Top 10 Tips for Energy-Efficient Laundry
By Alliance Communications Intern Sumayal Shrestha
Washing clothes by hand and hanging them to dry is the most energy-saving approach to laundry in terms of electricity. But let’s get real. Most of us don’t have the personal energy to hand-wash and air-dry all of our clothes!
You most likely spend hundreds of dollars per year on electricity to wash and dry your clothes, but it’s easy to save electricity in your laundry room with some simple tricks. Get ready to shrink your electric bill – but not your clothes.
Wash Right
Energy-Efficient Laundry Guide |
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Clothing Type |
Washing |
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Darks, bright colors, delicates |
COLD wash Tip: Cold water keeps colors from bleeding and fading, and prevents shrinkage. |
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Silk |
COLD, hand-wash |
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Wool |
COLD, hand-wash |
- Use cold water. According to ENERGY STAR almost 90% of the energy consumed by your washing machine is used simply to heat water. Given that, you can save a lot of energy by washing your clothes in cold water. In fact, switching to cold-water clothes washing for a year can save enough energy to run an average home for up to two weeks! Cold-water washing also keeps colors bright, reduces wrinkling and won’t set stains.
- Although you may find that regular detergent is sufficient, try out cold-water detergents that are specifically formulated to work in cooler temperatures.
- Run a full load. The machine will use the same amount of mechanical energy, regardless of how full it is. If you don't run a full load, be sure to set the water level for the amount of laundry you are running.
- Use energy-saving settings. Avoid the excessively hot “sanitary cycle,” but do choose the “high spin” option to cut down on drying time. And don’t wash for longer than you need to – some loads only need 10 minutes of washing.
- Set your water heater to 120 degrees F (instead of the usual 140 F) so you can save energy even when washing clothes in hot or warm water.
Get Smart about Drying
- Sort similar fabrics together, starting with a load of fast-drying fabrics, and do back-to-back loads to take advantage of residual heat.
- Clean the lint filter after each dryer load to improve air circulation and cut down on drying time.
- Use energy-saving settings. Select low temperature for delicates and medium for most clothes. Choose auto-dry instead of timed-dry to prevent over-drying, which causes shrinkage and static electricity and generally wears clothes out.
- Get a drying rack for “almost-dry” clothes, delicates and silks. Fabrics like wool should be laid flat to dry.
- Throw in a clean, dry towel or tennis ball to dry clothes quicker. The towel absorbs moisture, while the tennis ball helps circulate air between clothes.
Buying a New Washing Machine?
If you are in the market for a washing machine, get one with the ENERGY STAR label. ENERGY STAR washing machines use 37% less energy and 50% less water than regular ones – both of which can save you hundreds of dollars over the life of the machine.
Blog Type: Efficiency News
Programs: Appliance Standards Awareness Project, Communications Program
Very nice tips. Shared them with my friends in The Netherlands!
This article finally answered my question about what setting is most energy efficient for drying - Medium! It's what I've been using, but I've always wondered. Thanks so much!
If you want to be more ambitious than ENERGY STAR with your washing machine and other major product purchases, the non-profit TopTen USA lists the 10 most efficient consumer products in a wide range of categories currently available on the US market (www.toptenusa.org). The listed products often represent energy savings of 50% relative to the ENERGY STAR qualification level and are not always more expensive (not to mention the electricity bill savings). Who would want to leave those savings on the table??
Regarding the most efficient dryers, I have two additional points to make:
- If you have the option to operate your dryer using natural gas, it will be significantly more efficient than an electric dryer. On the other hand, even a less efficient electric dryer would be better for the climate system, if your electricity is generated by low-carbon technologies. And, of course, line drying is the best solution, where practical.
- As Chris mentioned, there are already electric dryer technologies in Europe (e.g., using heat pumps) that are 50% more efficient than conventional condensing dryers, and it will be great when they finally hit the US market - although it's a challenge for manufacturers to adapt products, so they are acceptable for US consumers.
Anne Arquit Niederberger
Policy Solutions
Two thoughts about dryer efficiency - the new design should have an option to divert discharge heated air into the conditioned space once a certain humidity level is reached during the drying cycle while sensing conditioned space conditions - new design should incorporate outside air intake to avoid pulling conditioned air from the space creating negative pressure, increasing the flow of outside air into the conditioned space.
Mike--
Interesting ideas.
I know that there's a simple device that used to be and maybe still is sold that one can put on the dryer vent hose to divert the warm air inside. I used that some years ago at a previous home but the filter was not the best and it seemed that some fine lint got through. I sort of recall a switch so you could have all the exhaust go outside in summer cooling season. Perhaps there are better devices now.
Outside air intake could be useful too, though one might want sensors to consider heating and dryer performance impacts of, say, drawing in very cold winter air or very humid summer air.
Of course there would be a cost to adding such features to a dryer.
Rod
Hi there -
Is anyone aware of any studies on which type of washing machine is more efficient - the top loader or the front-loader?
Thanks
Hi there -
Is anyone aware of any studies on which type of washing machine is more efficient - the top loader or the front-loader?
Thanks
Hi Paul--
I don't have the definitive study at hand but the most efficient household clothes washers tend to be front loaders.
We recommend considering Energy Star qualified appliances. Please see
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_find_es_products
Rod
Thanks for these common sense reminders. It's surprising how simple being efficient with the laundry really can be. I love the towel and tennis ball idea.
Look for big laundry energy savings beginning in 2012. Most of the energy used for laundry in the US today goes to operate clothes dryers. This year the first electric tumble dryers that meet a new ENERGY STAR Emerging Technology Award energy efficiency specification will hit the market. The final requirements for the award will be announce by the EPA during the next few weeks and new, super-efficient clothes dryers will be for sale later this year.
Chris Granda
Super Efficient Dryer Initiative (SEDI)
