Maximize! Whenever possible, use a toaster oven or microwave instead of a regular oven. These smaller appliances take less time to cook food and save energy because they are quicker to heat up. Avoid pre-heating the oven for too long, if at all. It’s also good practice to cook several dishes in the oven at once to maximize the concentrated heat source.

Lower the Thermostat if you’re leaving the house to travel, no need to crank the heat in an empty home. If you have a programmable thermostat, set it to heat up just before you arrive back home. If you’re hosting guests, the presence of extra occupants and the oven being on whilst cooking will provide extra warmth for the home and can provide the thermostat some relief. Keep your draperies and shades open to let the sun in to provide natural warmth.

Put your cookware to efficient use. A glass or ceramic pan is excellent at retaining heat, and so is using the lid on pots when cooking. It also helps to use the correct pot or pan size on burners; a small pan on a large burner allows heat to escape. You may want to open the lid of a slow cooker or check what’s cookin’ in the oven but removing the lids and opening the oven delays the cooking time and costs you more in energy use, allowing much-needed heat to escape.

Keep Doors Closed. Try to limit the hustle and bustle of guests and household members frequently opening and closing doors. When this happens, air from outside is exchanged with air inside. Some fresh air is okay every so often, but if the temperature outside is much different than that of the inside, it can cause your thermostat and HVAC system to work harder than necessary.