Last year I purchased a washing machine for my house and saw almost 30 % rise in my house electricity bill. Hence I decided to try several tips I found on the internet to reduce my washing machine power consumption and save some electricity bill. In this article you will see 10 energy saving tips for your washing machine.
Best energy saving tip for washing machine is to use cold water for daily wash. On an average washing machine consume about 60% of their power to heat water. Hence, if you use normal regular water to wash your clothes you will save lot of electricity bill.
10 Washing Machine Energy Saving Tips:
1. Use Cold Water – Nowadays most of the washing machine have hot water feature to clean your clothes. I think for daily wash (as stains are not that bad) you should not use this feature as it will shoot up your washing machine power consumption.
As you can see from the above image my Bosch washing machine consumes around 0.21 kWh to 1 kWh if I use water at 30 or 40 degree Celsius, but the power consumption shoots up to 2.30 kWh if I increase the temperature to 95 degree Celsius. That’s almost 1.5 times more energy consumption than cold washing. Hence, use cold water for regular wash.
Even if you don’t want to follow any other tip then don’t follow but at least follow this one.
2. Reduce Number of Washing Cycle – It is best to wait untill you collect enough clothes to fully load your washing machine, this will reduce the number of times you have to use your washing machine and thus save electricity bill. Ideally one should do washing twice or thrice a week. Remember your washer will use about the same amount of energy no matter the size of the load, so fill it up every time you use it.
3. Use Quick Wash – No matter how much we try to reduce our washing cycle we always end up with small bunch of clothes that we need to wash on urgent basis. In that case we can use the 15 minute or 30 minute quick wash feature (if it’s available in your washing machine) to reduce our wash time.
4. Use Eco Mode or Speed Perfect – Most the washing machine available today have power saving mode like eco mode or speed perfect mode which allows you to get the best possible cleaning for the least power consumption. If your washing machine has such power saving mode then use it as much as possible.
5. Pre Soak Stains – If there are tough stains on the clothes then pre soak the clothes for half an hour in water and use some stain remover to remove the stains before loading it in the washing machine. This will give better cleaning, reduce the number of washing cycle and save some energy.
6. Use Proper Detergent – A top load washing machine needs different detergent than a front load washing machine. If the detergent produces too much lather than your washing machine has to rinse again and again wasting water and electricity. Hence go to your manufacturer’s website or check your washing machine manual to know the recommended detergent. You can read this awesome article from Ariel which outlines how to choose a detergent for your washing machine.
7. Switch Off Power Supply – All of us have the habit to load the clothes in the washing machine, get busy with our daily chores and then come after two hours to turn OFF the washing machine. I agree nowadays washing machine are automatic and turn OFF automatically but they are still on standby mode untill you turn them OFF completely. On standby mode your washing machine will consume power even though it’s small amount. So turn OFF the power to turn ON the savings.
8. Wash According to TOU Plan – If your house comes in an area where there is TOU (Time Of Use) plan then check the time when the electricity tariff rates are minimum and do your washing during that time. This will have a serious impact on your electricity bill.
9. Avoid Dryers – Along with washing machine most of us use dryer’s to dry our clothes. I would suggest that if and when possible avoid dryers and let your clothes dry off by the sun. Develop a habit to use dryers only when sun is not out or there is urgent need to dry your clothes.
10. Use Different Washing Mode – Modern washing machine have 8 – 12 different washing modes, basically there are washing modes for each type of fabric but most of us use daily wash feature to clean all types of clothes. If after winter season you want to wash all your woolen clothes and pack it for next winter then use the woolen option to wash woolen clothes, this way you will get better cleaning and reduced power consumption.
11. Switch To Solar – Now this solution is to reduce your entire house electricity bill by producing all the power your house needs from solar. You can opt for a grid tied solar system which allows you to export the surplus energy generated by your system during the day to the utility grid and import it back at night when sun is not shining and your solar is down. You can learn more on solar system over here.
12. Buy Energy Efficient Machine – If you are using a washing machine that was made 10 – 12 years ago then it’s time to switch to a more energy efficient model. Modern washing machine use almost half energy as their old counterparts. Top load washing machine are the most energy efficient machine available in the market. You can check this article to know difference between top load and front load washing machine.
Now that you know how to reduce your washing machine power consumption and save some electricity bill, starting today implement at least 3 of the above tips and see savings in your electricity bill.
You can check out this article to calculate power consumption of your washing machine.
If you are interested in saving energy consumption of your air conditioner then please check this article – How to reduce your AC electricity consumption.
You can check this article to know Best free ways to save electricity bill of your house.
Energy Saving Tips For Washing Machine (Infographic):
If you like these washing machine energy savings tips then feel free to share it with your friends on WhatsApp, Facebook. Reddit, Pinterest.
If you know any more tips that can help to reduce washing machine power consumption then please share it in the comments section it will help someone.
Thank You 🙂
Reference:
- https://www.ariel.in/en-in/washing-machine-101/common-problems/choosing-a-suitable-washing-detergent
- https://www.bosch-home.in/productlist/washer-dryer/washing-machines/front-loading-washing-machines
