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Dear Jim: I prefer to use the kitchen range and oven for cooking, but heard using small countertop appliances is more effi- cient. Is this true and is there a simple way to determine which appliances are the best to use? — Cari M. Dear Cari: What makes one cooking appliance less expensive to operate than another is how much of the heat actually gets into the food compared to how much just ends up in the room air in the kitchen and is lost. As much as 50 percent of the heat can be lost on a typical kitchen range. This is why it is important, for example, to match the size of the pot to the size of the burner or element on a range. If the pot is too small, much of the heat is lost around the sides of the pot. Also using the recom- mended type of cooking utensil material for the specific range top type is important. During winter, the selection of the cook- ing appliance is not as important as during summer. Any heat which is lost to kitchen air just reduces the heating load on the fur- nace or heat pump. It is not a one-to-one trade-off, but it does reduce the central heat- ing cost somewhat. During summer, any heat lost to the room air must be removed by the air conditioner. This makes it a double cost so appliance selection is more important. Another con- sideration is overall cooking time to mini- mize the amount of water vapor given off and control uncomfortable indoor humidity levels. Using small appliances outdoors or a solar oven makes sense during summer. It is not always a simple decision as to when it is best to use a smaller countertop appliance instead of the range or oven. If the cooking time is the same as with the range element or oven, then the smaller, lower-wattage appliance generally will use less energy. Another factor is the quality of the range and oven. If your range has a self-cleaning oven, it likely has heavier wall insulation than a standard oven and will save energy. Minimize the use of the self-cleaning cycle because it uses a lot of energy to get the oven super hot. Whenever possible, select small counter- top appliances which have a thermostatic control for the cooking temperature. This provides more precise cooking than one with just a low-to-high temperature dial. A timer is also good to avoid overcooking and wasting more energy. A small countertop convection oven uses much less wattage than the large oven. The oven's convection fan uses very little elec- tricity and the circulating air cooks foods much faster for less heat loss to the room. Using a pressure cooker also reduces cook- ing time. Microwave ovens use less electricity because they cook fast and nearly all the heat goes into the food items. If you can bake several dishes at once in the range oven, it will use less electricity than running the microwave several cooking times. Baking many potatoes is an example where the range oven is better to use. To calculate the cost to operate an appli- ance, find the wattage rating on the name- plate. Divide this by 1,000 and multiply the result by your $/kWh electric rate to get the operating cost per hour. If the nameplate lists amperage, multiply it by 120 to get watts. For appliances with a thermostat, reduce the operating cost by about 50 per- cent. Dear Jim: My asphalt shingle roof has black stains on it and it looks bad. I cleaned it, but the stains came back. What is causing this and is there anything I can put on the roof to stop the staining? — Robert M. Dear Robert: The black stains are algae and fungal growth on the shingles from organic debris which settles on them. It usu- ally is worse in shaded areas. Lay bare cop- per wire along the roof ridge. When it rains, copper ions flow down over the shingles and retard this growth. There are also DIY roof cleaning and stain-blocking chemicals from Saver Sys- tems. Once the roof is cleaned, the stain blocker should be reapplied every two to three years. (Send inquiries to James Dulley, The Free- man, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley.com.) OCTOBER 2019 HOME 3 Bliffert Lumber & Hardware 548 W. Sunset Drive, Waukesha, WI 262-542-6666 | www.bliffertlumber.com i"OEFSTFOwBOEBMMPUIFSNBSLTXIFSFEFOPUFEBSFUSBEFNBSLTPG"OEFSTFO$PSQPSBUJPO ª"OEFSTFO$PSQPSBUJPO"MMSJHIUTSFTFSWFE Unlimited possibilities. Custom colors. Unique Shapes. Dynamic sizes. E-series windows and doors give you virtually unlimited ways to express your own style. Unleash your imagination and set your home apart. Only from Andersen. JAMES DULLEY 265915001 Get the right size of utensil for efficient food prep Lost heat can warm home in winter, but it'll make A/C work harder in summer James Dulley Using a pressure cooker is efficient and ideal for fast cooking of tougher meat cuts and stews.

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