Christmas is a very expensive time with all the presents to buy and festive gatherings to attend so saving money on your energy bills would be a great help to take a little pressure off your bank balance. The energy saving experts at www.zenithhome.co.uk offer some simple tips to help you save money by being more energy efficient when you are rustling up the Christmas dinner. Making these small changes will ensure that your energy bills won’t be the reason your bank balance is suffering!
Room temperature is best
Defrost the turkey, and any other frozen food thoroughly, to room temperature before you start cooking, this is far more energy efficient than cooking chilled food as it reduces your overall cooking time.
One pot wonder
Steaming your Christmas dinner vegetables such as carrots, cabbage and even the dreaded sprouts is far more energy efficient as the layered compartments of a steamer means that only one flame is used for cooking three types of vegetable. Also make sure that you use the correct sized pan for the flame, you will need the pan to cover the whole flame otherwise heat will be lost. Keeping the lid on will also prevent heat loss and be more energy efficient.
Magical microwave
Use the microwave oven where possible as this is the most energy-efficient cooking method, so why not heat up the gravy or warm up the Christmas pudding in there? But remember to switch off your microwave at the mains afterwards so it isn’t left using electricity to power its clock.
Baby it’s cold outside
Why not take advantage of the winter chill and keep all your drinks outside, the cold air will keep them lovely and chilled without taking up room in your fridge. Keeping too many items in the fridge reduces its energy efficiency so by removing all the bottles, you will save a lot of energy.
Optimise that oven
Basting, basting, basting seems to be the cardinal rule for a moist turkey dinner at Christmas but as you know, this involves opening and closing of the oven. Make sure that minimum heat is lost by ensuring this is a swift process and do not leave the oven door open whilst basting.
Love the leftovers
You will be delighted to hear that eating everything in sight at Christmas is actually the most energy efficient option as food waste sent to landfills decomposes and produces methane which is incredibly harmful to the environment. So get creative with your leftovers and make sure that all those chocolates are eaten too!
