Save Energy (and Money): Do Your Laundry with Cold Water
IdealBite tip: Hot water isn't any more effective than cold water.
Jan. 13, 2009— -- On a scale of one to 10, how hot's the water in your clothes washer?
The Bite
Go for one -- cold -- to conserve energy and cash. Except in cases of gross-out dirtiness, cold's as effective as hot, keeping your clothes (and you) looking fierce.
The Benefits
Attractive energy savings. Around 80 percent to 90 percent of the energy typically used by a washer goes to heating the water.
More cash for sexy outfits. The average household saves $61 per year by forgoing hot for cold.
Desirable CO2 cuts. In a year, each household that washes with only cold water keeps 1,281 pounds of CO2 from entering the air.
Hotter colors with cold. Washing in cold water keeps your clothes looking newer, longer than hot water washing.
Personally Speaking
We were skeptical when we first researched this tip, but testing it on our own duds proved the point: Unless clothes are really grimy (like I-worked-in-the-garden-all-day dirty), cold water works just as well.
Ideal Bite offers bite-size ways to live a greener life. Click here to subscribe to its daily e-mail. Learn a new tip every day, delivered straight to your inbox. IdealBite and ABC News are divisions of the Walt Disney Co.
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