Washing machine cheapest setting?

Muppet_194

Apologies if this has been asked before, I don’t have a smart meter in home display to be able to check for myself ! 

I wash nearly every day and have been using the 30deg quick wash with a glug of laundry sanitiser sometimes if things need a bit more hygiene (kids pants with skids 🤢). Just wondering if anyone knows for sure would it be cheaper to wash on eco setting even tho it takes longer, also I might not need the sanitiser then which would be additional saving. 

Quick wash 30degrees for 30 mins or eco wash ? What would be cheapest to run? 

Thanks in advance.

GingerTim

Economy wash.

k_man

Do you have the manual for your washing machine?

ECO washes are usually cheaper than hot washes, as they wash for longer at cooler temperatures for similar results.

Not sure where savings could come from if quick wash is already at 30, but the ECO wash is likely to have better washing results.

Aylesbury_Duck

Frustratingly, our machine's manual lists the power consumption for some, but not all of the cycles.  It has an eco60 and an eco40 cycle (for which consumption is stated), and has a 30 degree cotton cycle i sometimes use, for which consumption isn't listed.  I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that a 2h10m 30 degree cycle uses less power than the 2h40m eco40 cycle, purely because of the energy saving from having to heat the water ten degrees less. I am aware that "eco" covers water efficiency as well as power efficiency, so the eco40 may use less water.

One thing I do to save power and reduce wear and tear on the machine, is to slow the spin speed.  The default setting for the main programmes is 1400rpm.  At this time of year, I drop that right down to 500rpm, in spring and autumn I can get away with 900 and sometimes even 700.  I only use the max speed on the coldest/dampest winter days or when I know a load will have to go into the dryer.

Mstty

Strangely our 50min wash set to 30oC is cheaper than the economy wash on our Bosch.

The economy wash might use less water maybe that's where the saving is but I can't easily monitor that.

wild666

My daughter does my bedding on a 40 C mixed load wash but I wash my clothing on a 20 C ECO wash the load takes longer but when I put it in the dryer I only dry it until it's slightly damp then put it on the airiers to fully dry.

k_man

Mstty said:

Strangely our 50min wash set to 30oC is cheaper than the economy wash on our Bosch.

The economy wash might use less water maybe that's where the saving is but I can't easily monitor that.

Mine is the same.
As discussed above, the ECO is normally a more economical intensive wash. So the ECO is better than a standard cotton wash.

Oddly in mine, the ECO 40, uses more water than the ECO 60 (I assume that more water helps clean at lower temperatures).

But when you get to down to a quick wash at 30, there isn't much left to give!

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Frustratingly, our machine's manual lists the power consumption for some, but not all of the cycles.  It has an eco60 and an eco40 cycle (for which consumption is stated), and has a 30 degree cotton cycle i sometimes use, for which consumption isn't listed.  I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that a 2h10m 30 degree cycle uses less power than the 2h40m eco40 cycle, purely because of the energy saving from having to heat the water ten degrees less. I am aware that "eco" covers water efficiency as well as power efficiency, so the eco40 may use less water.

One thing I do to save power and reduce wear and tear on the machine, is to slow the spin speed.  The default setting for the main programmes is 1400rpm.  At this time of year, I drop that right down to 500rpm, in spring and autumn I can get away with 900 and sometimes even 700.  I only use the max speed on the coldest/dampest winter days or when I know a load will have to go into the dryer.

I wondered about the cost of spin speed, but couldn't find any figures.
On the quick cycles with slow spin (can't be changed), I do a high speed spin afterwards. Takes 10 minutes, and power doesn't seem to go above 500w (IIRC that is about right for a washing machine motor).
So the high speed spin uses, at most 0.1kWh (less if this were to replace a slower spin).

As such I am not sure on the power savings of slow spins. Albeit does potentially reduce wear and tear.

Ultrasonic

Generally quick washes are the least efficient but the manual should hopefully give some more advice. You could try contacting the manufacturer if not. 

matelodave

If you really want to get more info, you dont need a smart meter, get one of these and you can test not only your washing machine but have endless fun testing everything else https://www.amazon.co.uk/plug-energy-meter/s?k=plug+in+energy+meter

For instance, I now know that my toaster uses around 35wh to toast either one or two slices of bread taken from the freezer or 28wh when it's not frozen. So it's more economical to toast two slices at a time but straight from the packet. However, we dont waste as much bread when we freeze it because we only take out as much as we need.

The Tassimo machine uses 23wh to make a cup of black americano coffee (or hot chocolate) but around 30wh if we have a coffee that uses a second capsule for milk/creamer. It also uses around 0.5w if we dont turn it off.

Our airfryer uses around 300-500w/h for fishfingers and chips compared with around 2kwh when we use the oven.

One day when I'm really bored I'll set up a spreadsheet and test everything 

Mstty

@matelodave

Look after the wh and the kWh will look after themselves👍

k_man

Ultrasonic said:

Generally quick washes are the least efficient but the manual should hopefully give some more advice. You could try contacting the manufacturer if not. 

If the temperature is the same (or lower) what else makes a quick wash less efficient (unless it uses more water)?
Unless we consider how well it cleans as part of it.