Wash your clothes in COLD water!
Here is a breakdown of why cold water is MUCH cheaper than Warm/Hot water. The information & calculation is from Mr. Electricity and The CS Monitor who used data collection on the cost of washing machines.
This is what they found for Hot water:
– You use an average of 4.5kWh/load of laundry
– This costs $0.15/kWh = $0.68/load of laundry
This is what they found for Cold water:
– You use an average of 0.3 kWh/load of laundry
– This costs $0.15/kWh = $0.04/ load of laundry
If you ONLY wash 2 loads per week (This is on the low end for my family – because sometimes we seem to have the never ending laundry battle occurring) it will cost you $70.72 for the year running HOT water, whereas those same 2 loads would only cost you $4.16 for the year running on COLD water.
This means that simply switching your washing machine over to cold water will save you at least $66.56 for the year.
Washing clothes in cold water also has other benefits. Some stains ‘set’ when they are in hot water, but will not in cold water. Hot water will sometimes shrink clothes – making them very hard to fit back into. Not to mention the new advances in the laundry detergent and washing machines make it very easy for cold water to clean just as good (if not better in some situations) than hot water.
Please Feel Free to Comment with your savings Journey and remember it will not happen over night, but every little bit will add up! Remember to subscribe so you never miss a Post in this series and be sure to check back Next Friday for another way to save over $50!
Saved with this method: $66.00 (I’m rounding down)
Total Saved: $118.00
[…] 2. Over 50 ways to save Over $50: #2 wash clothes in cold water […]