The results of my 7-year-old’s science experiment proved something that I already knew—hot water cleans better than cold water. But what I did not know is that 90% of the energy used for washing clothes is for heating the water and that washing clothes in Warm/Cold verses Hot/Warm can cut the cost of doing laundry by more than half.
Following is a breakdown from a Web site run by Michael Bluejay (aka Mr. Electricity) showing the total cost per load of laundry.
Total cost per load (electricity + water + electric water heater)
Hot / Warm 69¢
Hot / Cold 50¢
Warm / Warm 50¢
Warm / Cold 32¢
Cold / Cold 14¢
Because most people do way more laundry in the winter months than they do in the summer months (due to more and bigger clothing), I wanted to share some tips that can help you to reduce the cost and environmental impact of keeping your clothes clean.
–Lower the temperature. Wash your clothes in the coolest water setting possible and use cold water when appropriate.
–Fill ‘er up! If you are washing a small load, use the appropriate water-level setting. Or better yet, wait until you have a entire load (why wants to do that much laundry anyway?!)
–Don’t overdo it. Over washing clothes is unnecessary. Wash clothes that only need a light cleaning on the shortest time setting possible.
–Include some prep-time. To avoid the need to re-wash very dirty clothing, try pre-soaking and spot cleaning first.
For more laundry tips, visit the US Department of Energy’s Web site.