How to cut costs WASHING MACHINES

Save money on laundry days with these useful energy-saving tips for your machine

- RACHEL OGDEN

It can feel like every day is wash day! Between the kids finding creative ways to get dirty and the puzzle of the bottomless laundry basket, your washing machine can work overtime and that can result in higher energy bills.

According to the Energy Saving Trust the average price (as of April 2022) per pence/kWh of electricity is 34.1p. We have rounded it to 34p. The main factors that affect costs are a machine’s efficiency rating, and wash length and temperature.

How much does a washing machine cost to run?

An example D-rated 9kg washing machine uses 0.76 kWh per cycle, which means each cycle costs 25.5p. Over a year of 270 cycles, that’s a cost of £67.50. Compare this to an A-rated machine which uses 0.49 kWh per cycle, which will cost 15p a cycle and £40.50 a year for the same use.

Lower temperatures help enormously. Which? found that switching from 40C to 20C saved 62% of the energy consumed.

Do some machines cost less to run than others?