We tend to ignore it, but it is our kitchen which eats up most of the energy we use in our house, excluding heating. If you only follow a few of the tips mentioned below, you can easily reduce the energy consumption to a level you have never thought real without any drastic means.
First, the cooking. Use a microwave oven to reheat the food, not the stove. Microwave ovens are about 40% more energy efficient. Then, heat small pots only on the small burners. Placing a small pot on a large burner won't make the process faster, but increases the energy use by 10-30%. Also, try to use a crock pot whenever possible. You can start cooking a meal in the morning before you leave for work, leave it for the whole day and get a hot meal in the evening. The point is that crock pots need only little energy and even though they will be heated for several hours, they are still more energy efficient than cooking meals fast using a lot of energy.
Another important issue is your fridge. Unless you pay attention to its settings, you may end up with using up to 20-30% more energy than you could otherwise. Here's how to do it: experiment a little with the settings - in most cases we set our fridges colder than it is necessary. It is especially important in case of freezers: 20 Celsius below zero is just as good as 40, but uses only around half the energy. Also, make sure that the door are well-insulated, especially that the insulation seals completely when you close the door. Replace the sealing the moment you notice any cracks - if cold air gets out and warn air can get inside, the fridge starts using much more energy.
Two other things you should check are your dishwasher and bulbs. Make sure that your dishwasher is never overloaded - it greatly increases the energy consumption. As for the bulbs, make sure they are fluorescent. They are a bit more expensive, that's true, but they use only a fraction of the energy of their incandescent counterparts. It takes less than a year to start saving on the energy-efficient bulbs, so that's a pretty good deal.
Finally, make sure that you buy only those appliances which are more energy-efficient than the average. The Energy Star logo is a good sign - it means that the products which use it are certified to be much more energy-efficient. If all your appliances are energy-efficient, and you use fluorescent bulbs, your bills will be curbed down to size in no time.
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