NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — What's the busiest room in your house? Any guesses?
It's the kitchen! You cook here, eat here, gather here. And while it is often the busiest room in the house, it's also one of the most expensive. But there are ways to save money just by making a few small changes.
Every time you turn on the faucet or open the fridge, it costs money! Consumer Reports says some small adjustments can help you cut your bill in a big way.
“A lot of your energy is probably going to your kitchen and making some small changes there could help you see some real savings,” said Consumer Reports' Dan Wroclawski.
Start your savings spree by following Mom’s advice: Don’t spend too much time staring into the fridge with the doors wide open. Get in and get out, keeping the cold air inside.
A less obvious way you might be wasting money with your refrigerator:
“Overstuffing it with food can actually cause it to work harder and use more energy, and therefore cost more money because it has to pump more cold air around the food to keep it cold," said Wroclawski. "And that also can put more wear and tear on the appliance.”
And don’t forget about the refrigerator’s condenser coils. Carefully brush or vacuum the coils every six months to remove dust.
At the sink …give the dirty pots and pans a sudsy soak—instead of scrubbing them with running water, pouring money down the drain or even better—put them in the dishwasher.
“More modern or newer dishwashers are incredibly energy-efficient. They will always save you more water compared to hand-washing your dishes," said Consumer Reports' Pang-Chieh Ho. "You just have to make sure that when you're using your dishwasher, you're loading it correctly. And to do that, you can check your owner's manual beforehand.”
Consumer Reports says even rinsing your dishes isn’t necessary. Instead, scrape dirty dishes before loading them into the dishwasher and make sure you’re running a full load.
“Nearly all of them these days have soil sensors. So what that does is they'll assess how dirty the dishes are, and then adjust the wash cycle accordingly,” said Ho.
One last tip—regularly cleaning your dishwasher’s filter and the inside of the door--can get rid of any funky smells and keep it running longer.
To shrink your energy bill when you're cooking, consider using an air fryer, microwave, or toaster oven instead of your full-sized oven. They use a lot less power and won’t heat up your kitchen on a hot day.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at jennifer.kraus@newschannel5.com.
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