I don’t mean to contribute to the toxicity in this comment section as the article was a nice read. However, the claim that maintaining temperature saves energy is false.

“Electric ovens … use insulation to maintain temperature, so it’s smart to leave your oven on if you plan to use it again soon”

Whether the oven is on or off, the efficiency of the oven insulation doesn’t change. For the same given temperature, heat will escape the oven at the same rate. But heat will escape at a slower rate from a cooler oven.

Heat an oven to 450 degrees. Turn it off for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, preheat it to 450 and time how long the element stays on to get back to temperature.

Once up to temperature, leave the oven on for 20 minutes. Again, measure the total time the element is on for.

The total time the element is on for each oven setup determines how much energy is used. And since a cooler oven looses energy at a slower rate, it will always be more efficient to turn off the oven and reheat it when you’re ready.

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