Please confine the discussion to home kitchens. Other energy saving tips will be posted latter.

Stove top tips:

1. Make sure the pot or pan matches the burner size. Half of the energy produced via an oversized burner will simply be wasted.
2. Note: water boils at the same temperature regardless of the burner setting. A burner on “high” merely converts the water to vapor faster without cooking any faster.
3. Use a lid, especially whenever possible. I can use a “2” setting to boil anything using a lid as vigorously as I can on “8” if the pan has no lid. You can go one step further and make the equivalent of a British Tea Cozy for your pot. Cut and stitch together pieces of old potholders to make a blanket for your pot. Warning: be extra careful that the bottom of the blanket does not come in contact with- or isn't too close to the heating element/flame. Also, be careful the blanket does not fit too snuggly and there is room for steam to escape.

Oven tips:

1. Note: When baking a single item, most of the energy goes into heating the oven walls to the desired temperature. If possible bake more than one thing at a time or bake multiple incompatible items sequentially.
2. If you are purchasing a new oven, consider buying a double oven where the second oven is half the size of the other. Always select the smallest oven chamber that meets your immediate baking needs. A smaller oven requires less energy to heat its walls.
3. Convection ovens increase the speed that heat is transferred to food, reducing the total cooking time.

Microwave oven tips:

1. Microwaves are particularly useful for reheating food since 90% of the energy goes into heating the food and not the oven itself. How do we know? The walls of the microwave are usually warm but not hot to the touch.
2. Use glass/ceramic plates and bowels to heat your food. Placing a plate on top reduces the heat loss as the food is cooking, helps trap moisture, and allows food to be cooked more evenly. Never use plastic containers or rubberized lids in a microwave. All of these products have nasty chemicals to make them supple and flexible, which outgas slowly over time. The outgassing and chemicals from rubberized lids and plastics having a recycling type 1 or 2 are entirely safe at room temperature, but not so much in a microwave capable of deforming these products. Plastic recycling types 3, 6, and 7 contain chemicals hazardous to your health.

Hot tap water from the faucet:

1. It takes energy to pump water into your home even if your municipality is your supplier. Most faucets have to be run for some amount of time before the water turns hot, initially wasting water and energy. Try filling containers such as plant watering cans while waiting for hot water. Use this otherwise wasted water for cooking, for use on your plants, or any other purpose you routinely need water.
2. If you only need a small amount of hot water, draw it from the cold water supply and microwave it to the temperature needed. The hot water tap should be reserved for larger amounts of hot water needs such as washing pots and pans. Initially, much of the hot water goes into heating the plumming going to the kitchen. Hot water pipes should always be insulated, but even well-insulated pipes eventually return to room temperature.