Why wash smarter?
Washing machines are one of the everyday users of energy in most homes. And most of that energy goes on one thing, heating the water. The motor spinning the drum barely registers next to the cost of warming up a tank of water to 40 or 60 degrees. That means the single biggest change you can make isn’t buying a new machine or doing less washing, it’s simply turning the temperature down.
Washing at 30 degrees instead of 40 or higher gets everyday dirt out just as well. Modern detergents are designed to work well at lower temperatures, so you’re not sacrificing anything by turning the dial down. The exception is very dirty items or things that need a proper hot wash for hygiene reasons, like bedding when someone’s been ill, but for the average load of clothes, a cooler wash does the job fine.
And it gets even better…
The other easy win is waiting until you’ve got a full load before running the machine. Half loading a machine still uses close to the same amount of water and energy as a full one, so you end up running more cycles overall for the same amount of washing. If you can, batch things up and wait a day or two until there’s enough for a full load, rather than running small washes as things come up.
Along with this, any machines have an eco setting, which runs a longer cycle at a lower temperature and often uses less energy overall. And if you can, skip the tumble dryer and air dry instead, you’re now using considerably less energy than before.
None of this changes what you wear or how clean your clothes come out. It’s simply about being a bit more deliberate with how and when you run the machine. Small changes, repeated every week, add up to a real difference over a year.
