1. Making your dishwasher heat up cold water
Run hot tap water before you run your dishwasher it doesn't have to heat up the water as long.
2. Setting your refrigerator and freezer too cold
Your fridge section should be set at 37 degrees to 40
degrees, and your freezer section should be set at 5 degrees. A deep freeze
should be set at zero degrees.
3. Using an uncovered pot to boil water
Think of all the heat and time lost without a cover on a pot of heated water. Instead, a cover traps the energy in.
4. Selecting “Heat Dry” on your dishwasher
If you don’t wash a lot of plastic dishes, or lots of
dishes in general, choose the “Air Dry” setting or simply prop your dishwasher
door open after the rinse cycle.
5. Leaving foods uncovered in the refrigerator
Uncovered foods release moisture, causing the compressor
to work harder. Instead, cover all liquids and foods.
6. Prewashing your dishes
Not only will it decrease the effectiveness of your
dishwasher detergent, prewashing your dishes is unnecessary and wastes water.
Just scrape off the big pieces of food.
7. Ignoring the gasket on your refrigerator
Close your refrigerator door over a piece of paper or
dollar bill so it’s half in and half out of the refrigerator. If you can pull
it out easily, your door seals aren't airtight. Try moistening the gasket with a thin layer of Vaseline,
which should create a better seal. If that doesn't do the trick, you might need
to replace the gasket altogether.
8. Cooking with dirty burners and drip pans
Clean burners and drip pans will reflect the heat better,
cooking your food faster and saving you energy.
9. Placing small pans on bigger burners
Match pans to the size of the element. Otherwise, you’re
using energy to heat a bigger burner only to let it escape around the sides of
the smaller pot or pan.
10. Barely stocking your refrigerator
It seems backwards, but a full refrigerator holds
temperature better than a poorly stocked refrigerator. Just don’t pack food so
tight as to block the airflow.
