Here’s another Low Cost Tip that can help reduce your energy bills.  Use your microwave (or the smallest appliance that will get the job done) when cooking.  

Heating food in the microwave uses only 20 percent of the energy required by a full-sized oven.

Now I know you can’t cook Thanksgiving dinner in the microwave, but you can cook many items in the microwave that ordinarily would be prepared in the oven or cooktop.

Since microwaves only use energy when they are cooking food, there is no warm up or cool down time like using the oven.  Another benefit — the oven and cooktop typically heat up the kitchen much more than the microwave.  This puts added pressure on your air conditioning unit during the warm summer months.

So, re-think your menu for tonight and see how much you can get done using the microwave, toaster oven, or other small cooking appliance.  You’ll save money and may even discover a simpler, quicker way to prepare a favorite dish.

Photo credit:  djeyewater