Laundry today or naked tomorrow! That’s a slogan to remind us that laundry is mandatory. However, there’s time for everything, and laundry isn’t an exception.
We’re writing this to educate our readers on the best time to do laundry. You may argue that you can do it at any time, which is true, but we’re trying to help you save resources in the process. Meaning, we’re here to help you choose the best time for laundry with thrift in mind. You don’t need to break the bank just to get your clothes clean.
This guide discusses laundry with the washing machine in mind. How and when you use the machine will greatly influence the number of resources and time that you use; hence, your bills and other attributes.
Otherwise, the most suitable time for cleaning clothes by hand is when you have the time for it because there’s no big deal about the time, resources, and availability.
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Factors Influencing The Best Time For Laundry:
Time Of The Year
Different seasons come with different energy usage rates and patterns. While other factors may also influence this, the bottom line is that seasons will not have similar energy usage patterns. For example, the energy usage rate in summer will differ with the rate in winter, autumn, and the other seasons.
It also depends on the source of your energy. If you’re using solar, you know that getting extravagant during the summer won’t harm you. In winter, however, solar power will go down, and you have to be extra conservative with energy usage. For example, this is the time to give up the dryer and air your clothes for natural drying.
Your Energy Provider
We’re looking for the fittest time for laundry concerning when energy bills are lowest. But, not all energy providers will have the same rates at off-peak hours. Ensure that you confirm the rates with your provider on their website and or any other information platform before you get to use the energy.
Otherwise, if you’re using solar energy, you’re always good to go at any hour, because you’re expecting no bills.
Machine Type
Washing machines have different power consumption rates and load capacities, both that affect your energy bills. You need to know about your machine’s power consumption rate to know the bills it can generate so that you can invest more time in checking the best peak hours to use it.
On the other hand, it’s wise to understand that most machines will often use the same mechanical energy regardless of the load of clothes you throw inside. So if your machine can handle large loads of clothes, always toss more clothes inside to reduce the laundry duration, hence, save energy.
The Best Time To Do Laundry:
During Summer
Summer’s best time to do laundry is when energy use rates (hence bills) are lowest. Your machine’s energy consumption rate isn’t going to change during this time; only the charges per kilowatt-hour will.
Most energy provider companies have their Summer off-peak hours between early in the morning and noon. In the evening, the atmosphere gets hot, and energy use tends to peak everywhere.
There aren’t uniform energy charges for peak and off-peak hours across different providers. Therefore, you can’t be accurate with checking another provider’s rates and assuming that yours will take the same model. You have to check yours, too.
During Winter
In winter, generally, electrical power demand is higher than in summer. More people are using more energy to find warmth.
However, there are still off-peak hours when you can save on bills, especially when using your washing machine. The majority of people in winter heat their homes mostly in the morning, and this is the peak time when you should NOT wash your clothes.
Therefore, the best time to wash clothes in winter is late in the evening, when the temperature is quite stable. At this time, most people are satisfied with the atmospheric temperature.
However, you must keep in mind the bottom line that you must check the rates first before you start using your machine. There could be emergency changes.
Otherwise
While electrical power usage changes depending on seasons and several other factors, it’s quite helpful to keep checking the rates with your provider from time to time for the latest updates. Changes to the rates described above are bound to happen, and it helps to be up-to-date with any tweaks to maximize your savings.
Otherwise, it’s easy to notice that off-peak hours mostly come in the morning and evening. They’re the best times to wash your clothes, depending on the year’s time and other factors (listed above). Let’s also take a look at a few bonus energy-saving tips while cleaning your clothes.
Bonus Tips To Save Energy While Doing Laundry (And Drying):
Use Cold Water
Your machine settings range from cold to warm and too hot. The EPA mentions that washing machines often spend most of their energy to warm cold water (if set to the “warm” mode). While resetting it to the warm mode will save you energy, setting your washing machine to “cold” mode will save even more. Your machine won’t have to spend 90 percent of its energy again to heat water for laundry.
However, using cold water doesn’t mean that you can’t use hot water even when needed. For example, if your clothes are greased, they need hot water, and you have to sacrifice power consumption to make them clean. Only use hot water when it’s quite necessary.
Wash Larger Loads
Overstuffing your machine is quite dangerous while underloading it will make you extravagant. There’s, however, a recommended maximum and minimum load of clothes recommended to throw inside it.
Always go with the former, as the machine’s power consumption is the same whether your load is less or more. While you do so, it’s essential to have a few points in mind, too.
The load inside your washing machine shouldn’t exceed the maximum capacity recommendations of the manufacturer. Remember that the clothes need time and space to tumble and tangle inside the machine for proper cleaning.
Most machines have a maximum load capacity of three-quarters of its total capacity. Ensure this is your maximum, too. If you underload the machine with clothes, you’ll take more time-wasting energy and time for no good reason.
Always Hang To Dry
Most people often use the machine dryer to dry their clothes. Airing the clothes outside instead won’t cost you much, especially when the weather is warm.
So take advantage of the climate/weather and get your clothes dried naturally without a cost. Using the dryer will increase your electrical bills and probably heat your room even during warm weather.
When the dryer has heated your room, there’ll be more heat, and you might want to use the air conditioner to cool it off again. This brings in yet another energy cost.
However, you may be obliged to use the dryer in a few circumstances. If you have to do so, kindly avoid using it with heavier clothes that will need more energy and time in the machine.
Unclog Your Dryer’s Filter
If you have one, a dryer often has a filter that traps several unwanted items — to protect various parts of the machine, especially the vent hose — from dirt and other unwanted particles.
These particles are often generated when clothes roll and turn inside the dryer. The heat produced by dryers will facilitate the shredding of clothes and their transfer to the filter.
When the particles trapped by the filter accumulate to excessive amounts, they block it, and all the problem starts here. Airflow into the machine now gets restricted; thus, more time and energy will be required to complete the drying process. What’s more, cleaning the filter will elongate the lifespan of your drying machine.
Keep Checking The Rates
You now know that there are peak and off-peak energy consumption patterns and subject to changes. You should check the rates with your energy supplier when you want to use a high-power machine like the washing machine and the dryer. Keeping up-to-date with the information is vital to maximizing your savings.
Increase The Spin Speed
More spin speed means less washing time and relatively less energy consumed as a result. Likewise, it removes more water from your clothes, which reduces the time needed by the dryer to complete drying the same clothes. When combined with a few other energy-saving techniques above, you can maximize savings while making your clothes clean.
The Bottom Line
We’ve learned that the best time to do laundry is the time that you can minimize energy usage by your laundry or dryer machine. Most off-peak times are within morning and evening hours, with each energy provider having different charges from one another.
The climate machine type, the water temperature, and other factors affect your machine’s power consumption. You now have the tips; time to alleviate your bills and thank me later.
Thanks for reading.
