It’s summer and time to use your gas or charcoal grill. We have a gas grill and use it whenever we can which really means using it for dinner or lunch when we are not having salads, having something that grills well, or when the weather permits.
Sure it costs us money to fill up the gas tank every year but it is a lot cheaper than using our ovens or stove top. We usually only use one tank a season. It costs us $ 19.35 including tax to fill it up(20 lbs.). That is a lot cheaper than using natural gas most of the summer.
Even when we used a charcoal grill we saved money over cooking inside. When we lived in Arizona, we used it almost every day. Here not every day is as hot.
If I am not grilling out, I use small appliances out on the patio or in the garage.
This saves energy two ways. One by doing it cheaply outside and secondly, it doesn’t heat up your house. That is especially important when you have your central air conditioning on. You do not want to create heat in your home that the air conditioning has to work harder to remove. That is the costly way to do things.
We can cook hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, chicken, kabobs, and any chop on the grill. I have even roasted a chicken or turkey breast over the years that we have used grills. I have a pan I use on the grill to do most vegetables. I can make foil packets with the meat, fish, or shrimp and veggies inside and grill them. With the pan I can cook almost anything that I can cook on top of the stove, even bacon and eggs. I love doing fajitas with the pan. Corn on the cob cooks in foil. Just use your imagination and you can probably find a solution to cook it on the grill.
We have been married almost 52 years and I think this is the fourth grill we have purchased. It would have been three but Hubby hated the grill we purchased when we first moved here and we replaced it. So the upfront cost over those years has not been that much. Even with buying the grills we saved money.
So if you don’t have a grill, think about getting one. It will save you on your utility bills by using it. I used to use it in the middle of winter when we lived in Eastern NY but not here. Our winters are brutal so the grill goes into our storage shed.
Do you use your grill all summer?
6 replies on “Saving Energy By Using The Gas Grill”
We use our grill many times a week for the same reason. I also do al my canning outside on a gas burner stove.
Hi Kim,
That is a terrific way to can!
Normally, yes, the grill gets a workout during the spring/summer/early fall months (in CA, so we have a longer period to easily use it typically). Unfortunately, after many patch jobs, our grill has failed and I don't have the funds this year to purchase a new one (I always go with full stainless steel, and the only good option I found this year was $600 before tax). Love cooking up protein for 3-4 days on it at a time, though, when I have one available. Definitely a must-replace item for when funds permit, because it's far cheaper to pay for the propane than the electric bill to cover cooling the house while the stove is running! (This year I'm just skipping meat more and only running the stove in the cool hours once a week to compensate.)
Hi Rachel,
Skipping meat or cooking alot ahead is a great plan. Not everyone owns a grill and sharing your thoughts on how you do without it for a while is helpful to others. Thanks for sharing.
I don't grill anymore. It is too hard going up and down steps to get to it in the yard. Plus, the heat gets to me. Tommy refused to grill when he was capable. In all fairness, most of the time he had mowed or done something in my yard, so I was not too disappointed.
Hi PP,
Steps can be a real pain! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject.