Washing Machine Energy Use Question

Ben84

moseymoose wrote: »

Hi guys, I thought I might advise on what I do. I've never found out how much it costs to run a washing machine exactly, but I had no idea it was pence, I thought it was in the £'s, but that's good news at least.

In the summer, I use surf washing powder which is effective at 15 degrees, so I set my machine to "no heat" and just use a fast wash which takes 26 minutes. I imagine that it uses very little energy, my fabrics are never heavily soiled, if they are I usually handwash them as I think having the machine on for up to 2 hours for a cycle is just a waste of energy.

I use a hotpoint aquarius.

The enzymes in washing powders are much more effective at higher temperatures (40-60 degrees), while greasy deposits from food/skin wash away better with higher temperatures to help them become more liquid.

Some products claim to wash well at low temperatures, but they tend to be more expensive. With the majority of the cost being in the washing powder rather than the hot water, I thought it made sense to wash things at 60 degrees with a less expensive powder. I get really good results with co-op powder at 60 degrees and the total cost per wash is less than using expensive cold wash products. I suspect that cold wash products work by simply containing more detergent and enzymes to overcome the reduced rate of activity, so cold wash products may put more pollutants down the drain anyway, making the environmental benefits less clear.

[Deleted User]

In view of this thread and the reason I ended up here ......

I would like to ask if Martin Lewis could come up with a
"Laundry Calculator",
along the lines of this one on the US site Michael Bluejay Saving electricity site.
(they won't let me post a link on here yet as I am new to the forum) but I googled ..

"michaelbluejay how much does it cost to run a washing machine"

and it seems to hit the right page - it came top of the google list as

"Washing Machines: Cost per load of washers ... - Michael Bluejay"

It would seem to be a useful tool!

rogerblack

1/2asixpence wrote: »

I would like to ask if Martin Lewis could come up with a
"Laundry Calculator",

This varies very significantly between even apparently similar machines.
I question how accurate the above page is.
In short - read your manual.
If you've lost it, then go to your washing machine makers website, or google for 'yourmachine kwh'

Cardew

1/2asixpence wrote: »

In view of this thread and the reason I ended up here ......

I would like to ask if Martin Lewis could come up with a
"Laundry Calculator",
along the lines of this one on the US site Michael Bluejay Saving electricity site.
(they won't let me post a link on here yet as I am new to the forum) but I googled ..

"michaelbluejay how much does it cost to run a washing machine"

and it seems to hit the right page - it came top of the google list as

"Washing Machines: Cost per load of washers ... - Michael Bluejay"

It would seem to be a useful tool!

Try https://www.sust-it.net

Mind you you should also consider water consumption if metered, this can cost a lot more than electricity.

silverwhistle

I'm going to have to renew all my white goods when I move back to the UK shortly, and it does seem that it's now easier to find the kwh and litres of water used per cycle when you look at the advertising. Not so easy for old models perhaps, but for new it's simple enough: can't say how accurate the figures are.. (like car MPG claims).