Your cooking habits, along with energy-efficient appliances, impact energy use in the kitchen. Use these tips to cook up energy savings.

• Put a lid on it. Cover pans while cooking to prevent heat loss.
• Don’t peek! Opening the oven door can lower the internal temperature as much as 25 percent.
• Turn the stove burners off a few minutes before the food is ready. They will remain hot enough to finish cooking the food.
• Run your dishwasher with a full load of dishes to conserve water and energy. Also consider letting dishes air dry.
• Keep your refrigerator well stocked. The more items in your fridge, the less energy it takes to keep them cold.
• Speaking of refrigerators, they top the list of home appliances that use the most energy.