Energy Savings Tips: Laundry, Washing Clothes, Washers & Dryers

Energy Savings Tips: Laundry, Washing Clothes, Washers & Dryers

Here are ways to save energy on laundry washing clothes: washers & dryers (sorry, going to your parent's home doesn't count). These money-saving ideas can help you lower your energy bill by reducing energy consumption in your house or apartment.

You can also help to reduce the demand of electricity at peak electrical demand times - 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. These energy saving tips below may help cut down on the amount of energy you use and trim your household energy costs, while lowering peak demand on your electricity utility company.

Laundry Washing Clothes: Washers & Dryers
* Go collegiate and wear clothes a few times before you wash them.
* Use cold water, when you can, to wash clothes. Save washing in warm water for whites or hard-to-clean items. Clothes washed in cold water fade less and have fewer wrinkles (less ironing, means less electricity usage!!). Always rinse in cold. If you wash two loads of laundry per week and switch from hot to cold water, you can save more than 3,300 gallons of hot water per year.
* Wash and dry with full loads. More than 70% of the cost of washing a load of laundry is in heating the water. So get the most for your money, and make every effort to wash full loads.
* Remove the lint (yes, that includes your belly button). Clean your dryer's lint screen after every use. A lint-free dryer works much more efficiently.
* Check your hose connections. Look for hose cracks and leaky faucet connections (schedule a visit with your proctologist now). Either one can cause you to lose hot water every time you wash.
* Don't do your laundry during the peak hours of 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to lower peak demand in your community.
* Use mother nature. Hang clothes outside to dry.
* Fix leaky faucets. One drop of hot water per second can waste 2500 gallons per year. If just 1% of us repaired a leaky hot water faucet, the savings would add up to 25 million gallons of water and enough natural gas savings to heat 800 homes all winter long.