Very serious question

[owlmoose]

This is something I've been thinking about for awhile and have come to no clear answer for myself: is it more energy-efficient to do many small loads of laundry, or fewer large loads? It takes less water to run a small load, and smaller loads dry faster, but is that negated by the need to do more loads?

In choosing your answer, bear in mind that my washer allows you to set the load size (so it uses less water but runs for about the same amount of time) and my dryer automatically shuts off when the clothes are dry.

[Poll #1102835]

Comments

Very serious answer

[peachespig.livejournal.com]

Although you can program your washer to use less water, if it's like mine it still runs for almost the same amount of time; it takes less time to fill but then goes through the entire set of cycles all the same. So I would think that more small loads would take more time, and use significantly more electricity than fewer large loads. Thus fewer large loads should be more efficient.

It's like moving things in a truck from point A to point B. Which is more efficient, filling the truck half way and taking more trips or filling it all the way and taking fewer trips? Even though the full load will use a little more gas per trip, you should use less gas total since you're logging fewer miles.

That's my story!

Re: Very serious answer

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

More small loads does take more time, at least in the washer. It might come closer to evening out in the dryer.

T did some web searching on this, and what he concluded is that the most important thing for energy efficiency is matching clothes by weight -- that way, light fabrics dry faster and aren't slowed down by heavy fabrics. I may try sorting that way that the next time I do laundry.

[giandujabird.livejournal.com]

If/when you decide to purchase a new washer, I recommend a front loader. (Iirc, you've got a top loader, right?) They use much less water and treat clothes more gently while still gettin' 'em clean (I recall too many times where items got snarled on the central arm of top loaders). They also come in stackable styles, too. Their disadvantages are small: keep the rubber gasket dry when not in use, and loads take somewhat longer than top loading machines.

For drying, I've gotten into the habit of drying some items on a foldable clothesline thingie. Works great when the weather's warm, but not so great when it's cold, damp, or for linens too large to fit on it. But, it makes for smaller dryer loads, which save less time and gas (at least, heh, in my mind).

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

We do have a top loader. I would wonder whether we could find a front loader small enough to fit in our little laundry closet, though. A gas dryer is out unless we move; we're not allowed to run in gas lines.

T is big into hanging things to dry. He's always nagging me to run the dryer for less time. But I am attached to my soft, fluffy clothes, especially in winter, so I keep resisting. Eventually I suppose I'll give in... ;)

[plantgirl.livejournal.com]

Check out Jed's washer/dryer next time you are at his place. They look tiny, but hold a lot, and they fit in his upstairs closet. And his are several years old - I'm sure they've only gotten cuter.

As for your question, everything I've read says do a full load to save energy. It doesn't even out in the long run: the smaller load may use less water, but it's using the same amount of power to make the washer go.

Also, some of the newer front loaders use scarily small amounts of water. The one we had in Santa Cruz, I sometimes had to re-wash loads, because I used too much soap.