According to Statista, more than 80 percent of households in the United States own a washing machine.
Just to give you some perspective, that is more than 131.2 million households to date.
To not acknowledge the prominence of washing machines in households would be ignoring one of the largest parts of the household appliances industry.
With that being said, many of you have asked us whether or not a BLUETTI solar generator is capable of powering a washing machine.
In this article, we aim to break that question down and give you the answer.
How much energy does a washing machine use?
By now, you are likely aware of the fact that solar generators are capable of powering anything as long as the appliance in question uses electricity.
However, there are some things you will need to take into consideration. For example, the specifications of your solar generator.
But first, to figure out whether or not your BLUETTI solar generator is capable of powering a washing machine, we need to understand how much energy a washing machine actually uses.
The easiest way to determine how much energy a washing machine uses will be to first establish its power rating (in watts).
Most washing machines will have a nameplate on the back of it indicating its power draw in watts.
On average, washing machines use between 400 - 1400 watts of electricity. Now, of course, this number fluctuates and is largely dependent on the model of the washer you have.
To calculate the energy usage, all you have to do is multiply the total wattage by the amount of time you aim to use the washer.
Most washing machines utilize 1 hour to complete a wash cycle.
Therefore, a washing machine that draws 900 watts of power will use 900 watt hours (0.9 kWh) of energy.
Let's assume you use your washing machine 2 times per week. That would work out to 1800 Wh or 1.8 kWh a week.
There are 52 weeks in a year. This means you would use 93,600 Wh or 93.6 kWh a year running your washing machine.
In fact, let's make a table highlighting total energy usage for washing machines with varying amounts of power draw.
(Please note the above table comes courtesy of EnergySage)
Can a BLUETTI solar generator power a washing machine?
Yes, and no. This really all comes down to the model of solar generator you choose.
The two most important figures to pay attention to are power draw and total energy used per cycle.
BLUETTI solar generators come with different power ratings and energy capacities.
You will want to make sure that the solar generator you choose matches your washer at home.
For example, if your washer is rated at 900 watts, you will want to make sure your BLUETTI solar generator is rated a bit above that.
In this case, your best option would be the AC200P.
Next, you will also want to ensure that your chosen solar generator has an energy capacity that matches (or ideally exceeds) the amount of energy your washer will consume in one cycle.
Remember, a cycle lasts 1 hour. Therefore, 900 watts x 1 hour = 900 Wh.
Once again, the AC200P would be perfect for this scenario and, on a full charge, will allow for 2 washing cycles.
How many times can you use a BLUETTI solar generator to wash your clothes?
The AC200P (thanks to its LiFePO4 technology) has 3500+ life cycles. Meaning you could wash your clothes 7000+ times before you would need to replace your solar generator.
Remember, one full charge equals 2000 Wh. Your washing machine uses 900 Wh per cycle. Thus simply multiply your generator's total life cycles by two to get the total amount of usage times.
In other words, you would get over 9 years' worth of clothes washing from your solar generator if you used it purely to power your washing machine.
Final Thoughts
Remember, the most important thing is to size your solar generator correctly. As long as you do this, then there is no doubt your BLUETTI solar generator will be capable of powering any washing machine on the market.
If you are looking for the most usage times from one charge, we recommend taking a look at some of our higher-capacity generators, such as the EP500 Pro, the AC300, and the AC500.
The EP500 Pro, for example, has 5100 Wh of energy storage, meaning it could power a washing machine for 5 cycles before being depleted.
With that being said, the AC500 is capable of a maximum energy capacity of 36,864 Wh.
You do the maths on how many times you could wash your clothes on one full charge with this model of solar generator.
