Laundry Equipment Efficiency

By Alex Kane | Jul 14, 2010

Last time, I discussed the concept of “price versus cost” when choosing laundry equipment and how it’s important to research all aspects of potential equipment to determine what it costs in the long run. In this article, I’d like to dig deeper into what defines one important factor of laundry equipment: efficiency.

These days, there is a lot of “green” marketing, which speaks of conservation, eco-innovation, sustainability and efficiency. In other industries, many of the products and services that are marketed as “green products” can cost more and don’t quite work as well. Purely as a business owner, if the green revolution costs you more for a lower quality product, what’s the incentive to move toward a green initiative?

As a laundry owner, what does going green mean to you? More importantly, are there tangible benefits that you can obtain from the green revolution that don’t cost you more money, but instead make you more money? I’m happy to report that, in the laundry business, going green with more efficient products can definitely make you money.

The main reason a more efficient product can make a laundry owner more money boils down to one simple principle: A coin laundry business is, in large part, in the business of selling utilities. Customers come to your store and use your equipment, which in turn uses large amounts of water, natural gas, sewer and electricity. These combined utility costs are one of the largest expenses for a coin laundry owner.

Again, the coin laundry business is all about selling utilities, so it follows that one of the most basic and effective ways to cut costs would be to lower utility costs. The most basic way to do this is to choose equipment that is the most energy efficient in the industry.

Let’s start with the washers. The most obvious (and costly) utility used in a washing machine is water. If you still have toploading washing machines in your store, these are the most conspicuous water guzzlers. In fact, today’s frontloading washers can reduce water consumption by as much as 30 percent, compared to toploaders. However, even the newer frontloading, multi-load washers have a much lower water usage than their older counterparts. Great strides have been made in recent years to lower the water consumption of all washers, and this efficiency can directly transfer to bottom line savings for you, the laundry owner.

Of course, the next obvious utility-saving factor is sewer costs. Lower water usage in your equipment translates to less wastewater produced and less impact on the sewer system. In many cases, the sewer fees are calculated by measuring the direct water usage in a facility. Sewer costs and impact are factors that are increasingly important these days.

If the washer uses less water, it most likely will use less hot water. This is important because that hot water doesn’t heat itself; it costs money to make that water hot. So, when a washer uses less hot water, there is a lower associated charge (in the form of natural gas, in most cases) to heat that water.

In addition to all of the water-associated efficiencies that the modern washing machines have, there is a factor that saves on another important utility cost: electricity. Most modern washers have inverter-driven motor systems. These inverter motors allow motors to ramp up to speed, maximizing efficiency and lowering start-up amp draws. Not only does this save on electricity costs, but it maximizes the life of the motor and associated sheaves, belts, couplings and other system components.

The final utility-saving factor in the washing machine is the remaining moisture content (RMC) within the laundered items after the wash cycle is complete. Frontloading washers, especially soft-mount washers, spin at very high speeds and the resulting increased G-force forces extra moisture from the laundered items. The savings from this lowered RMC is realized as the clothing is dried (for a shorter period of time).

Let’s move on to the dryers and discuss this further. The utility-saving equation is much simpler for dryers. Nearly all of the utility usage in a clothes dryer is in the form of natural gas. The longer a dryer is burning gas (heating), the more gas that is consumed. A direct measure of the gas used by a dryer as it is operating is called the BTU rating. Simply put, the higher the BTU rating, the more gas that dryer uses.

When we remove the clothes from the washer that has spun them out with a very high G-force to reduce moisture content, it takes less time (and BTU energy) to get the clothes to the same level of dryness.

There are those who argue that less time in the dryer means less income for the dryers. However, I disagree. Everything is relative in this world, including drying time. I would suggest you raise your dryer vend prices to achieve the same income you’d receive for a longer dry time. The key is that your customers will spend less time in your coin laundry – and they will appreciate this fact.

With soft-mount washers paired with efficient dryers, you can market your self-service laundry as a “Quick Wash and Dry” store, a marketing advantage that would surely appeal to your customers in today’s fast-paced world.

The most important point about dryer efficiency is that the BTU rating of the dryer relates directly to its gas usage. There are some dryers on the market that are built to be very efficient in their gas usage and the conservation of heat within the dryer. These dryers are built with better insulation, improved air circulation and more efficient ignition systems.

So, when evaluating a dryer, always look carefully at the BTU rating. A dryer that can dry items in the same time as an older dryer with a lower BTU rating is worth its weight in gold.

Washers and dryers have come a long way in the last several years in terms of efficiency. The good news for you, as a coin laundry owner, is that you can directly translate these energy savings to money in your pocket. With the energy efficiencies built into the latest and greatest equipment, you owe it to yourself to examine the savings that this more efficient equipment can provide. With careful planning and smart vend price analysis/adjustment, newer equipment can pay for itself.