Wash Cycle Cost by Time of Day Calculator

By far, it’s the most expensive appliance per hour of use in your house. A washing machine sucks up lots of water, heats that water to scorching temperatures and then subjects your laundry to hard spin cycles. And yet most of us operate our washer like its an autopilot device, throw some dirty stuff in there and hit go.

But electricity prices aren’t flat anymore. In fact they’re crazy variable based off what time of day it is. Your Tuesday night load could cost twice as much then your Wednesday morning load.

How to Save Money on Washing Clothes

With this tool, you can plug in your actual utility rate and let the calculator do math. This way, you don’t have to guess how your time window fits with your cycle length.

What’s the most overlooked expense? Usually not the motor turning the drum. Water heaters takes up the most energy to run. This calculator assumes heating water… How many gallons of hot water do you use, and what degree do you need to heat that water from? If you’re washing your towels in scalding hot water, you’ll be using way more energy than the person running their jeans through cold rinse water.

Depending on when your cycle ends, the energy you use will get divided over those times-of-use window. An eco-cycle can last longer and begin during cheap off-peak hours but spill out into pricey peak hours. The calculator figures this out exactly, then displays it back to you as a blended rate instead of an average… Which can be very misleading for your wallet.

Know your utility’s schedule. Most times of day is either “off-peak,” like at night when demand goes down, or “on-peak” (like in the evenings when people get home from work and do all their chores). Some utilities has split-peak plans where rates during certain other periods… Typically mornings, too, will also be higher. See the sample schedule table on page for common types of schedules, and match your input accordingly to what’s really on your bill.

For example, if you’re on a split-peak plan, know that it will likely be more expensive to run your load during the morning and/or evening rather then late at night. This affects what time of day you’ll want to wash clothes.

You’ll also see that there’s another factor in the mix: water charges (though these tend to be ignored). While moddern, high-efficiency washers use less water, cost per gallon can still be high. You can enter your combined water/sewer rate into the calculator. Why? Because sewer rates is commonly linked with water consumption. Plug in high-efficiency washer models or a leaky faucet. These variables will adjust the overall cost, too. This gives you a more accurate snapshot of what you’re actualy paying per load.

Where things get powerful is when you compare scenarios. Want to know what happens if you change the start time? Try that and see how much of a difference you make to the bottom line. Maybe an extra hour doesn’t make that big a difference, except do that for every week of the month and it starts to add up. Those pennies saved per load multiply over a year and could of pay for an upgrade at home or a luxuruis vacation. The expected amount for the year makes that long-term effect clear; it converts abstract kilowatt-hours into concrete dollars visible on your bank statement.

Most users underestimate water heating expenses while overestimating the effect of the washer motor. Users pay attention to the energy-rating of the machine but not the thermostat of their water heater. You’ll save much more by switching to a cold water cycle or lowering the water heater temperature. But when you must use hot water, timing matter. The calculator makes that trade-off obvious. It breaks down the energy and water usage so that you know what’s costing you.

On the one hand, laundry sucks. On the other hand, it is a cost on your utility bill. If you treat it like any other line item (if you treat it like heating/cooling); you’ll be able to slash expenses while barely changing your habit at all. You don’t have to change your life. You don’t have to start installing solar panels. All you have to do is push the button at the proper time.

Often, the price gap between “on” and “off” is huge. And capturing that price gap is as easy as pressing the button during the correct hour. Before long, you won’t even notice the diffrence. Your wallet will.