Your kitchen is probably full of appliances, eating up electricity. Here are our top tips to help you save energy in the kitchen.

Cooking

Check what you have in the fridge and freezer before you go shopping. Wasted food is a big contributor towards carbon dioxide emissions.

Only boil the water you need in your kettle, and de-scale it from time to time.

Cut food into smaller pieces to speed up the cooking time.

Use the right sized pan for the job and right sized hob ring for each pan.

Keep lids on pans as much as you can, to reduce heat loss - turn the heat down when it reaches the boil.

Keep the oven door shut as much as possible; make sure the glass door is clean so you can see what's going on.

Cooking big batches of food at once is more energy-efficient. Storing spare portions in the freezer gives you a supply of ready meals.

Freeze your leftovers if you don't eat them the next day.

Microwave

Defrost food in the fridge overnight rather than microwaving it.

Use a microwave to reheat food where possible as this is usually a much more efficient method of warming things up than using the hob or oven.

Cover food with a microwave-safe lid or pierced cling film to hold moisture and speed up cooking times in the microwave.

Fridge and freezer

Let warm foods cool down before putting them in the fridge.

Make sure air can circulate around the back of your fridge and freezer.

Make sure your fridge and freezer are set to the right temperature, not too cold and not too warm.

Don't keep the fridge or freezer door open for longer than necessary.

Try not to put the fridge or freezer next to a heat source such as a cooker or radiator, or in direct sunlight.