- The best part about Thanksgiving is the leftovers- lunch for days! But before you pack them up in air-tight containers and store them in your refrigerator, make sure that they have completely cooled down. Putting them in the refrigerator while they’re still hot, or warm, will affect the temperature of the fridge making it work harder and use more energy to reach the ideal cool temperature.