If you have ever wondered how you can save with our current appliances, here are a series of tips.
Kitchens
- In electric stoves, take advantage of the residual heat by turning them off 5 minutes before the end of cooking. If you have a ceramic hob, it is better to use the economic program
- Covering the pans during cooking will reduce energy consumption
- Gas stoves save energy. It is estimated that this saving ranges between 30 and 50% compared to electric stoves
- To make better use of the gas, ensure that the bottom of the containers is slightly higher than the fire used at any given time.
- To save money, the best is the pressure cooker and better, if it is the super fast ones: they consume less and save time
ovens
- The oven with the lowest energy cost is that of natural gas. It has to be used for cooking. Do not use for defrosting or heating
- For cooking longer than 1 hour, it is not usually necessary to preheat the oven
- Do not open the oven doors unnecessarily. At each opening the temperature can drop between 25 and 50ºC
- If you have to buy a new one, it is better to have double glass. Keeps the heat better
- Turn off the oven shortly before the end of cooking: the residual heat will be enough to finish the process
Dishwasher
- Wash dishes by hand in hot water can go out until 60% more expensive than doing it with a fully loaded modern dishwasher
- The dishwasher is, however, one of the appliances that consumes the most energy. High temperature programs must be avoided because 90% of energy consumption comes from heating the water and only 10% from motor operation
- Use it when it is completely full, but do not overload it or overlap pieces
- Instead of using the drying program of the dishwasher, it is better to leave the door open so that the dishes can dry in the ambient air. you will save energy
Washer and dryer
- Get used to using the washing machine fully loaded. You will reduce the consumption of water and detergent and, in addition, you will extend the life of the appliance
- Use economic and short cycles, as well as cold water programs
- Once the washing is finished, it is better to spin at high speed. A spin at 1200 rpm instead of 700 rpm reduces consumption by 20%
- Take advantage of the residual heat from the rooms where the boilers or any other source of heat are located
Iron
- Whenever it can be avoided, do not plug in the iron for a single piece of clothing because heating requires a lot of energy
- Before ironing, leave the clothes on the washing machine running. The heat given off helps wrinkles disappear and therefore reduces ironing time
Audio/video equipment pilot lights (Stand-by)
- Most audio and video devices have pilot lights that stay on when they are turned off with the remote control (stand-by). Use an anti stand-by power strip with a switch to avoid this useless consumption
And above all, when you have to change an appliance, do it for a more efficient one than the one you had. There are grants for it.
Below I explain how the energy labels work, when we buy them it is very important to look, above all, at the energy label:
Those who save the most because they consume less are those in group A and B.
As the definition of the energy class is a bit confusing, we could say that it is an indicator of how efficient an appliance is compared to the rest of those with similar characteristics.
Thus, for example, a class A appliance consumes 55% of the energy consumed by an average appliance of the same type, while a class G appliance consumes 25% more than the average (which would be 100%). Finally, let me tell you that since it is a classification that was made at a certain time, more categories such as A+ and A++ are now coming out. Each of these categories also saves 10% more than the previous energy class on the scale.