The kitchen is the heart and epicenter of your home.
And…
It’s also the place you’ll find eco-friendly alternatives to appliances, food, cleanliness, and utility systems.
You can easily reduce your carbon footprint at home, especially in the kitchen. It’s as easy as using energy-efficient kitchen appliances, eating green, and reducing waste.
Mother Nature and your family benefit from an eco-friendly kitchen. Make sure that your kitchen is sustainable because it’s a major hub of activity.
Every American kitchen adds to the country’s environment load. Therefore, it’s important to be concerned about the impact your home has on the environment.
With a few tips here and there, you can make your kitchen more energy-efficient, eco-friendly, and less wasteful. More Americans are increasingly going green; they have recycling cans near their driveways and bring reusable canvas for grocery shopping.
If your garbage can is half-way empty at the end of the week and your recycling bin full, you’re on the right track.
Energy-efficient appliances are beneficial for everyone. If you must waste your money, according to TopTen USA, spend it on something more useful and fun than your energy bill.
Choose kitchen appliances designed to save you money and energy, atop being efficient. Here’re a few smart appliances you can use to make your kitchen greener:
6 Smart Kitchen Appliances for Green and Efficient Use
- Refrigerators
Accounting for 9% to 15% of the electricity used in your home, refrigerators consume lots of energy. Fridges with the Energy Star label have met government energy standards.
But, not two Energy Star Appliances are made equal, meaning energy consumption varies from one refrigerator model to another. Use the Energy Star website to compare different models and choose the most efficient refrigerator.
A small refrigerator packed with too many food items works harder and utilizes more energy. Oversized refrigerators keep excess space cool, leading to energy wastage. Most households can do with 25 cubic feet refrigerators.
According to Consumer Reports, top freezer models have about 80% of usable space while bottom freezers average 67%. On the other hand, side-by-side units average 63%.however, the latter models utilize about 20% more energy than other models.
Forget about an indoor water ice and water dispensers. The features, according to studies, can increase your refrigerators consumption of energy by 10 to 5%.
Keep your refrigerator far from heat sources such as the oven because it can make the appliance work even harder. Allow hot foods to cool down before storing them in the refrigerator for future use.
- Gas Ranges/Cooktops
The cooktop/gas range is the only kitchen appliance with an option for natural gas (propane) or electricity.
Understand the two options because both have immense effects on the environment. Well, unless you have renewable energy.
- Electricity – you can invest in solar panels to use renewable energy for powering your appliances. Find out if your electrical utility company runs a program where you can use green renewable energy at an extra fee.
But, coal is used to generate most electric power. This promotes the release of greenhouse gases. Moreover, 70% of power generated is lost through transmission.
- Natural gas – it emits 45% less carbon dioxide into the air than coal. It’s also the cleanest fossil fuel, atop being efficient and cost-effective.
- However, it produces combustion by-products such as formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Fracking pollutes drinking water, the air and groundwater.
- Magnetic Induction Cooktops and smokers
Electric or gas stoves heat the air under your cooking pan, causing wastage. However, magnetic induction cooktops directly transfer heat to pans. This occurs through high-tech magnetism, reducing heat wastage.
Just like gas, heat is generated fast, atop being adjustable. This makes the cooktops energy-efficient. The kitchen is safer because heat is transferred across metallic surfaces via conduction, meaning it’s cool to the touch.
Cover pots with lids and cook pasta passively (boil for 2 minutes and let it simmer) to save energy.
Offset smokers are both functional and aesthetic. They’re designed to use gas or charcoal for eco-friendly use. Use smokers for tasty dishes and get big savings from energy-efficient models.
- Ovens
You’ll find wall ovens in 24-, 27- and 30-inch sizes. The size of an oven determines its energy consumption. If a smaller oven meets your unique needs, opt for it to save energy.
Opt for two smaller units if you occasionally need more capacity, instead of selecting one large oven. When using one small oven, you save on energy and still get the capacity you need for large gatherings or events.
Choose a convection oven with a fan responsible for circulating heated air around food being baked for even cooking. You can reduce cooking times and temperature, lowering energy consumption by up to 20%.
Self-cleaning models are well-insulated, making them more energy-efficient due to consistent oven temperatures. Use oven light to check on the progress of food because temperatures drop by 250 to 500 whenever the oven door is opened.
You can also use your oven for multiple dishes or a single large dish to save more energy.
- Exhaust Hoods
An Energy Star-rated exhaust hood model is efficient, quiet in operation and utilizes 65% less energy than their counterparts.
Use your exhaust hood optimally to improve the quality of air indoors. It can eliminate excess moisture and reduce hazardous by-products of combustion from gas cooktops.
Avoid recirculating fans and downdraft hoods; they only eliminate bad odors and perform less effectively than overhead hoods, respectively. Make sure the hood exhausts to the exterior of your home.
- Dishwashers
An Energy Star-rated dishwasher is 10% more energy-efficient than other models. Opt for a model with multiple wash cycle options such as “no-heat drying” or “energy saver.”
The water heater in your dishwashing appliance determines its energy consumption, usually ranging from 80% to 90%. Look for water miser models.
Find a dishwasher with a booster heater to ensure that the water heater stays at the recommended temperature of 1200 degrees. It also boosts your dishwasher’s hot water to 1400 degrees as necessary, to keep newer dishwasher soaps in melted status. Run a full load each time you use the appliance, scrape dishes instead of rinsing, and use the light wash cycle for lightly dirty dishes to save energy. The cycle is short-lived and utilizes less water. Opt for the “no-heat drying” to further save more energy.