The holidays bring a frenzy of decorating, cooking and family gatherings, and amid the hectic hustle and bustle, you may receive higher-than-usual energy bills.
Keeping this in mind, I thought this month would be a good time to remind Magic Valley Electric Cooperative members of a few efficiency tips to help lower your energy use.
Depending on the weather, winter months can bring some of the highest energy bills of the year, but making minor, low-cost improvements, like weatherstripping around exterior doors and caulking around old, drafty windows, can help.
You can also lower energy use by managing holiday lighting. LED holiday lights use as much as 88% less energy than incandescent lights. Even if you’re already using efficient lighting, smart timers can help you save even more energy by connecting to a smartphone app or voice assistant to program lights to turn on and off at set times. If you don’t use smart home technology, you can still save energy by using traditional timers.
Additional easy ways to save during the holiday season include turning off overhead lights and using your LED-bedecked Christmas tree to illuminate your home. If you have a fireplace, remember to close the flue when you’re not burning a fire to ensure heat doesn’t escape up the chimney.
Entertaining this holiday season? When you have a crowd of people in a room, it can heat up pretty fast, especially if the oven is on. Take advantage of the extra warmth and give your heater a break. If it is cold and you need to use your heater, lower your thermostat a degree or two before guests arrive. You can decrease energy use by 3% for every degree you lower the thermostat, and your guests will be more comfortable in a room that isn’t overheated.
While entertaining family and friends, you can cook up energy savings by using small countertop appliances like microwaves, air fryers and slow cookers, which use much less energy than a stovetop or oven.
If you do use the oven, bake multiple dishes at once for maximal efficiency. After all, it takes as much energy to cook one dish as it does to cook several. While many recipes call for you to preheat the oven, it isn’t always necessary.
Anything that needs to be baked or roasted longer than an hour doesn’t need to be put in a preheated oven. Most modern ovens heat up very quickly—you don’t need to run them a dozen extra minutes.
Turn the oven off a few minutes before the recipe’s end time and allow the residual heat to finish baking the dish. When using the stovetop, match the pan size to the burner to maximize efficiency. And remember: Your cookware matters. Ceramic, cast iron and glass hold heat better than metal pans, so they will cook food faster using less energy.
I hope a few of these tips will be helpful this holiday season. Remember, we’re here to answer any questions you have about managing energy use or your monthly bills. With a little planning, you can find efficient ways to save on everything from holiday décor to your favorite recipes.
From your friends at MVEC, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season.
