Eco wash setting

[DragonTrainor]

Is the eco wash setting really more economical and / or better for the environment?

we have an LG machine and the eco wash is 2:30-3hours whereas a turbo wash is just under an hour and I sometimes add a pre wash or rinse plus which would bring it to 1h 30.

Is a turbo wash not a good enough clean? I'm guessing it depends what you wash.

Interested in others' thoughts!

sorry not the most exciting topic

But wouldn't that include fridge / freezers as well that have to be on?

I suppose you're minimising the risk by not putting the washing machine on as well

I never use the eco wash programmes on either my washing machine or my dishwasher. They are just far, far too long (3 or 4 hours or more) and inconvenient. I simply don't believe that they are particularly energy efficient.

I wash everything at 40⁰ and can have it all done in an hour and a half.

Major appliances including washing machines should never be left to run overnight or when nobody is around because ALL are a fire risk. Keep the programmes short and don't go out leaving them on, or run them overnight.

From what I recall, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers use a heating element - which causes the risk.

Obviously fridges and freezers have to be on all the time, but I don't think they pull quite the same high load of electricity as washing machines and dishwashers do when they are actively heating their water, or when the washing machine is spinning. That's when the fire risk is at its highest, but it is still present at other points during the cycle too.

Anything that uses a heater element is a significant fire risk.

The point is to do what you can to minimise the risk of fire in your house.

check the manual
eco washes use less water and compensate that by taking longer.

also keep in mind that for many washers only the long cotton cycles or eco cycles are suitable for a full load.
so a full load on the eco cycle needs to be compared to 2 or even 3 quick ones.

I have an 11kg machine and the quick wash setting is for a 2kg load! If I was washing full loads on that, I don’t think they would be getting very clean or stains being removed. I’ve seen quite a few posts on here from people who have had issues with smelly clothes or stains etc and then it turns out they are using the quick wash cycle to do full loads on, so clothes are never getting a proper wash.

Hello bad wolf, nope I'm in the SE UK. DH used to say did a cold wash get the clothes clean,you only have to look at them. I'm fussy and old skool, I iron. Its purely the agitation that cleans the wash. You can prove that yourself by doing a wash with no detergent. I've got an LG true steam,my second LG. Had the first one 15 years,4 kids, grandkids and adult son I'm carer for. Yes, countless washing machines and dryers and dehumidifiers caught fire about 8 years ago,beko and Hotpoint. My friend nextdoor has a 15 minute quick wash program on her machine.

I only ever do a full load, nothing is stained or smelly.filters cleaned regularly.

Our eco wash is just under four hours but the clothes come out almost dry so take only a short time to properly dry on the line. We noted our electricity usage is down from using eco on the washing machine and dishwasher plus the eco on the dishwasher dries the dishes at the end and the door pops open itself! Great stuff

I have a smart thing on mine that I can set where it measures the energy used and it uses much less on the eco cycle compared to the equivalent cottons cycle (which I would think of as the default). My quick wash uses less energy but it is also only designed for up to 2kg. Turbo sounds like it's powerful enough to be a full wash but in a short time frame which probably means it will use more water/energy.

Longer means that it can use less water by using periods of soaking. Heating the water is the most energy intensive thing your washing machine does. So the less water it uses, the less energy it uses.

You can also reduce energy use by choosing a lower temperature but it's a good idea to run a 60 degree cycle fairly regularly so that soap scum and bacteria don't build up. I tend to wash towels, bedding and cleaning cloths on 60.

If your machine doesn't have a (mostly pointless) "smart" feature the energy use per cycle might be listed in a table in the manual.

I used to use eco wash, but the clothes came out smelling bad and some parts of the fabric hardly felt damp, so it clearly wasn't using enough water. I just use a regular wash now.