Cooking

Ovens

• Generally cooking a meal in a microwave oven will use less electricity, up to half the amount, than the same meal in a conventional electric oven.
• Can you choose to use a gas oven?  Gas is a cleaner and more efficient source of energy than is electricity.
• If you have a fan forced oven, use the fan.  The oven heats up faster and because the heat is more evenly spread throughout the oven, you can cook at a lower temperature - saving time and saving energy.
• A combination microwave oven, with a built in fan and electric element, can provide a versatile and efficient option that can cover most of your oven cooking needs.
• A fan forced oven will typically use about two thirds of the electricity used by a conventional electric oven.
• Just before your food is cooked completely, turn off the oven a few minutes before the cooking period is completed; the heat will continue the cooking process.
• Ensure that the door seal on the oven is in good condition - leaking heat is wasted energy and wasted money.

Cooktops

• When heating a saucepan on a gas cooktop only around half of the energy actually heats the pan.  In comparison around two-thirds of the energy heats the pan on an electric cooktop.  Best of all, if using an induction cooktop around 90 percent of the energy heats the pan.