Your top five tips to save energy in the kitchen

1. Batch cook meals
2. Make the most of leftovers
3. Avoid overfilling the kettle
4. Switch appliances off standby
5. Consider installing solar panels (if you can)

Your tip: “Batch cooking not only saves on fuel, it saves on washing up and heating the water.”

Many of you suggested batch cooking meals as an energy saving tip. If you’re cooking something anyway, then why not make the most of the energy you’re already using by making a few extra portions? Plus, anything that saves on washing up is always welcome!

Ovens are the best for batch cooking due to their larger size. This lets you cook larger portions that you can reheat in the microwave as you need them.

Microwaves heat food directly, rather than heating the air around it. This helps them heat food quicker, which means a microwave’s cost-per-use is likely to be lower than a conventional oven for reheating. This can help keep your energy bills down.

Your tip: “Definitely always turn leftovers into another meal.”

Whether it’s bubble and squeak or another tasty concoction, using leftovers helps reduce food waste. It could also save you pre-heating the oven to make a meal from scratch, or cut the cooking time for the second meal. With plenty of recipes out there, you can turn yesterday’s dinner into something delicious.

If you freeze your leftovers, remember to fully defrost them in the fridge before you reheat them in the microwave. Doing this uses less energy compared to cooking from frozen.

Are you a fan of soup? One other suggestion was to “invest in a soup maker”, so you can expand your range of leftover recipes.

Your tip: “Don’t overfill your kettle: only boil the amount of water you need otherwise it’s a waste of electric.”

When you’re making a cuppa, only adding the water you need to the kettle will reduce the energy needed to bring it to the boil. Doing this can save you £10 a year in Great Britain (GB) and £14 in Northern Ireland (NI).

Bonus tip: “If cooking on the hob, put lids on your pans so they retain the heat.”

Your tip: “We always switch appliances off standby over night or for few days if unused.”

This is another one of our favourite quick tips to save energy. Some appliances need to be left on (eg fridge freezers), but you can switch other devices off at the plug to save energy.

It’ll make a difference to your bills too. Turning your appliances off standby mode can save around £45 in GB and £70 in NI annually.

Have a think what you can switch off. Microwaves might display a clock but, if you can tell the time elsewhere in the kitchen, you could switch it off at the plug.

Your tip: “Solar panels: check if you’re eligible for a grant! I’m loving generating my own electricity.”

We love hearing people’s solar success stories. And while this summer may not be the sunniest, solar panels still generate electricity even when it’s cloudy.

By using renewable energy from solar panels, you can reduce the energy you need to draw from the grid. And with kitchen appliances like fridges and freezers running constantly, there’s always something to use the electricity your solar panels generate.

As well as saving you money on your bills, you could also get paid to export the energy you don’t use back to the grid. Or, if you have battery storage, you can store energy for when you need it later.

You can get an idea of what kind of solar panel set up is suitable for you using our solar panel calculator.

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