Best time to do laundry to save energy (2023)

This may seem like a strange question, but it is completely legitimate, and knowing the best time to wash your underwear is the answer, as it can really help you save some money on your electricity bill by knowing the right time. . washing machine.

There are different factors to consider when deciding thebest time to do laundry to save energy and reduce electricity bill, and you need to understand these factors, as they can change the outcome depending on where you live.

What is the best time to do laundry to save electricity?

The best time to do laundry and save electricity and money varies from season to season and from place to place, but in general, try to do your laundry outside of peak hours, and in summer, better in the early hours of the morning. morning, or after midnight during the winter, any time you need to heat the house to take advantage of the heat generated by the washing machine.

If that's not clear enough to you, here's a more detailed explanation on how to decide when is the best time to do laundry to save electricity.

First, you should check the electric rate of the company that supplies electricity to your home.

The rates are different from one company to another, and even for the same company, the rates may differ throughout the day depending on the hours of electricity use.

And sometimes these rates differ within the same company from one season to another.

Let's take conEdison (New York based electric company) as an example:

In most months (October to May) they charge around 8.82 cents/kWh during peak hours (8:00 a.m. to midnight) and 1.68 cents/kWh off-peak (midnight: 8: 00 a.m.).

While from June 1 to September 30 they charge around 23.84 cents/kWh in peak hours (8am – 00am) and 1.68 cents/kWh in off-peak hours (midnight – 8am).

This is called a time-based fee (ToU fee).

In this case, if you live in New York and con Edison supplies electricity, it's best to do your laundry anytime between midnight and 8 am to take advantage of the low season rate, regardless of the season.

So do you save electricity by doing laundry at night?

If off-peak rates are overnight, then yes, you can save money on your electric bill by doing laundry during the evening hours when off-peak rates apply.

But this may not apply everywhere as for some businesses in other locations off-peak hours may be different as sometimes it can be from 9am to 5pm. m. to 12:00 p.m. m.

You should check your provider's website or bill to see what the current rates are and when the peak hours are.

However, this is not always the way to find the best time to do laundry.

For example, sometimes you may not have time to do off-peak laundry if you work off-peak and are unable to operate the washer.

Or maybe the peak hours come during the day.

Or it may be that the rate is the same regardless of the time of day, so when should you do laundry to save energy?

Well, in this case, you have to look up the season (weather) and decide accordingly.

If you need to wash clothes during the day, this is how you decide when to wash clothes depending on the season:

The best time to wash clothes in summerto save electricity is to choose the hours when it is not too hot that you need to turn on the air conditioner to cool the place, since the washing machine will add a little heat to the air.

This is a case where doing laundry at night saves energy and money.

But if the only hours available for washing clothes in summer are the hot hours of the day, then it is best to close the door to the kitchen or bathroom where the washing machine is located and open the window to prevent heat from leaking. in. in the house and increase AC power consumption.

mithe best time to wash clothes in winterto save electricity, if you can't make it out of peak hours if it's after 00:00, that's when you really need heat to heat the place to take advantage of the heat generated by the washing machine, but keep the windows in the kitchen or bathroom closed to keep the heat in.

The ideal case would be during the winter if peak hours occur during the period when you are awake and need to heat the house or apartment.

This can be really useful inreduce the electricity bill in winter.

This is how you decide the best time to do your laundry to save money on electricity, based on the company that powers your home, the season, and the time of day.

3 extra tips to save money when doing laundry

In addition to choosing the right time to do laundry and saving on the electricity bill, there are other ways to save on laundry, and these are the three main ones:

Wash with full loads

The amount of electricity your washer will consume will be about the same for each operation regardless of how much load you have, so try to avoid more frequent half-load washes in the washer, and only turn the washer on when it's fully loaded. loaded.

dry naturally

Using the dryer in the washing machine consumes an additional amount of electricity that can be saved if you choose to dry your clothes naturally using a hanger.

In fact, the energy consumption of the washing machine when it runs the dryer can be greater than the energy consumption of the item itself.

You won't lose anything to water for a few hours to dry clothes if you hang them up, but you'll save money on your electric bill.

Wash with cold water

You can learn more about when to wash clothes in hot or cold water.here, but in short, most of the time you can get the same result simply by washing with cold water, so you can save by lowering the water heating in your washing machine, if it has an internal heating element, and supplying it with cold water. regardless of heating the water alone or not.

Conclusion: find the best time to do laundry and save on your electricity bill

There is.

I explained how to choose thebest time to do laundry to save energy and reduce electricity bill.

Check the website or bill for the power company your house or apartment is connected to, and try to do laundry outside of peak hours.

And when you need to wash during the day, avoid the hot summer hours, as this will make the air conditioner consume more energy, and try to do it in the winter when you really need some heat to warm up. El local.

I hope my article has been useful!

If you still need help or have any questions on this topic, please ask me in the comment section below and I will do my best to help you out.

And if you think you know someone who could benefit from reading this article, feel free to share it with them 🙂