Laundry is a never-ending household chore that seems as inevitable as death and taxes, but that doesn’t mean you have to dread laundry day. If you want to lighten your family’s load, consider upgrading to an energy-efficient washer. Energy-efficient washers clean your clothes effectively while conserving water and energy, so switching to an energy-efficient washer is an easy way to reduce your utility bills while also simplifying your laundry routine.
If you’re interested in upgrading to an energy-efficient washer but don’t know where to start, look for washers that have earned the ENERGY STAR® certification: Washers with the ENERGY STAR certification typically consume 20% less energy than conventional washers and use 30% less water. Below, we’ve summarized five ways that an energy-efficient washer can benefit your family.
1. Use Less Water to Clean
High-efficiency washers use a combination of sensors and technology to determine the precise amount of water for each load so you can enjoy clean clothes without using an excessive amount of the earth’s most precious resource. When you upgrade to an energy-efficient washer, you’ll save money on laundry detergent as well because you only need to add a small amount of detergent to each load.
2. Clean Effectively with Cold Water
While older washers typically achieved the best results when washing with warm or hot water, today’s energy-efficient washers are designed to clean each load with cold water. Since it takes a significant amount of energy to heat the water for washing a load on hot, washing your laundry on cold in an energy-efficient washer is a simple way to reduce your energy consumption (and your utility bill!) without sacrificing a thing.
3. Remove Excess Water More Efficiently
Did you know that your clothes dryer can use up to 10 times more energy to dry a load of laundry than your washer used to clean the very same load? Thankfully, modern energy-efficient washers are designed to drastically reduce the amount of time your clothes need to spend in the dryer. The spin cycle on energy-efficient washers removes an almost magical amount of water from your clothes, so your laundry might require just a quick tumble in the dryer, or you might be able to air dry it and skip the dryer altogether.
4. Wash More Clothes Per Load
Most energy-efficient washers have large, high-capacity drums, so you can wash more items in each load. Washing one large load is more energy-efficient than washing multiple small loads, so take advantage of your washer’s large-capacity drum and throw in a full load of laundry each time you wash.
5. Reduce Wear on Clothes
Older washers can be overly aggressive as they clean your laundry, which can damage textiles and make everything wear out much too quickly. Energy-efficient washers are typically much gentler on clothes, sheets, and towels, so you won’t have to keep replacing worn-out items that your washing machine destroyed. Since most energy-efficient washers do not use an agitator to move laundry around, your laundry is less likely to get stretched or ripped as it swirls around in an energy-efficient machine. Additionally, since energy-efficient washers reduce the amount of time your laundry spends tumbling in the dryer, upgrading to an energy-efficient washer is a great way to protect your laundry from dryer damage.
Switching to an energy-efficient washer is a simple and practical way to improve your laundry routine. An energy-efficient washer can help reduce your carbon footprint, extend the lifetime of your clothes and linens, and save you money on your utility bills. Laundry might be just as pervasive as death and taxes, but you might actually enjoy it if you have the right machine. If you want to learn more about how an energy-efficient clothes washer can make your household a little greener, stop by Garner Appliance & Mattress and talk with one of our laundry experts today.