Tips for Lowering Oven/Range Energy Usage

• Preheat ovens only when necessary. With conventional ovens, keep the preheating time to a minimum. Unless you're baking breads or pastries, you may not need to preheat the oven at all.
• Food cooks more quickly and efficiently in ovens when air can circulate freely. Don't lay foils on racks. If possible, stagger pans on upper and lower racks to improve air flow.
• Use glass or ceramic pans in ovens. You can turn down the temperature about 25°F and cook foods just as quickly.
• Do not open the oven door often to preview the food. Each time you open the door the oven temperature drops by 25°F. Watch the clock or use a timer instead.
• Full-size ovens are not very efficient for cooking small- to medium-sized meals, it generally pays to use toaster ovens or microwave ovens.
• Check to be sure the oven door gasket is tight. Adjust or replace gaskets as required.
• If you have a self-cleaning oven, consider using the self-cleaning feature immediately after regular baking when the oven is still hot. Less energy will be required to reach the cleaning temperature. Try not to use the self-cleaning feature too often.
• Keep range-top burners and reflectors clean; they will reflect the heat better and save energy.
• Match the size of the pan to the heating element; more heat will get to the pan and less will be lost to the surrounding air. A 6-inch pan on a 8-inch burner will waste over 40% of the energy.
• On electric stove-tops, use only flat-bottomed pans that make full contact with the element. A warped or rounded pan will waste most of the heat.
• When cooking with a gas range-top burner, use moderate flame settings to conserve gas. Also make sure the pilot light is burning efficiently, with a blue flame. A yellowish flame indicates an adjustment is needed because the gas is burning inefficiently.
• Whenever possible, use a pressure cooker. By cooking food at a higher temperature and pressure, cooking time is reduced dramatically and energy use is cut by 50-75%.

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