Elec. bill horror! Washing & drying nappies the culprit

[DisasterZone]

We switched to washables last December for DD who is only now in night nappies as I couldn't stand throwing away any more disposables, especially now they are just full of wee.

However just having received our energy bill for the quarter I am horrified! Our electricity usage has doubled from the usual, at an additional cost of £135!! Now I'd expect our gas to fluctuate through the year for the central heating, and yes I suppose we do have the lights on more in Jan-Mar but not double. There is nothing else that changes seasonally that I can blame it on, so it must be laundering the nappies.

My dilemma is that as we only expected to use them for 6-12 months at night I didn't want to buy lots of nappies so I have 4-5 nappies and booster. I wash after 3 days or they smell too much (drypailed). I was getting such an ammonia whiff that I took advice of MN and do a cold pre-rinse on a 1/2 load setting. I then wash at 60 deg and often I don't have anything else to throw in as we don't have many whites or things that need washing hot. My machine hardly uses any water so I don't do the economy thing for the wash as I want them to wash properly. I have probably tumble-dried once a fortnight as we have such hard water in London they end up so hard if I don't and now and then I have just been too disorganised to wait for them to dry without.

But I am so shocked at the cost in terms of the energy (and carbon inevitably) that I'm questioning this strategy. Maybe it's all the drier, being a washer drier I'm sure it's horribly inefficient (and I do use those dryer balls). Has anyone else been shocked at the true cost of washing nappies?

Just out of curiosity, have you checked the actual amounts used compared to last year, or just the price? I know my fuel bills have increased an awful lot, and I compared my usage and it was just about identical.

I don't doubt the washing and drying will have increased your use a bit, but I wouldn't have expected that alone to have doubled your use tbh.

I was going to suggest the same as Zoe.

I really didn't notice a differrence when we swapped, and I swapped when DD was about 5 months? So, we use alot more than you. DH noticed a big increase in our bill the end of last year, and when he looked at the consumptions, there really was very little difference. It was the cost per unit that had gone up... we were also shocked!

I always wash my nappies on 40 and often tumble dry them (we don't often have space to dry them on an airer) and tbh I haven't noticed an increase in my bills . We have a separate washer and drier.

I must be really unobservant cos I don't think ours have changed much even though the prices have gone up

Yes, I did tediously look through the consumption of not only last quarter but the same quarter last year - big rocket of usage, not double but higher and added to a price increase.

Will try the washing at 40 which will mean that I can combine with more of our regular wash.

No, I only tumble a few items at a time as the thing i s so hopeless it would never dry a load. I think the machine itself is the culprit and perhaps I should remember that as we inherited it for free from friends I didn't have the expense of buying it, and it's also had a second life. It sucks though!

Last point, if you combine tumble drying and line drying, is it best to tumble for a bit first or at the end?

tumbling first means that it doesn't wear your nappies out as much, i found it still softens them. I also use tumble dryer balls £10 from lakeland (and other places) and they make your tumble drier more efficient as does adding a dry towel with the wet load.

Also washing them with soap nuts (as well as powder if wish) def makes them softer too. I'm in Thames Valley so I've been there with the rock hard nappies.

when we lived in Herts t was tempting to tumble nappies fully to keep them soft, but really not practical. I had a washer/dryer and couldn't let it be taken up with drying all the time when I needed to put the next load of washing on!

I find that a tumble at low heat for no more than 10/15 mins is enough to fluff them up and them I can either line dry them or hnag them on a clothes horse. But not on a radiator - they will crisp up big time.

You might be surprised how much an older appliance is sucking you dry too. We had an elderly chest freezer that we inherited from the previous owners and when we switched to an A rated new freezer, our leccy bills went through the floor!! It was gutting how much we'd just poured down the drain because it was old and knackered!

I'm in Scotland now so have soft water, but have opted for fluffles for baby no3 (microfibre) so they won't need tumbling at all.

Agree with others though that fuel bills generally are going up and up at an alarming rate.

i know with towels that if i line dry them till dry, then tumble for just 10 mins or so (esp with dryer balls) they go soft as though theyve been tumbled all the way.

Thanks all, helpful as usual.