About 80 to 85% of the energy used for washing clothes is for heating the water. There are two ways to reduce the amount of energy used for washing clothes – use less water and use cooler water. Your clothes will be just as clean as using warm, or hot water and you’ll save money by not heating water to wash clothes. Costs are 26¢ per load using hot water and 11¢ per load using warm water.
Use natural gas for cooking, water heating and drying clothes. Natural gas can save up to 30% more in costs than using electric for these appliances and is better for the environment. GRU has natural gas rebates available.
Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120°F. For each 10°F reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3% – 5% in energy costs.
