Tips for - Energy conservation

[roger_1234]

All this talk of food makes me hungry, anyway its not your cooker you need you worry about, it's your tumble drier and other household appliance. For example you could save atleast £100 on your electricity bill by switching to the most energy efficient tumble dryer.

Cheers Roger

[almostnormal]

however - not all appliances are evil

studied this a fair bit and...drum roll here please...if you buy an a (or a plus) rated dishwasher and run it when its full (once a day in most cases) it uses less water and less detergent and less energy then manually washing up! this is apparently because it uses more energy to heat up enough water to do 3 lots of washing up than it does to run the dishwasher. hurrah for efficient appliances...

[Kayleigh]

You need a remoska from Lakeland

[Rob_D]

Why on earth are you cooking meat in the first place?

Get Back In The Car: Vegetarian IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri Says Less Meat Will Slow Global Warming More | Scientific Blogging

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Rob_D

Why on earth are you cooking meat in the first place?

Get Back In The Car: Vegetarian IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri Says Less Meat Will Slow Global Warming More | Scientific Blogging

cause it taste's nice

[Tinkerbell]

Don't know exactly about the energy consumption involved, but we have turned down the thermostat on the boiler and reduced the time spent heating it up too. Certainly during the summer, most hot water is only used for washing up and it just seems daft to keep heating up a tankful of water to a high temperature for this occasional purpose. Likewise we wash clothes in the machine on low temperatures so even if it is a hot water fill the element soon heats it to the required point.

Tinkerbell

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell

Don't know exactly about the energy consumption involved, but we have turned down the thermostat on the boiler and reduced the time spent heating it up too. Certainly during the summer, most hot water is only used for washing up and it just seems daft to keep heating up a tankful of water to a high temperature for this occasional purpose. Likewise we wash clothes in the machine on low temperatures so even if it is a hot water fill the element soon heats it to the required point.

Tinkerbell

We have a combination boiler it heats on demand. No heating of tanks.

[yours2u]

make sure the thermostat is 49C or above to stop any nasties breeding

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by Susie

I had never considered using my slow cooker for a roast, just for casseroles, thank you for the suggestion Tinkerbell as it is such a good idea. I have a very large oven and to heat it must be a huge waste of energy when I am just cooking one thing.

As I have never cooked a roast in a slow cooker before are there any tips you can give me for good results? Should I put any oil or liquid in with the meat and do I need to brown it first?

I have a slow cooker, only a small one. But I've been doing casseroles lately and thought I would use the slow cooker instead, so it's a Sausage Casserole for supper tonight when I get in from work. Yes, brown the sausages and onions first.