Getting ready for the holidays can require a lot of energy – but not in the way you may think. When entertaining family and friends this holiday season you probably aren’t thinking about the energy costs.

Florida Power & Light’s Danielle Pickard is thinking about it and she has energy efficiency tips that can help you save as you entertain friends and family this holiday season.

“As someone who is looking forward to starting new traditions with my soon-to-be-husband, while keeping a watchful eye on my electric bill, I know that making a few small adjustments can help me save on energy costs,” she said.

Here’s a look at her tips for energy-efficient cooking and entertaining:

Entertain the energy-efficient way this holiday season

When you think about the amount of energy it takes to entertain family and friends during the holidays, you probably aren’t thinking about the energy costs. As someone who is looking forward to starting new traditions with my soon-to-be husband, while keeping a watchful eye on my electric bill, I know that making a few small adjustments helps me save on energy costs.

My Guide to Energy-Efficient Cooking and Entertaining

Keep the oven door closed. I know it’s very tempting to want to check out the turkey’s roasting progress by opening the oven door, but it’s not worth the heat-loss and the significant amount of energy required to bring the oven back up to the desired temperature. Instead, when you have to sneak-a-peek, turn the oven light on and look through the interior window.

Choose glass or ceramic pans for the oven. Believe it or not these types of pans actually heat faster than metal ones! Because they heat faster, you can set the temperature 25 degrees lower than the recipe suggests for the same cooking time, which saves on heating costs.

Use smaller appliances such as crock pots, microwaves and toaster ovens, when possible. As the new owner of my very first apron (isn’t it pretty?), this one is easy for me. I prefer using a crock pot to an oven any day of the week (it’s so much easier!). While this may not work for larger staples, consider what side dishes or small meals can be made with your smaller appliances, which use less energy than the oven.

Oven-bake as many items together as you can. Even though some items may cook at different temperatures, many items can be cooked at a standard temperature.

Gently remind guests to turn off lights and fans when they leave the room. Stopping one ceiling fan from running all the time and turning at least one light off when you leave the room can save you more than $7 a month in energy costs. Remember, fans do not actually cool your home. Fans only improve the circulation of air, making you feel cooler.

Before overnight guests arrive, switch out guest room and common area lighting to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Each CFL bulb you install will save you about $50 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.

Making a few small changes during the holiday season, can help save on energy costs now and in the future.

“These are tips that can be used when entertaining for a Thanksgiving dinner to hosting a birthday party,” she said. “FPL customers have the lowest typical electric bill in the state and with energy efficiency, that bill can be even lower.”

For more tips for the holiday season, visit www.FPL.com/cookingtips