TULSA, Okla. — The kitchen is often the busiest room in the house — and one of the most expensive. From energy use to food prices, it all adds up.
Consumer Reports experts share some easy fixes that will help you save big with just a few small changes.
Start your savings spree by following Mom’s advice: Don’t spend too much time staring into the fridge with the doors wide open. Get in and get out, keeping the cold air inside.
Overstuffing your refrigerator it with food can actually cause it to work harder and use more energy, and therefore cost more money because it has to pump more cold air around the food to keep it cold. And that also can put more wear and tear on the appliance.
Remember the refrigerator’s condenser coils! Carefully brush or vacuum the coils every six months to remove dust.
At the sink …give the dirty pots and pans a sudsy soak—instead of scrubbing them with running water. That is like pouring money down the drain.
Even better—put pots and pans in the dishwasher if they can go there.
Modern or newer dishwashers are incredibly energy-efficient. They will always save you more water compared to hand-washing your dishes. You just have to make sure that when you're using your dishwasher, you're loading it according to the owner's manual instructions.
CR says even rinsing your dishes isn’t necessary. Instead, scrape dirty dishes before loading them into the dishwasher and make sure you’re running a full load.
Nearly all dishwashers these days have soil sensors. It assesses how dirty the dishes are, and then adjusts the wash cycle accordingly.
Also regularly cleaning your dishwasher’s filter and the inside of the door gets rid of any funky smells and keeps your machine running longer.
To shrink your energy bill while cooking, consider using an air fryer, microwave, or toaster oven instead of your full-sized oven. Those appliances use a lot less power and won’t heat up your kitchen on a hot day.
https://www.consumerreports.org/money/saving-money/save-more-and-waste-less-in-the-kitchen-a5168942405/
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