6 Thanksgiving Energy-Saving Tips
Your home gets a serious workout on Thanksgiving. While you are enjoying turkey and pumpkin pies, your home is working extra hard with the increased energy usage — more people coming in and out, cooking, and more digital devices to charge so everyone can keep up with their favorite football team and friends.
Give your home a break, and don't make it work so hard, also saving energy costs. Here are a few of our favorite Thanksgiving energy-saving tips.
Turn down the thermostat.
With all the action inside the kitchen, the good news is that the rest of the house will reap some benefits. If you have the heat on because it's cold outside, turn it down a few degrees. The heat from the kitchen and the extra people in your house will heat the other rooms.
Maximize the oven
As tempting as it might be, once you start the turkey (or any other dish) in the oven, keep the door closed! Opening the door for a glimpse can set the temperature back 20°F, causing your oven to go into overdrive which uses more energy.
Utilize the stove
While most Thanksgiving dishes tend to be cooked in the oven, try using the stove as much as possible as range-top cooking uses less energy.
Keep pots and pans covered to prevent heat loss
Use the lowest possible setting
Keep burners and reflectors clean
Check your electric coils regularly to make sure they aren't worn out
Use ceramic or glass pans.
When using ceramic and glass pans, you can turn down the oven's temperature by up to 25 degrees and get the same results. That's because these materials retain heat so well, they'll continue cooking food even after being removed from the oven.
Let the leftovers cool.
One of the best parts of Thanksgiving dinner is the leftovers. Thanksgiving dinner can last for days, and if you're like most, you probably kept that in mind when deciding exactly how much of each dish you should make.
After you eat your fill, store your leftovers in glass, airtight containers. Before you put them in the fridge, let them cool completely. Putting them in the refrigerator still hot will affect the resting temperature of the refrigerator, causing the refrigerator to work harder to reach the ideal cool temperature.
Use the Dishwasher
Dinner is made, everyone is full, and football is on. In the kitchen, dishes are piled up. Finally, it's time to put the dishwasher to use. Using dishwashers save time and money because, with handwashing, we usually keep the hot water running way too long. According to Energy.gov, not only does it use less than half the energy, but the dishwasher also saves on water use.
