Washing machines use electricity for heating water, spinning clothes, and agitating detergent. The amount of energy used by a washing machine depends on several factors, including its size, type, load, and settings.
This article will help you know how to calculate washing machine power consumption.
Before we move on to the calculation, let us understand what is rated power.
What is the Rated Power of a Washing Machine?
The amount of Power used by the washing machine at full load when the rated voltage i.e. 230 VAC (in India) is applied at rated frequency i.e., 50 Hz.
The washing machine has the following components that consume power –
- Drum motor
- Drain pump
- Heater for heating the inlet water (hot water mix)
- Valves
- Display panel (LCD or other types)
The rated power is the maximum power consumed when all the above components of washing machines run simultaneously. This condition rarely happens.
How to Calculate Washing Machine Power Consumption?
 Now let us calculate the power consumption.
There are a few methods to calculate or measure the power consumption of a washing machine. I am going to explain to you practical as well as theoretical methods.
Let’s get started.
Method #1:
This method is a theoretical one. You can manually calculate the power consumption of a washing machine.
Find the rated power of the washing machine. There could be a silver or white label pasted on the back or side of the washing machine.
If you cannot find a label on a washing machine, you can check the technical specification mentioned on the washing machine’s manufacturer’s website.
Another option like the one I did is you can type down the model number of your machine and download the user manual from the website. In the user manual also, the rated power is mentioned.
Let us move further with the calculation.
To calculate the power consumption of a washing machine we have a formula,
kWh = Power consumed X Hours
The power consumed would always be in kWh (unit of energy) as we are charged by DISCOMS in kWh.
Example:
In the above example, the maximum power of an 8 Kg capacity washing machine has a rated power of 2100 Watts.
The value is in watts. We have to convert to Kilowatts.
1 kW = 1000 Watts
So,
2100 Watts = 2.1 kW
Substitute the values in the above formula.
kWh = 2.1 X 1 (hour)
kWh = 2.1 kWh
The above 8 Kg washing machine can consume a maximum of 2.1 kWh and not more than that.
However, as mentioned earlier in this article, not all the components of the washing machine run simultaneously and operate for 1 hour.
The actual power consumption would be lesser than this. The actual power consumption also depends on the temperature you set for hot mix operation. Additionally, if you are using an inverter technology washing machine the power consumption would be still lesser.
To know actual power consumption, we need to move on to method number 2.
Method #2:
To know the actual power, you have to buy an Energy Meter.
No, you need to do any kind of wiring. These energy meters are plug-and-play types.
Take a look –
We are using this Meco EM-09 energy meter for home energy auditing. This EM-09 is a bit costly.
So, you can also go with Meco Energy Meter PG08T or HTC Instrument PM-01. Both can handle a maximum of 10 Amperes which is sufficient to know the consumption of household appliances.
You have to plug the energy meter into the main socket. And then plug the appliance power cord into the energy meter.
Example:
I have taken a reading of my 8 Kg front load washing machine having inverter technology. For better clarity, I have taken a reading of two different temperature settings.
When the temperature setting is at ‘cold’ –
Power Consumption of Washing machine at Cold temperature setting is just 0.038 kWh.
When the temperature setting is at 40-degree Celsius the power consumption of the washing machine is 0.087 kWh.
Summarizing
I strongly recommend using an inverter technology washing machine. The power consumption of washing machines having inverter technology is very less.
A non-inverter technology washing machine may show you different power consumption but not more than its rated power.
Comment me in the section below, what is the power consumption of your washing machine.
