Best Time to Do Laundry to Save Energy

This might seem a weird question to ask, but it is a completely legitimate one, and it is necessary to know when is the best time to wash your closes as the answer as it can really help you save some money on the electricity bill by knowing the right time to turn on your washing machine.

There are different factors to consider when deciding the best time to do laundry to save energy and lower electric bill, and you need to understand these factors as they might change the result based on where you live.

When Is The Best Time to Wash Clothes to Save Electricity?

The best time to wash your clothes and save electric energy and money differs from season to season, and from one place to another, but in general, try to do laundry outside the peak tariff hours, and for summer, better in the early morning hours, or after midnight, while in winter, anytime when you need to heat the house in order to make use of the heat generated by the wash machine.

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

First of all, you need to look at the electricity rate for the company that supplies your home with electricity.

The rates are different from one company to another, and even for the same company, the rates might differ during the day based on the hours of electricity usage.

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

Let’s take conEdison (NY-based electricity company) as an example:

For most of the months (October till May), they charge around 8.82 cents/kWh during the peak period (8 am – midnight), and 1.68 cents/kWh for the off-peak hours (midnight – 8 am).

While from June 1 till September 30, they charge around 23.84 cents/kWh during the peak hours (8 am – midnight), and 1.68 cents/kWh for the off-peak hours (midnight – 8 am).

This is what is called the Time-of-Use tariff (ToU tariff).

In this case, if you live in New York, and conEdison supplies you with electricity, then it is better to have your laundry done anytime between midnight and 8 am in order to make benefit of the off-peak hour tariff, regardless of the season.

So, Do You Save Electricity by Doing Laundry at Night?

In case that the off-peak tariff hours come during the night, then yes, you can save money on the electric bill if you do laundry during the night hours when the off-peak rates are applied.

But this might not apply everywhere, as for some companies in other places, the time of the off-peak hours can be different, as it might sometimes be from 9 am – 12 pm.

You need to investigate on your supplier’s website or bill and see what the current rates and when the off-peak hours are.

However, this might not always be the way to find the best time to wash clothes.

For example, sometimes you might not have the time to do laundry during the off-peak hours if you work during these times and can’t operate the washing machine.

Or maybe, the off-peak hours come during the day.

Or, it could be that the rate is the same regardless of the time of the day, then when should you do laundry in order to save energy?

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

In case that you need to do laundry during the day, then here’s how to decide when to do laundry based on the season:

The best time to wash clothes in summer to save electricity is to choose the hours when it is not too hot that you need to turn on the AC in order to cool down the place, since, the washing machine will add some heat to the air.

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

But in case that the only hours available for you to do laundry in summer come during the hot hours of the day, then it is better to close the door of the kitchen or bathroom where the washing machine is located, and open the window in order to prevent the heat from creeping into the house and increasing the AC electric consumption.

And the best time to wash clothes in winter to save electricity, in case that you can’t do it during the off-peak hours if they come after midnight, is when you actually need some heat to warm up the place in order to take advantage of the heat generated by the washing machine, but keep the windows of the kitchen or the bathroom closed so that you keep the heat in.

The optimal case would be during winter if the off-peak hours came during the time when you are awake and you need to heat the house or apartment.

This can be really helpful in reducing your electric bill in winter.

So, this is how you decide when is the best time to do laundry to save money on electricity, based on the company supplying your home, the season, and the hour of the day.

3 Extra Tips to Save Money on Laundry Time

In addition to choosing the right time to do laundry and save on the electric bill, there are other ways that you can save on electricity when doing laundry, and here are the main three:

Wash with Full Loads

The amount of electricity the washing machine consumes will be almost the same for each operation, regardless of how much load it has, therefore, try to avoid washing more frequently with half load in the washing machine, and turn it on only when it’s fully loaded.

Dry Naturally

Using the dryer in the washing machine consumes an additional amount of electric energy that could be saved in case that you choose to dry the clothes naturally by using a laundry hanger.

Actually, the washing machine’s power consumption when running the dryer could be more than the power consumption of the washing part itself.

You won’t lose anything by water few hours for the clothes to dry if you hang them, but you will save money on your electric bill.

Wash with Cold Water

You can learn more on when to wash clothes with hot or cold water here, but in short, most of the time you can just get the same result washing with cold water, therefore, you can save money by turning down the heating of water in your washing machine, if it has an internal heating element, and by supplying it with cold water regardless if it heats the water by itself or not.

Conclusion – Find The Best Time to Do Laundry & Save on Electric Bill

There you go.

I have explained to you how to choose the best time to do laundry in order to save energy and lower your electric bill.

Check out the website or the bill of the electricity company that your house or apartment is connected to, and try to do your laundry during the off-peak hours.

And when you need to wash during the day, avoid the hours in summer when it is hot as that will make the ac consume more energy, and try to do it in winter when you actually need some heat to warm up the place.

I hope that my article was helpful!

If you still need any help or have any question about this topic, please, ask me in the comments’ section below, and I will do my best to help you out.

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

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