Slow Cookers and the Environment?!
Answers: Can anyone tell me the impact of using a slow cooker, the type you put on in the morning then go off to work and it's ready when you come home at night?
A slow cooker is a low powered product, typically around 300 Watts. It is left switched on for possibly 8 hours. The energy used can be calculated by the equation:
Energy (Joules) = Power (Watts) x Time (Seconds)
Your Slow cooker has used 864000J of energy in one day.
Compare that to a kettle, say 2kW (2000 Watt) which will be on for say 2 minutes - that is 240000J
So your slow cooker has used the same energy to cook your whole dinner as it would take to boil your kettle 4 times.
In conclusion I guess the biggest factor would really be who is providing your energy - ie are you being supplied by a coal or gas power station or a wind farm?
I don't think leaving your slow cooker on will make a massive dent in the environment - but try not leaving all your other electrical goods on standby and switch them off when you leave the house.
Slow cookers actually use less energy than an oven, even though they are on for a longer period of time. The slow cooker uses just enough electricity to heat a small container, while the oven uses a lot more energy to heat the entire oven. If you still want to save energy, you can pick up a programmable slow cooker that you can time to turn on at at noon and shut off at 5 or so instead of turning it on at 8 am before you leave for work.
its down to the amount of electric used .. calculate by looking on box see what wattage cooker is if its says say 100watts and you leave it on for 10 hours then you will have used 1000watts or a kilowatt .. if your oven uses 2000watts (2kilowatt) per hour ..... see wot i mean ??
also u cud use a programmable timer to switch it on and off so its cookin for less time .. some slo cookers do this if not yours get an adapter type that pligs into wall socket and then plug in slo cooker
you could eat raw fruit and veg and really save the environment !!
You know, I'm sorry. You're probably a very nice person.
But if all you have to worry about is the impact of a slow cooker on the environment, you need to get a life!
If you're going to cook, cook. Otherwise, get out of the kitchen and go play somewhere.
Pete
PS: Do you ask this question of McDonalds when you drive though? How about when you order from Dominos?
Most slow cookers cost less than it costs to burn one light bulb the whole day - a matter of pennies, they are so energy efficient. Use it without feeling guilty. It is best to eat when you are ready to, you tend to take short, fattening cuts if you are too tired to cook properly. That is the beauty of the slo-cooker.