Latest helpfulness...
Wave off
We’ve taken a break from testing how much electricity washing machines use to answer a question about microwaves.
Sandra Storr asked us to look at the one-time ovens of the future, as she’d heard that they used as much power on standby as they did during cooking.
Through the mangle
Just before Christmas we hooked up our washer-drier to the power meter we’ve been using to test how much power typical home and office appliances use, and measured the electricity it consumed in a 60-degree wash.
Greenwashing?
With visiting relatives in need of clean bedclothes, table cloths picking up stains from wine, cranberries and chocolate, and tea towels mopping up more than their usual share of dishwater, Christmas is a pretty busy time for the average family washing machine.
Cold comfort
The fridge is the latest household gadget to fall under the spotlight of our power meter, and the results are curdling.
A new kind of low-energy cycle
Energy-efficient domestic appliances may be part of achieving good carbon karma, but it seems they’re just not good enough for some people. Viewers of the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage might have spotted Colin Murray availing himself of this bike-powered washer, which looked to do a fairly good cleaning job on the fabled Somerset mud.
