Cooking holiday meals for your family and decorating your home don't have to lead to high electricity bills. Enjoy the holiday season and maximize your energy dollar by following these cooking and decorating tips.
Holiday Cooking Tips
During the holidays, the temperature of your oven may be high, but your electricity bill doesn't have to be. Take control of your usage during the holidays with some simple holiday cooking tips.
- Cook multiple dishes together in the oven to maximize energy usage and reduce additional heat generated in your home.
- Warm your vegetables, gravies, and soups with the microwave oven. It uses about 75 percent less electricity than a conventional electric oven.
- Use slow cookers instead of an oven whenever possible. Slow cookers, on average, cook an entire meal for about 17 cents worth of electricity.
- Check on your food through the oven window. Each time you open the oven door, the oven temperature can decrease by 25 degrees, increasing cooking time and energy usage. Take a peek through the window instead, and remember to turn the oven light off after.
- Turn your oven temperature down 25 degrees when using glass or ceramic pans. Food will cook just as quickly.
- Load the dishwasher completely before starting it. Using a dishwasher consumes less energy than washing dishes under running water. However, filling up your sink basin with water and using that for your dishes beats the dishwasher.
- Keep pots covered when boiling water or cooking on the stove. This cooks food more efficiently and keeps your kitchen cooler.
- Turn off your oven a few minutes before the cook time actually ends. The oven will maintain enough heat to continue cooking your food for several minutes, and the food can be kept warm inside after the cooking is complete.
- Let food cool outside the refrigerator before storing.
- Minimize the number of times you open your refrigerator. Each time you open it, it loses cold air, and the refrigerator has to expend considerable energy to re-cool.
Holiday Lighting Tips
Decorate your home for the holidays without sending your electricity usage sky high. The following easy tips not only increase your home's electrical safety; they can help you save money.
- Choose light-emitting diode (LED) lights this holiday season. They're shatterproof, cool to the touch, long lasting, and use approximately 90 percent less electricity than an incandescent strand. They cost more up front, but should pay for themselves in a season or two.
- Use timers to limit indoor and outdoor light displays to no more than six hours per day.
- Refrain from overloading electric sockets, extension cords, and power strips. Thoroughly inspect light strands and discard any damaged cords.
- Verify that outside light strands are rated for outdoor use, and follow manufacturer’s recommendations when connecting multiple strands. Extension cords should also be the correct gauge for the load attached to it.
- Save on electricity usage with decorative lawn-inflatables instead of standard outdoor incandescent lights. These decorations, on average, require one-third of the electricity needed to power incandescent lights.
- Use non-electric decorations where possible, including popcorn strands, tinsel, and non-illuminated lawn decorations.
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