Is it Best to Wash my Clothes at 30 or 40 Degrees? Which Releases Less Carbon?
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30 or 40 Degrees? Have your say!
I received an email from one of my readers last week asking for advice on laundry. I have posted the email below, in the hope that we can find him the answer.
Here is what Paddy wants to know:
Hello Eco Bloke
Thanks for helping to raise awareness of how we can all help.
I was wondering about something. Is it best to wash my clothes at 30 or 40 degrees?
You see, when I use 30 degrees, the washing machine takes in the cold water and uses electricity to warm it up.
But when I use 40 degrees, the washing machine takes in water from both the cold tap and the hot tap. The hot water was heated with gas, not electricity. I understand that heating water with gas is more efficient than with electricity.
So…
Do I release more CO2 using 30 degrees (using electricity only) or 40 degrees (using both electricity and gas)? I just don’t know!
Paddy Landau, Oxford
So, should we be washing on 30 or 40? Your advice would be very much appreciated. Please post below.
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I’m not much cop on this kind of thing but my husband’s an engineer in this sort of field and I asked his opinion, and after a long argument and histrionic debate he says that it’s a bit of a ‘how long is a piece of string’ type answer. It depends on the rating of the appliance and of the boiler, the ecological impact of either could offset the other if the ratio is out of kilter. It depends how efficient each method of heating the water is, so if you have an energy rated washing machine at level A, then it’d probably be best to use that if the boiler is not as highly rated, however if the boiler is more efficient then it’s better to go for a forty degree wash, if you see what I mean. Apparently. I guess that if both devices are equally as good, then the more ecologically friendly method of heating water at all would be gas, overall, so go for the forty degree wash.
Thanks for the reply, Rachel. That’s a good reply; the rating is important.
I have an A-rated washing machine, and my boiler is meant to be one of the most efficient available, so I guess I’m going to have to… uh… well, I suppose 40 as you suggest!
Thanks for the reply Rach
The email is quite interesting and so is the response from you. surely baked my noodle.
If your electricity is on a green energy tariff would the 30 degree option be better? Or am I being conned by these green energy tariffs?
Good stuff I will have to check what these are in Fahrenheit!