Save Energy - Use Your Toaster Oven

The toaster oven is an often overlooked appliance that has a huge impact on your energy use if you make regular use of it. It has the ability to cut your cooking energy use down to 50% or less. We all know that a microwave is a great energy miser but we also know that it can not replace the benefits of an oven.

This brings us to the toaster oven, even better is a convection toaster oven. You have all of the cooking benefits of your full size oven (except for the size of course) but you can operate it while realizing significant energy savings.

So do not sacrifice the quality of your cooking with a microwave when toaster ovens will save energy without giving up the quality. New toaster ovens are available with more capacity and many more features than those of old and are becoming more popular as we all become more energy conscious.

1. If you already have a toaster oven start using it more often. It is a great substitute for your full size oven as long as what you are cooking will fit.

2. If you need to buy a toaster oven consider a larger model that will allow you to fit a full size pizza or an average size roast, select a model that has multiple racks and a broiling pan if it fits your budget. You will get more use out of a full featured toaster oven, which means you will save more because you will use it more.

3. If you are considering a larger toaster oven get a model that is a convection oven as this will save even more energy as it cooks faster and more evenly as an added bonus.

4. Skip the preheat when you are using your toaster oven unless you are baking. Almost all other cooking does not require the oven to be preheated. You may need to add a few minutes to your cooking time but it still saves more than opening a hot oven to put your food in and letting most of the heat out.

5. Buy food that will fit in the toaster oven whenever possible as long as it suits your needs. By using the toaster oven you will not only reduce your cooking costs but will save on air conditioning costs in the summer months as the radiated heat will be a lot less.

6. I also move my toaster oven to the great outdoors when using the BBQ, this allows me to cook everything outside and heat up the house a lot less. You just need to avoid this urge if it is raining out.

You also have a lot of choices these days so you will easily be able to find one that will have all of the features you want and will still fit in your kitchen and match your decor.

So, do not give up on saving money or get caught up in all of the confusing hype. Start with the simple things that you can do daily to save energy without causing a dramatic change in your lifestyle. There are a lot of ways and ideas out there about conserving energy and saving money and a lot of them have merit.

It is easy to get information overload, become confused with all of the different ways to save energy and just give up because you do not know where to start. Start with the basics, keep it simple and with each step, each little change, you will start down the path of energy conservation and before long it will become a habit, not a chore. We all know we do not need any more chores.

You will be surprised how fast the savings can add up. You will also be surprised at how useful the toaster oven actually is, the more I use mine the more I like the benefits.