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Electricity usage of a Clothes Washer

A clothes washer or a washing machine is a common home appliance that most people use to clean their clothes and fabrics. Around 80-90% of the energy used by a washing machine is used to heat water, unless the washing machine is connected specifically to a hot water connection. Older top loader washing machines generally use more water and energy, this is why more modern and energy efficient designs are front loaders. A washing machine will use 400 to 1300 watts, with modern Energy Star rated models using about 500 watts.

Click calculate to find the energy consumption of a clothes washer using 500 Watts for 0.25 hours a day @ $0.10 per kWh. This is the same as washing twice a week for 52.5 minutes each time.

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Hours Used Per Day:

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Hours Used Per Day: Enter how many hours the device is being used on average per day, if the power consumption is lower than 1 hour per day enter as a decimal. (For example: 30 minutes per day is 0.5)

Power Use (Watts): Enter the average power consumption of the device in watts.

Price (kWh): Enter the cost you are paying on average per kilowatt hour, our caculators use the default value of 0.10 or 10 cents. To find an exact price check your electricity bill or take a look at Global Electricity Prices.

It is highly recommended to wash clothes in cold water, heating water will increase the cost substantially. Modern front loading washing machines use over 50% to 60% less water, it is recommended to upgrade if you are still using an older top loading model. Not only will use save money on water but if you do need to heat the water to wash your clothes you will need to heat less water which will save you energy.