Water Use

Automatic clothes washing machines account for about 22% of the total volume of water consumed in homes where they are installed. Clothes washers EnergyStar™ rated use 35-50% less water and 50% less energy per load than standard washers.

Ways to Save

The single best thing to do to improve clothes washer efficiency is to replace an old inefficient machine with a new high efficiency washer. Traditional clothes washers use approximately 41 gallons per load (gpl) while high efficiency machines use only 23 gpl.

Savings in water usage for these devices may come from different loading positions, suds-saver options, water level settings, and design.

Front-loading machines use between 20 and 33 gallons of water per cycle, while top-loading machines may use 35 to 55 gallons. For the most common wash cycle (permanent press), a front-loader will use about half the water, half the hot water, and one third of the detergent of a top-loader!

Washing machines which use the suds-saver system store the wash water and suds either in an adjacent service sink, or within the unit itself to be used during the second wash cycle. This system not only conserves water and energy by reusing the hot water, but it will save on detergent too.

In almost all new washing machines, the water level can be adjusted to fit the size of the wash load. Simply by adjusting the water level to correspond to the load size may easily save as much as 12 gallons per week, especially if many smaller loads are washed!

Finally, the design of the washer can dramatically affect the household’s water consumption. By purchasing a new highly efficient washing machine, a water savings of 24% to 50% is possible.

Benefits & Cost

Here is an example: If the current washer is an older standard top-loading model that uses about 41 gallons per clothes load (gpl), and an EnergyStar™ washer uses 23 gpl, the saving is 18 gpl. Assuming the clothes washer is used for 222 loads per year, the annual water saving is about 4,000 gallons (or 4.0 kilo gallons) per year.

Water Costs The national average for water and sewer (wastewater treatment) costs are estimated to be $3 per 1000 gallons. This 18 gpl saving will reduce these costs about $12 per year.

Energy Costs The major energy cost for a clothes washer is for heating the water used…typically 85% of the total energy cost. The 18 gpl saving will reduce electricity use about 760 kWh per year….or $76 per year at a $0.10/kWh cost.

These values are estimates and local costs may be different depending upon how much water is used in the appliances and the cost of water, sewer, and energy in the local area.

Clothes Washer Maintenance

Clothes washers use gaskets to seal the wash chamber and these were never intended to last the lifetime of the appliance ("built-in obsolescence"?). They also depend on water and drain hoses to bring in clean hot and cold water and to take used water (graywater) to drain.

Periodically inspect gaskets, hoses, and water valves for leakage and wear. Replace leaking or cracked valves and hoses as needed. This preventive maintenance could prevent a costly flood inside your home, as well as save valuable water.

Read the specific instructions in the owner’s manual as they are very important, and clothes washer models vary. Always turn off the power before working on the appliance.