Laundry can be quite the energy hog, but it’s not exactly something you can skip. Dryers alone account for about 4.3% of a home’s total electricity draw, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which makes them one of the power-hungriest appliances in any household.1 Meanwhile, the vast majority of what a washing machine demands goes towards heating water.
EIA data indicates that at least 5% of residential electricity use goes toward cleaning and drying duds. That’s before you account for the energy used to heat up water for the wash cycle, which makes up the vast majority of a washer’s consumption. Luckily, it’s actually pretty easy to make your wash-day routine gentler on the planet and your pocketbook. Here are the best ways to keep clean without creating a massive power drain.
8 ways to optimize your laundry routine
You don’t need to buy a new machine to make your laundry routine more efficient. There are several ways in which you can use your existing appliances to reduce how much energy maintaining your wardrobe uses up.
Wash in cold water
Around 90% of the power a washing machine uses goes into heating up water, according to Energy Star. One 2022 study in the E.U. found that lowering the water temperature from warm to cool can cut electricity usage by 30%, and running a load on hot uses twice as much energy as a load at warm.2 Switching from warm to cold water can save 3.2 kilowatt hours per load, according to the American Cleaning Institute. Calculated over a full year of washes (between 300 and 390 on average3), that’s enough to run your fridge for around 10 months.
And don’t worry about your stuff staying stanky: Most modern detergents are effective in cold water and most clothes don’t need to be washed at high temperatures to get clean. In fact, hot water can harm natural fabrics such as wool, linen, cotton, and silk. Wools tend to shrink in hot water, while most fabrics will lose color and fade. What’s more, hot water can set certain stains, like those from blood and sweat, into fabrics. Cold-washing also reduces the amount of microfibers released during laundry, according to a 2020 study.4
Run full loads in the washer
This should go without saying, but it takes the same amount of energy to wash a full load as a half-full one for most machines. At the same time, underloading your washer can lead to a handful of potential problems like an imbalance in the drum, which can make for less clean duds.
Just don’t use a large washer load as a license to cram the dryer to the brim. Pushing your dryer over the limit can leave some clothes still moist and others way too exposed to heat. This is because properly dried clothes require circulation—something that is nearly impossible in a crowded machine.
Choose the right wash cycle–and take advantage of spin
Your wash cycle also has an effect on your energy consumption. A washing machine consumes anywhere from 300 to 1500 watts an hour, so the quicker your laundry gets done, the less energy you’ve spent. This means in most cases you can skip pre-wash cycles and extra rinses. Generally, pre-wash cycles aren’t needed for most loads unless they are muddy or dirty, so you don’t need to use them on your day-to-day outfits.
Additional spin cycles, on the other hand, can be useful in cutting the electricity draw of your full wash-and-dry routine. Extra spins consume less energy than other cycles, and they can also help you save energy during drying cycles, as your clothes are much drier when they come out, according to an analysis published in the International Journal of Applied Engineering Research.5 Though it’s important to know that this trick helps more on front-loading washers than top-loading ones.
Load your dryer correctly
While it is important to opt for energy efficient settings with lower heat cycles, how you load clothes into a dryer can also impact how well it runs. Drying huge loads at once decreases the amount of warm air that reaches the innermost clothes, which means damp duds in the middle and overheated ones at the exterior. At the same time, loads that are too small can also be at the risk of overheating and overdrying.
Make sure you check your load frequently for signs of overdrying. To make the process smoother, dry clothes of a similar size and thickness together so that you don’t overdry any smaller or thinner items of clothing.
Air-dry what you can
Air-drying cuts out the power drain of machine drying altogether, a task that accounts for about 4.3% of a home’s electricity consumption.6 If you go from running a 3,000-watt dryer six days a week to only three days a week, that’d end up saving you around 468 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, which is equivalent to around 195 kilos of greenhouse emissions.
Remember, that’s per household; scale that digit up to even 10% of the nation’s 122 million households and it’s the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking more than a half-million cars off the road. Not to mention, leaving the dryer out of the equation is good for most textiles, which means our clothes and linens will last longer.
Of course, there are some things better left off the line. For instance, down jackets, comforters, and pillows, require flowing air in order to fully dry, which a tumble dryer is much more effective at. Knits should not be hung on clotheslines as they can stretch and lose their shape. Instead, air dry them out on flat surfaces. If you are airdrying any delicate items, make sure to use coat hangers.
Maintain your machines
The health of your washing machine and your dryer are essential to keeping your duds clean and your appliances running smoothly. To keep your washing machine clean, run a monthly cycle with 2 cups of vinegar and half a cup of baking soda to clear out any dirt clogged in the pipes. Make sure to also wash your washer’s filter every three months by physically removing any dirt or hair. For dryers, it’s important to clean the lint trap after every use so you can improve the airflow. If your dryer also has an outside vent, make sure to clean it regularly and check for any clogs.
Bonus: The best time to do laundry
The best time to wash clothes is during off-peak hours won’t make your routine more efficient, but it will cut back on the potential for planet-warming greenhouse emissions—and your bill. Prices for electricity spike at times of high demand, increasing the likelihood that peaker plants will be needed. Usually, the lowest unit consumption costs for electricity are during the off-peak hours between 11pm and 7am.
Remember that laundry machines also generate heat, so during toasty summer days, be sure to run a load early in the morning when temperatures are the lowest. In the winter, take advantage of the extra heat to get a warm and cozy night of sleep.
Bonus: How to avoid microplastic buildup
Washing clothes can release microplastics into water: a menace to the planet that can also clog your filters and hurt your machine’s performance over time. There are things you can do, though, to cut the volume of microplastic particles that flush out of your machines and into waterways. You can, for example, use laundry filters or balls to capture shed microfibers.
How to choose more efficient laundry machines
If you want to make an investment with a completely new setup, odds are you’ll recoup the costs over time through energy savings, says Alison Knasin, lab manager at Indiana University’s Energy Justice Lab. Generally, Energy Star–certified washers and dryers are much more efficient than standard models, because they go beyond the required federal efficiency standards. Certified washers and dryers use about 20% less energy and about 30% less water than regular machines.
On a washer front, a front load machine can be up to 50% more energy- and water-efficient than a top loader. Another feature to look for is a machine that is labeled high-efficiency (HE), which can let you wash bigger loads with less water and energy.
For dryers, look out for heat pump tumble dryers, especially those certified by Energy Star, as they use almost 30% less energy than conventional systems. Other features you should keep an eye out for include ventless systems––which reuse warm air and use less energy––and machines with moisture sensors that will shut off when the clothes are dry.
- Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), U.S. Energy Information Administration ↩︎
- Laundry: How Washing Machine Programs Affect Electricity Consumption, GINETEX, Sep. 2022 ↩︎
- U.S. Laundry Facilities And Dry-Cleaning Services Market Report, 2030, Grand View Research ↩︎
- Microfiber Release from Real Soiled Consumer Laundry and the Impact of Fabric Care Products and Washing Conditions, PLOS ONE, Jun. 2020 ↩︎
- Energy and Water Consumption Analysis of Washing Process in a Fully Automatic Washing Machine, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, Jan. 2015 ↩︎
- Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), U.S. Energy Information Administration ↩︎