Reduce energy costs when cooking by turning your oven off before the end of the cooking time. Provided you don’t open the door, it will stay at the same temperature for
10 minutes
You could save 5p every time you use your oven, about
Cooking a stew in a 2kWh oven for 1 hour costs around 28p. Cooking the same stew in a slow cooker for 8 hours will use 0.7kWh, costing around 10p. Based on using a slow cooker twice a week – the savings per year would be about £19 = 64kg of CO₂.
Choose the right size of ring or burner for the pan. On an electric stove, a 15cm pot used on a 20cm ring wastes more than 40% of the ring’s heat. This costs you an extra 13p per hour, which if you cooked on the wrong sized ring for 2 hours per week, adds up to £14 per year = 47kg of CO₂.
Keep your oven door closed while you’re cooking (opening it loses up to 20% of the heat). Keep the oven door clean so you can look in to check your food.
Try and choose a cooker with an induction hob which can be up to 90% efficient. This type of hob transfers electromagnetic energy directly to the pan, leaving the cooking-top itself relatively cool and using less than half the energy of standard coil elements.
We recommend ovens and hobs that have a minimum ‘A’ energy rating as they are the most efficient. A new A+ rated electric oven will consume 40% less energy than a B rated oven.
Look for an oven with a fan assist cooking option: most electric cookers are fan-assisted which helps them to evenly spread heat round the oven. This means that cooking temperatures are reduced and cooking times speed up.
Ovens come in varying sizes, choose the smallest volume oven for your family or yourself.
Triple glazing on the oven door reduces heat loss and saves energy.
‘Self-cleaning’ ovens are more efficient because they are better insulated.
Look for an oven which has automatic fan ‘switch off’ when the door is opened, this helps to save energy.