INC NEWS - washing machines

[Judy Kincaid]

On New Year's Day, our washing machine died. It was nine years old. Today (January 3) I went to Sears to look at new washing machines.  I’m writing because I want to encourage everyone with a 10-year-old washer to run over to Sears by Saturday and take advantage of big savings on energy and water efficient washing machines.  There is a sale that gives a 10% rebate for one machine, 15% for two machines, and 20% for 3 or more machines.  So get together with your neighbors and buy new washers that are CHEAPER OVER THEIR LIFETIME AND WILL SAVE ENERGY, WATER, AND MONEY EVERY YEAR.  (And I have no connection whatsoever with Sears, by the way.)

Here is what I discovered.  The cheapest top-loading machine is $299.99, or $320.99 with tax.  It uses 582 kwh of electricity per year.  (Natural gas will be a little cheaper.  I don't have the figures on natural gas use, however.) At $0.085 per kwh, the energy cost is $49.47 per year.  It also uses about 14,481 gallons of water per year.  In Durham, the water and sewer rate is $4.23 per ccf, and one ccf is 748.05 gallons.  So the water cost per year is $81.89.  Total operating cost is $131.36 per year.  The total cost of the machine plus operation over ten years is $1,634.55.

A comparable front-loading Energy Star washer uses 170 kwh of electricity per year and 5,408 gallons of water.  The total operating cost is $45.03 per year.  The machine is a lot more expensive:  $799.99, or $855.99 with tax.  BUT, when you add the total cost of the machine and operation over ten years, it is $1,306.30, significantly less than the cheaper machine.  And this is BEFORE the rebate of 10% to 20%, depending upon how many you buy.

This is just one example of how you can make the moral choice for using fewer natural resources and reducing global warming and at the same time save yourself money.  The rebate ends Saturday, January 7, but you can see from my figures that the savings are significant even without the rebate. 


Judy Kincaid
Principal
Sage Collaboration
6 Harvey Place
Durham NC 27705
Phone 919-724-1219
Email jkincaid at earthlink.net