Get thrifty!

90 mallinson road

london sw11 1bn

tel: 020 7924 1421

mob: 07866 724718

30 thrifty tips to save you bundles with ...

Kitchen Appliances

Our monthly email offering advice on all

things electrical around your home. To

discuss any of the topics we cover

please get in touch.

To receive Circuit Shorts by email, or to

see previous mailings please go to

www.swbishop.co.uk/circuitshorts.

Steve Bishop

Steve Bishop is a qualified electrician

and a member of NAPIT.

Introducing Thrifty Shorts, the first of a series of Circuit Shorts dedicated to helping

you save money by using the electricity in your home wisely.

This month's Thrifty Shorts is about the electrical appliances in your home and how a

few small changes can help you towards massive savings on your electricity bill.

- Cooker -

Shut it!

Every time you open the door the oven loses heat and requires more energy to get

back up to temperature. Try to keep the oven door clean so you can look in instead of

opening it.

Defrost it!

Defrosting food in advance can halve the cooking time.

Impale it!

Stick stainless steel skewers through baked potatoes and joints of meat to speed up

the cooking process.

.

Cut it up!

Cut food into smaller pieces: that way it will cook more quickly.

Turn it off!

Turn your electric oven off ten minutes before the end of the cooking time and it will still

keep to the same temperature right to the end.

Steam it!

Use a steamer to cook your veg, that way you can layer a number of vegetables on top

of each other and still use one ring, or use a saucepan with a divider.

Keep it clean!

Keep rings clean, as those crusty bits of old food absorb heat making an electric ring

less efficient.

- Dishwasher -

Soak 'em!

Give your dishes a good old soaking for as long as possible, even overnight. You can

then use a shorter cycle on your dishwasher.

Don't use it!

If you only a have few bits of washing up, don’t be lazy - get out those rubber gloves

and the Fairy Liquid!

Drip Dry!

Turn off your dishwasher after the rinse cycle, open it up, and let your dishes drip-dry.

You'll save bundles by avoiding the heat-drying cycle on your machine.

Clean it!

By keeping your dishwasher clean, the water coming through it will be clean too so

there’s less chance of having to rewash your dishes.

- Washing machine -

Keep it short!

Use as short a cycle as is practical. Unnecessary long cycles waste water as well as

electricity.

Cool it!

You only need cycles over 30oC for really dirty clothes, bad stains or underwear so

use a cold or 30oC wash wherever possible.

Soak 'em!

Soak heavily soiled items before washing, and rub collars or other stains with

household soap. This saves you than having to repeat a wash because stains didn't

come out.

Wait!

Wait until you have a full load before washing. Of course, if your socks are distressing

the rest of the family, you might have to put a load on, but otherwise it's best to wait for

a full basket to avoid wasting water.

Spin it!

Where possible, use a high spin speed so clothes come out of the washing machine

almost dry, with little need for tumble drying.

And every now and then ….

… do a hot wash if you mainly do low temperature ones. This will get rid of bacteria

and prevent the build-up of odours in your machine.

- Tumble dryer -

De-fluff it!

If moisture can easily leave the dryer through a clean lint trap it means the washing will

take less time to dry so check it after each use.

Untangle your clobber!

If you separate your washing before putting it in the dryer it will cut down drying time

considerably.

Don’t use it!

Here's the best tip of all. If the weather is dry and you have a washing line – use

it! Look at the plusses – you will save a fortune, your clothes will last longer (tumble

dryers weaken fabric) and your washing will smell of fresh air. Here is a picture of my

lovely mum, Rose kindly demonstrating the above.

Stuff it!

If you run full loads of laundry you can therefore put more items in the dryer at the end

of each cycle, and run the dryer less often.

Check it!

Just because you’ve set the dryer for 90 minutes, it doesn’t mean the items won’t be

dry before then. Checking before the end of the cycle allows you to remove the items

which are dry and turn off the dryer, or let the items which need more time dry more

quickly on their own.

Stick another one in!

When your dryer is already warmed up, keep washing to take advantage of the

warmth, rather than making it heat up from cold again another time.

- Fridge-freezer -

Think ahead!

Plan out the next several meals and you can then transfer all that food from your

freezer to your fridge at once. Opening your freezer less will mean it doesn’t have to

work as hard as if the door was regularly being opened.

Shut it!

If you’re cooking. take all the ingredients from the fridge at the same time, or if you’re

making a sandwich get all the toppings in one go as opening the fridge door less,

means it doesn’t have to work as hard.

Keep it clean!

Clean coils means your fridge will take less electricity to keep its contents cold.

Let it flow!

Do don’t put stuff in front of the vent where the air comes in, as the appliance will have

to work harder.

Raise the temperature!

Your fridge doesn’t need to be on the coldest temperature. Turn the thermostat just a

few notches warmer and your fridge won’t have to work so hard. The same applies to

your freezer Unless it’s crammed to capacity, it doesn’t need to be on the absolute

coldest setting to keep things frozen.

Keep it away from the oven!

If your fridge is next to your oven it will have to work a lot harder to keep cool with all

that extra hot air around – especially if you open the fridge while you’re cooking.

- Kettle -

Don't fill it!

Only boil as much water as you need. Heating water uses a lot of energy, so if you're

only making one cup of tea only use one cup of water!

Stay thrifty folks!

Next month: Save bundles with technology and home entertainment

Steve Bishop

Mob: 07866 724718

steve@swbishop.co.uk

www.swbishop.co.uk