Which will save more money?

[SophieSellerman]

I have an AEG 10kg washing machine (bought a few months ago). The manual is incomprehensible and the website can't answer this very straightforward question.

Which will save more money?

1. Eco setting - 4 hours(ish), has only one temperature option (40 degrees)

2. Ordinary cotton wash - reduced time to 55 mins, temperature chosen by me at 30 degrees

I'm not worried about the relative environmental merits/non-merits; I'm only interested in cutting my energy bills as much as possible. Any advice, oh MN gurus?

If the manual doesn't state it, then I don't think anyone can answer that unless they have the same model and have measured the electricity usage for each cycle with the same load.

I recently watched a video online, where the person said that the 3-hour long Eco cycle was more energy efficient than a 1-hour 30-degrees mixed wash.
However, after checking my own washing machine stats, this doesn't seem to match up for my particular washing machine, so seems to differ from brand to brand or model to model.

Do you not have a Smart Meter that you could run a test with?

I just stick everything in on a quick cool wash. If something is grubby, I soak it with washing soda first. I occasionally run a hot wash but not very often

I also re-wear clothes a lot and avoid wearing clothes that show dirt

I think I read somewhere that the eco systems are always the worst for energy consumption.
Happy to be corrected.

Sometimes, when an eco says it is efficient, it means it is efficient in water consumption, not energy consumption.

Again, happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

The longer economic washes are generally a lot less energy intensive, the clothes have a long soak then have a little jiggle about to clean them rather than a fast vigorous jiggle, hence less energy used.

Environmental merit and energy efficiency go hand in hand so whether you care about it or not you'll be helping protect the environment by using less energy

Does you manual give an indication of kwh used? This is key.

Thanks, all.

I had a smart meter installed a couple of days ago, and I hadn't thought to use it as a 'test'. That's an excellent idea, andymary.

Obviously it would be good to be more environmentally friendly, so I didn't mean I don't care about that aspect at all - I just meant at the moment that my entire focus is on shaving as much as possible off the utility bills. I'd wondered if the eco washes just used less water (which isn't metered for me).

I will report back after my smart meter experiment in case it's any use to anyone else!

BTW, I have lost the manual...

On the eco setting the water heats up slowly while the clothes soak, then the clothes sit soaking and the machine will occasionally turn to help knock the dirt out. It uses less energy this way but the wash takes longer.

On a normal setting the water heats up immediately and the machine turns the washing a lot meaning the wash is done quicker but uses a lot more energy.

I just got a new washing machine and this is how the manual explains it but in more technical terms.

If you go onto your manufacturers website you should be able to download the pdf version of your machines manual.

Yes please!

It is washing now, on the 40 degree Eco setting. I've made a note of today's electricity cost up to the point when I switched the washing machine on (£2.35, fact fiends). So we will see what it says tomorrow, and I can then repeat the experiment. It won't be entirely scientific as the DC keep doing unreasonable things like using hairdryers, but it should give a good enough idea.

My life is very exciting, as you can tell.

Skye, Thanks for the explanation. I will look online for the manual too!

I do about 9 loads a week on a 30 minute wash and have really low fuel bills.

Following, just for the exciting update tomorrow 😆

Number 2.

Yes results please OP! I have this exact issue with my Bosch machine - eco wash is 40 only - which seems nuts! Let us know how you got on….!

Our machine, which I can only imagine was very cheap as the previous occupants left it behind and I have seen the same model sitting on the step at the British Heart Foundation, has an eco 20 setting. We use it loads. I reckon if stuff is going to dry in the sun and wind that will take care of any lingering unpleasantness anyway.

Well... I've been out all day, but have been itching to tell you the results of my sad-real-life experiment.

It turns out that the Eco wash (40 degrees, 3 hrs 55 mins) uses 8p per hour of electricity. So each Eco wash costs 32p.

The ordinary cotton wash at 30 degrees with reduced time (reduced to 55 mins) costs 3p per hour. So each wash costs 3p, which makes it the clear winner.

I have @andymary to thank profusely for suggesting I look at the smart meter, which I was too dense to think of!

I'm now going to become obsessed with the smart meter

Thanks for the update, that’s very interesting. I wonder if it’s similar with the dishwasher.

I will try it out and report!

Are you sure you've got your figures right, it can't be as cheap as 3p to do a wash. It costs about that to boil a kettle

How exactly did you work it out

Well, @IcedOatLatte, it would be entirely possible for me to be doing something dense.

Now you mention it, I might have got a bit ahead of myself, because I've just looked at the meter again and its calculation is "per kwh", not "per hour". I am not sure what a kilowatt hour is compared to an hour of time, but that might have skewed things. Would I now need to find out how many kilowatts each cycle uses, to work it out again?

But ... if a programme is using X kwh while it heats water, it won't be using the same amount for the whole four hours.

I know. I think I've been delivering fake news. Physics was never my strong point. I've just been Googling kilowatt hours, and it's completely incomprehensible. Though finding an AEG manual online is no easier.

This is the machine, for those who are invested: www.johnlewis.com/aeg-7000-l7fec146r-freestanding-washing-machine-10kg-load-1400rpm-spin-white/p3144901?sku=236784160&&s_ppc=1dx39700065439140845&tmad=c&tmcampid=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0sew3sa_-QIVWeDtCh0ijQimEAAYBCAAEgIwkvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Page 37 of the manual for AEG 10kg machine costs the eco programme at 0.86kwh.

20 degree cotton wash will use half that. 60 degrees more than double the eco programme. So, your 30 degree cotton wash will probably come in at about the same or a bit less. It will use more water than the eco programme, but that won't cost you more if your water isn't metered.

Ah, different model:

Eco = .9kwh
Cottons 20 deg = 0.35 kwh
Cottons 60 deg = 1.7kwh