RickD: We recently moved into a 1 bedroom apartment in Wellington with an Indesit brand combo washer/dryer.
We used the washing machine probably 7 times in a month and the dryer 3 times for sheets and towels, which took 2+ hrs to dry, and our power bill for the first month was $170. That seemed high for a small apartment in summer and I blamed the dryer.
What would you expect an average power bill for 2 people in a 1 bedroom apartment to be? We have the usual appliances and no air con.
The washing machine only has a cold water hose going into it, so if we select a warm wash (you can select 30, 40, 50, 60 degs etc), is the washing machine heating the water itself or just doing a cold wash? You can't open the machine to check once it has started a cycle.
Plug this into the socket with the washing machine plugged into it. It will record your power use and even calculate the cost if you enter your electricity price. It's good value for under $25:
http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=MS6115&CATID=&keywords=power+meter&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=
I used to avoid using dryers at any time of the year. Clothes that had not completely dried outside on the clothes lines would be aired inside to finish them off. We'd have the windows open to reduce the humidity inside. What I found is that it cost more to heat the house inside the more moisture we had inside. So I started using the drier (outside venting is essentail) to dry them off. I'd use the low heat and the lowest dryness settings to minimise power use. Our power bill dropped and the house felt warmer even without heating.
Trusted
