Ovens
- Preheat only when necessary (baked goods). Ten minutes should be sufficient.
- Cook as much of your meal as possible in the oven. It’s more efficient than surface unit cooking.
- Keep the oven door closed. Opening it drops the temperature inside 25 to 50 degrees.
- Bake or microwave defrosted food to use one-third less energy than cooking frozen food.
- Defrost food in the refrigerator before cooking if possible. It helps cool the refrigerator with no extra energy, and warmer food cooks quicker using less energy.
- Use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel dishes for baking; you can reduce cooking temperature by 25 degrees.
- Self-cleaning ovens have more insulation to accommodate the high temperature cleaning cycle, so they are more energy efficient. If you use the cleaning feature more than once per month, you may use more energy than you save.
- Use the self-cleaning cycle right after using the oven. This utilizes the heat already inside the oven, and the cleaning cycle requires less energy to heat up.
- Make sure the pilot light is burning efficiently. A yellow flame indicates an adjustment is necessary. (A blue flame is efficient).
- Windowless oven doors are better insulated and therefore operate more efficiently. But if you tend to peek in the oven a lot, it may be more energy efficient to have a window.
- Convection ovens use a fan to circulate heated air for increased efficiency. Convection ovens cook food faster at lower temperatures, and preheating is unnecessary.
What Does This Cost?
To help determine your annual oven operating cost, use this Web site.
