Feeling the January squeeze?

We’re all feeling the January bite. The month is draaaaaaging to say the least, so I’m going to let you in on how to make the most of your money, and more specifically the energy you use.  There are lots of affordable washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers with features that cut down on the energy and water you use on washing. It’s an extremely clever way to make the pounds last longer and pennies go further.

Eco cycles lower the temperature of the water and slow down the wash action. The cycle does take longer, but it saves energy as the stains are slowly soaked out, meaning less power is used. It’s similar to driving your car at 30mph rather than 70mph; it might take you longer to get there but you’ll save tons of petrol. If your washing machine doesn’t have this function there are lots of affordable models which do, such as the Hotpoint HV6L105P which will save you 50% to 70% in energy usage.

Another top class function which saves you bags of energy and money is the fuzzy logic system, which weighs your load of washing and then measures exactly how much water is needed. You’ll never waste a drop of unnecessary water using the WM14P160GB. You could go all out and look into a Siemens model which has some of the most revolutionary sensor technology, such as the WM142797GB. Their machines not only measure the amount of water needed, but the detergent too! So you never use too much detergent making it last longer and of course saving you money.

You could also take a look at washing machines, dishwasher or tumble dryers which have a delay timer, so you can run them over night. This lets you take advantage of cheaper electricity rates at off-peak times. It’s a feature that comes on a lot of models but the AWOE9140 is particularly fab, it’s affordable and has an impressive 14 wash programmes!