Electricity and water rates vary widely across the country, and the costs of doing laundry shake out differently depending on where you live. In this post, we survey big cities all over the country to find out where a load of wash is the least (and most) expensive…and where investing in an efficient washer gets you the most bang for your buck!

Like many of you, I took some trips this summer – including ones that involved camping and other muddy outdoor activities. As usual, such excursions increased my appreciation of appliances: rinsing cookware in a cold, rocky stream and losing food to mold after just a few days reminded me how great my dishwasher and fridge really are! But as the sweaty shirts and muddy shorts accumulated, the appliance I enjoyed returning to most was the washing machine.

When you think about the severe drought that continues to affect more than half the country, the first things that come to mind are probably brown lawns and restrictions on your local water use. In the bigger picture, those thirsty cattle and failed corn or soybean crops they're showing on TV mean we’ll see higher food prices in the near future. But extreme heat and droughts also have big effects on energy and on power prices - electricity is related to weather in a major way, and in this case it's an expensive relationship...