On a scale of 1 to 10, how hot's the water in your clothes washer?

The Bite
Go for 1 - 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%-90% 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.

Want a bigger bite?

Jen from Renewable Choice says:  I switched to washing everything I own in only cold water years ago.  I had heard that using hot or warm cycles used a lot more energy and could possibly be harsher on your clothes.  In the spirit of saving energy and my favorite duds, I switched to only cold wash cycles, even for my delicates and hand-wash onlys. I was amazed at how much better my clothes came out looking- colors stayed brighter longer, fabrics did not fall apart as fast, and I actually did see a difference on my energy bill.  I also switched to the cold cycle on my dishwasher and quit using the dry cycle (just open the door and let mother nature take over- duh).  For me, there is nothing better than helping the planet with quick simple steps that also save me time, energy and cash!

Jen Biederman is a Customer Service and Communications Specialist for Renewable Choice Energy.