Cook Up Some Energy Savings

(HIT) - Did you know your kitchen could be a great place to cook up some energy savings? Today’s electric ovens offer many new features that reduce cooking time, according to the Edison Electric Institute. These same features that speed up the cooking process also mean you’ll be using less energy to do the job. As a bonus, cooking with less energy means your kitchen and house will stay cooler too.

The place to begin is your microwave oven. Each time you cook with your microwave oven instead of your conventional electric or gas oven, you’ll be using at least 80 percent less energy.

If you are shopping for a new oven, consider getting a convection oven. These use a small fan to circulate the hot air around the oven. You can cook multiple racks of food because the air at the top and the bottom of the oven are the same temperature. Circulating the air also speeds up the cooking time by about 30 percent, and saves a comparable amount of energy.

The latest ovens combine a microwave and halogen lamps. These can cook food more evenly than a microwave oven, and they can brown and crisp as well. They also cut cooking time and energy use by 66 to 75 percent.

For more energy-efficiency tips on cooking, as well as a free booklet, "More than 100 Ways to Improve Your Electric Bill", please visit www.eei.org/wiseuse.

Courtesy: Home Improvement News and Information Center