Cooking Tips Follow our recipes for saving energy when fixing your next meal.		Account Summary Pay Your Bill Start, Stop or Move View Your Bill Go Paperless Update Your Info
Your Account Energy Savings Getting Started Efficiency Improvements Heating & Cooling Household Appliances Kitchen Appliances Home Office Home Electronics Washers & Dryers Pools, Hot Tubs & More Lighting Operation Switch Special Offers & Incentives Water Heaters Weatherization Renewable Energy Options News Outages	> Cooking Tips > Dishwashers > Freezers > Refrigerators Match pans to burner size. Use lids. When you heat food on the stovetop, lids speed up cooking. Keep reflector bowls clean. Dirty bowls under the burners absorb heat so you use more energy. Use the microwave oven whenever possible. It’s faster and uses much less energy than your regular oven. Microwave ovens operate even more efficiently if the inside is kept clean. Keep the oven door closed when cooking. Look through the window to check cooking progress. Your oven has to work harder every time you open the oven door. Avoid preheating. Preheat your oven only when a precise oven temperature is critical, such as when baking cookies or bread. Clean after baking. Turn on the self-cleaning cycle on your oven right after you use it for cooking; it won’t have to work as hard to reach the cleaning temperature. But use the self-cleaning cycle only when really necessary; it uses a lot of energy because it runs for two to three hours. If you just have a small spill, you might opt to use a sponge and some elbow grease when the oven is cool. Check the oven seal. Gently clean the seal on your oven door and check for cracks or tears that allow heat loss. If it’s damaged, consider repairs. Shop for a self-cleaning model. Keep energy savings in mind when choosing an oven. Self-cleaning ovens have more insulation, so they operate more efficiently. Consider a convection oven. A convection oven uses a fan to circulate air more evenly, so cooking temperatures and cooking time can be reduced. Since convection ovens cook faster you could save an estimated 20 percent to 30 percent on cooking energy use. Turn off your exhaust fan when the job is done. It doesn’t cost much to run, but it will pull heated or cooled air out of your house quickly. Turn it on when you’re cooking and turn it off about 10 minutes after your cooking is complete. Use a timer so you don’t forget. Don’t use the oven to heat your home. It wastes energy and you’ll end up with higher energy bills.