Do you defrost food in the microwave? Better do this and save a lot of electricity

The microwave is not only used to heat food, but we can also use it to defrost food . In fact, you will find an option just for this in many models. Now, is it a good idea in order to try to save energy? We are going to tell you an even better trick, although you will see that it is not exactly for the impatient. But if you want to save on the electricity bill , it is a good solution.

Defrost food in the fridge

Do you defrost food in the microwave

There is a term called thermal inertia . It is basically taking advantage of the inertia when something starts to lower or raise the temperature. For example, when turning off the heating, thermal inertia allows the house to hold for a while before it is cold and you need to turn it back on. Something similar can be said of a food that is frozen and begins to thaw.

That food you have in the freezer is going to give off cold . If you put your hand very close, you will see that you feel the low temperature. What we do for convenience is put that food in the microwave, select the defrost function and wait a few minutes until it is ready to eat. But of course, that will cause the microwave to waste energy and, in addition, we will have wasted the cold that frozen food gives off.

What can we do instead of defrosting it in the microwave? What you can do is simply put it in the fridge . Yes, put that food in the refrigerator so that it begins to defrost. Logically it is a much slower process. For example you would have to put it the night before.

With this, what we achieve is to take advantage of that thermal inertia . We are going to take advantage of a frozen food, which releases cold, so that the refrigerator has to spend fewer resources to keep the temperature low. Just as we say that putting hot food in the fridge is a mistake because it will spend more, with this we achieve the opposite.

Not only will you save electricity by not having to use the microwave, but you will also get the refrigerator to spend at least, even very little, during this process. After all, any small gesture helps to save on the electricity bill.

Efficient appliances also help to spend less

This saving will be more or less depending on the type of appliance you use. It is possible that in your case you have a very old one, with high consumption, and the difference is much greater than if you have a more recent, more optimized model that will use less electricity to defrost.

However, our advice is that you always use efficient appliances. In case you have a very old one, think about changing it and thus be able to save on your electricity bill. In addition, you will also be able to manage the most recent ones remotely, as long as you have Internet throughout the house and you can take advantage of Wi-Fi.

Therefore, as you can see, it is possible to save energy, even a little, when defrosting food. Instead of using the microwave, which is what will undoubtedly consume more electricity, take advantage of the thermal inertia and leave it to defrost in the refrigerator the night before.