These days, it is very hard to imagine a modern home without tons of different appliances. Our kitchens are a prime example. What was once the shared duty of an oven and a fridge is now spread across dozens of different tools.
Of course, most of them are incredibly neat and make our lives so much easier, but when plugged in, all that convenience comes at a very steep price. So, let’s take look if there is a way to marry the best of both worlds and use all that sweet kitchenware in a more efficient and eco-friendly way.
Inspect the door seals
Rubber seals can be found on virtually any appliance that features doors, be it a fridge, an oven or a microwave. As the name suggests, their prime duty is to keep the doors tightly closed, maintaining the temperature inside.
When they are worn or loose, they are either letting the warmth in or releasing it out. In both of the cases, the hardware tries to compensate for the loss by spending much more energy than it’s supposed to, so replace them as soon as you notice the first signs of damage.
Turn off the appliances you are not currently using
Did you know that a lot of appliances in your home are using power even when they are turned off? This “vampire draw” accounts for up to 10% of your energy bills.
Now, while some appliances such as the fridge need to be plugged in to be functional, there is no good reason to keep things such as the microwave or the coffee maker connected to the grid all the time. Alternatively, you can buy a smart power strip that will allow you to shut the entire outlet off remotely whenever you want.
Cut the number of operating hours
Come on, there must be a smarter way to prepare your food. For instance, if you take some time to measure how much time your oven needs to reach the proper temperature, you will be able to better schedule the other activities and turn off the rest of the appliances more promptly. Also, convection ovens feature a very good airflow. You can easily cook a couple of bigger loads at once. The possibilities for saving are virtually endless.
Keep the appliances clean
The cleaner your appliances are, the more efficiently they work. Let’s take a look at freezers. Any frost buildup that exceeds one quarter of an inch (0.6 cm) can have a great impact on the unit’s consumption.
Here, the choice of the brand can prove to be very helpful. For example, when you choose freezer, try finding the one which is equipped with the Frost Free feature that prevents frost buildup. Of course, you will also have to do your part, so schedule a thorough monthly cleaning, roll up your sleeves and help your appliances achieve that optimal efficiency.
Pay attention to the appliance layout
Speaking of refrigerators, if they’re placed too close to heat sources like ranges, ovens and dishwashers, or even exposed to extensive sunlight, they have to work much harder to keep the food inside them cool.
AC units operate in a similar manner so do your best to keep them out of the heat’s way as well. Also, if you can, try to leave all the appliances with some “breathing room” so their ventilation systems can properly cool off their motors.
Use the right temperature/speed/settings
The amount of energy you can save by simply reading the instructions of the appliances you’ve just bought is amazing. Here, you can learn that your oven won’t reach the desired heat any faster if you increase the temperature, that cooking on lower temperatures will spare your meals more nutrients, that overloading your washing machine, can, in fact, decrease the washer efficiency and tons of other interesting things. There is no way to make the appliances more efficient if you don’t know how to use them in the first place.
Use only Energy Star appliances
Last but not the least, all of the measures mentioned above will only get you so far if your appliances are power-hungry beasts with a poor energy rating. These days, energy-efficient appliances come at very affordable prices. You will be doing Mother Earth a much bigger favor by moving in one of them instead of looking at your old unit’s already poor performance drop from year to year. As you can see, when it comes to appliances’ power consumption, things can be improved in more than one way without really sacrificing any of their functionality.
The more entries from the list you manage to check, the better. Remember, irrational consumption is a global problem, but important battles can be won even on the home front.
