On April 1st, gas and electricity bills soared for millions of households across the UK. According to the BBC, for a household using a standard amount of gas and electricity, the annual bill price rose to £1,849.
And it’s clear that Brits are seeking ways to keep costs low in light of this news, as Google searches for “how to save on energy bills” have increased by more than 5,000% across the UK in the last 30 days.
As the weather begins to warm up, it’s expected that Brits will be relying on their heating less and less. However, kitchen appliances that require energy can still be a drain on your bills. With this in mind, experts from food box delivery service HelloFresh have shared energy-saving kitchen tips to help Brits save money in the kitchen.
HelloFresh’s Senior Recipe Development Manager, Mimi Morley comments,
“The energy crisis is really having a negative impact on the vast majority of Brits in ways they mightn’t have had to deal with before.
“People may find that their motivation is lacking in the kitchen, but during these tough times cooking can have such a positive effect on our mental wellbeing and there are ways to do this without it breaking the bank.”
She adds, “There are many exciting, creative dishes that don’t require turning on the oven and while making use of this might not fix everything, it’ll certainly help.”
Below the team at HelloFresh have shared some kitchen tips and methods to help reduce energy consumption:
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Using the oven less
The experts suggest opting to use the hob, air fryer or slow cooker where possible.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, using an air fryer might be more energy efficient when cooking for one or two people, whereas the oven is best for batch cooking or when cooking for a large group of people.
Mimi comments,
“You can cook plenty of interesting meals with the hob alone and this will save you a fair chunk, alternatives to using your oven are almost always going to use less energy as they don’t require as large a space to heat. The only time I’d recommend choosing an oven is with large families, where you might have to use the air fryer multiple times or use additional pans.”
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Put lids on your pans
According to the experts at HelloFresh, this simple trick of using lids when cooking food in pans can help to cook food faster, ultimately using less energy.
Mimi comments, “This is a quick and easy hack many people overlook. Popping a lid on your pan can save both time and money. By trapping the heat inside, your food cooks faster, meaning less energy used and dinner on the table sooner. A win-win!”
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Dishwasher vs hand washing
Energy experts at Compare the Market suggest that generally, using a modern dishwasher will require less water than washing by hand. Although this depends on how thorough your hand washing technique is. The average dishwasher uses between 1.2kWh and 1.5kWh per load, so for just one or two people, you might be best off relying on the old fashioned method of soap and washing-up bowls.
However, if you’re cooking for a large group of people, using multiple dishes and cooking equipment, you might find that the dishwasher offers the most energy efficient way of cleaning in one go.
Other small hacks for cutting energy bills in the kitchen:
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Turning off appliances at the wall socket when not in use
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Use the right size hob ring for your pan or pot
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Switch off the hob a little early, using residual heat to finish up cooking
