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Energy Savings: Washing Machines and Dryers

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Whether you want it or not, your washer and dryer operation are the third most important position in your monthly electricity bill, the first two being heating/cooling and lighting. While they seem innocent, they consume a lot of energy every week - energy you can easily save if only you follow a different routine during cleaning your clothes.

Most of energy used by washers goes for heating the water needed for the laundry. That's why the most logical thing is to turn the water temperature down while doing laundry. In most cases cold water is good enough to clean all but the most vicious stains - the modern washing powder do work in room temperature, too.

Limiting energy consumption in case of a dryer is even easier: just don't turn it on. A clothesline or drying racks will do the same job for free. So, if only you can wait a day or two for dry clothes, do it and use a dryer only when it rains. If you use your dryer, remember to clean its lint trap every so often. This will help your dryer to run at its peak efficiency.

As a rule of thumb, don't keep your old washer and dryer too long. In case of washers, new models use up less power, water and soap than those designed ten years ago. The evolution of dryers is even more important - if your dryer has no moisture sensor, you have to buy a new one immediately. This single gadget minimizes the energy consumption of a dryer by 20-30%!

Last thing: use your towels for some time before washing them. If you assign a separate towel for each family member, the towels can be safely used for about a week before the get dirty. First, it saves you a lot of time. Second, the amount of laundry is reduced, reducing the energy consumption by a fifth.