Energy Conservation

Conserve Your Energy Use on Thanksgiving

Family having thanksgiving dinner

Hosting a Thanksgiving feast is filled with laughter, love, food, and, at times, high electricity bills. Running multiple appliances on this day can overwhelm your system and run your electricity bill up. In order to prevent this, there are needed steps when planning ahead to deter the effects of preparing and hosting a Thanksgiving meal.

Opt for the Smaller Turkey

Although the turkey holds symbolic importance for the holiday, there are plenty of sides that make up most of the other part of the meal. A smaller turkey takes less time cooking whether you plan on preparing to roast or fry it. In addition, the extra space can save you more energy by allowing you to cook multiple dishes in the oven at once.

Keep Appliance Doors Closed

Oven’s work by retaining heat at a constant temperature. When the oven door opens any time between operation, heat is lost and the temperature lowers. Opening the door for just a few seconds sends the temperature back 20 degrees Fahrenheit and thus the need to generate more heat creates increasing costs in electricity. This goes for slow cookers, air fryers, and/or any other appliances that retain heat in an enclosed space.

More Cooking = More Heat

A hot oven has the ability to raise the temperature in the home by up to five degrees. If you plan on having multiple cooking appliances running, then you and your family will surely feel this effect on the temperature inside your home. This is the perfect time to lower the thermostat and allow the combined temperatures of all operating cooking appliances to heat your home.

Allow Leftovers to Cool

Like the oven, refrigerators and freezers are made to keep temperatures constant. Introducing foods that are still warm will cause your fridge to overwork to keep temperatures cool. Although we recommend allowing your leftovers to cool, food should not be left out for more than two hours due to the growing chance of foodborne bacteria.

Optimize with the Dishwasher

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, dishwashers that are energy star certified can save you an average of 3,870 gallons of water over its lifetime and cost very little to run. Dishwashers today have been optimized in most aspects of their build such as their jets, filtration systems, and soil sensors. In order to get the most of your dishwasher on this holiday night, be sure to remove food from all dishes. Food that is dried on will be much harder to remove. For extra energy savings, open the dishwasher door when the cycle is finished to allow the dishes to air dry.

Other Energy Saving Tips

  • Use glass and ceramic baking dishes as they retain heat better and thus allow you to reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees fahrenheit.
  • If you have a convection oven, utilize its setting to circulate hot air.
  • Cook the stuffing in a separate dish to cut down on cooking time.

To maximize your energy savings, call us at (210) 899-2430 to discuss completing an energy audit on your home. At times, these energy audits can optimize your energy and decrease your electricity bill by 40%. Our experienced electricians will inspect your whole house wiring and detect areas in need of extra care or replacing.

*Information was gathered from Save on Energy