I realize not all of us cloth diaper purely for economical reasons, but I found this

[mommygraham]

Originally Posted by kannondicarpo Electricity in West Hawaii is INSANE. We pay about 40¢ per KWH which means I am so NOT breaking even with CDing (but for the fact that I am using most of the same diapers for #4 that I used for #1). I have no idea the cost of paper diapers but we are spending about $72/month just to wash diapers and I hang dry EVERYTHING. If I was drying those loads I'd be looking at adding an additional $36/month. ***I knew our energy was high but after looking at this I am wondering if I could get away with washing in cold (or even warm). Wonder if it's worth messing with my wash routine. Hmmmmmmmm...

YOWZA! I think if I lived there, I'd be pulling out the washboard and line drying (ALL my clothes!!) . Seriously though, that's awful!

[BirthdayMama]

We live in a townhome, and pay a flat fee for water usage, so washing dipes only costs us the electricity. DH calculated it out, and it costs us about $50/year. Considering the vast majority of my stash from DD1 is now in use on DD2, I know we are saving tons. That and my girls both have crazy sensitive skin, so I change them often and DD1 could never wear generic sposies at all without constant rashes, yeah. It's definitely a savings for us.

[Junipervt]

in the nonwinter months our gas bill is a little under $50 a month (goes up a bit in the winter b/c of gas heat) & our electric bill is always around $50 a month. we live in a 3 bdrm unit & I'm home w/ the kids all day.

we have a gas water heater & a gas dryer. maybe using gas is just cheaper? b/c I used the calculator & I don't think that much of our energy bill could just be washing diapers.

[kannondicarpo]

Originally Posted by mommygraham YOWZA! I think if I lived there, I'd be pulling out the washboard and line drying (ALL my clothes!!) . Seriously though, that's awful!

Yes, it's INSANE but we don't have a heating bill either!

I do hAng dry our clothes too. Seriously EVERYTHING.

[mommygraham]

Originally Posted by Junipervt in the nonwinter months our gas bill is a little under $50 a month (goes up a bit in the winter b/c of gas heat) & our electric bill is always around $50 a month. we live in a 3 bdrm unit & I'm home w/ the kids all day. we have a gas water heater & a gas dryer. maybe using gas is just cheaper? b/c I used the calculator & I don't think that much of our energy bill could just be washing diapers.

I think it is much cheaper. I called a good friend of mine when I discovered this website, and she said "That's crazy! We have gas and it hardly costs us a thing!". That, and she has an HE washer. Those together make cloth diapering a huge savings for her and her 6 kids.

Originally Posted by kannondicarpo Yes, it's INSANE but we don't have a heating bill either! I do hAng dry our clothes too. Seriously EVERYTHING.

Oh duh. Of course! Well then it all sorta compares in cost to what most other states pay I guess. I would totally make use of all the sunshine to hang dry all my clothes! Sounds fresh :-)

[qsefthuko]

Originally Posted by lalaith We used sposies part time and still easily spend $50 a month on them. People always say they can get sposies for $25 a month, and I have no idea how they do it!!! We'll do cloth from the beginning next time, too, as I easily spent $400 on sposies in the first couple of months, and that's plenty for a nb diaper rental... That being said, water is crazy expensive here (electricity not so much), so I use flats and do a hot rinse, hot wash. I managed to cut off the final rinse, and I'm thinking of trying to cut off the first one as well, and just do a hot wash.

I'm with you on this one. We spent $50 bucks a month on diapers with our first child but hey she has been out of diapers for the last 11 years. When I check out the cost of the diapers and wipes I would be getting if we used sposies at only 8 changes a day we would be spending at least $85 a month on diapers. That is assuming only 8 changes. Despite our son being 17 months old we have been known to go through up to 12 diapers a day. Another $15 a month would go for wipes. Although I can clean a poopy bottom with only one cloth wipe it used to takef about 2-4 sposie wipes. When I tried the cheaper wipes I couldn't get the poop of in under 6 wipes. Sometimes I just gave up getting off sticky poop with those wipes and stuck my kiddo into the tub.

So even assuming my total washing estimate is really $25 this is $75 less than I estimate our sposies would cost us. Then since I do not need to go to Wal-mart monthly I would have to add in a twice monty trip just to get diapers. For us this would be an additional $4 for each trip upping our sposie costs to $108. per month.

[KLeeCW]

I am astounded at how high the cost of electricity is for some of you. We pay around $0.035/kwh ($0.053 in the winter) where I live. Our electricity bill for August before DD was born was $35.69. Since she was born mid September, I won't use that month for comparison. Our bill for October was $36.81, and that is full time cloth diapering with daily washing (pre-rinse, wash, cold rinse) and using the dryer for everything. We haven't gotten our water bill yet, so unsure how much that will be, but our water is pretty inexpensive too.

[AZmommy]

our electric bills are crazy high however diapering doesn't seem to make a bit of difference.. Fo example our daily average this past October was $6.46 (it was still in the 100s for much of the month) our average daily cost in October 2009 pre second baby and well after the diapering years of my first.. $6.72 a day (HA it actually lower now) same with our water bill its crazy high but I see almsot no movement with or without cloth.

[marisolstice]

Interesting site. I like this one better:

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/laundry.html

because you can customize all the variables. Also, I only wash when I have a very full load (usually at least 3 dozen diapers); can't imagine washing every day!

[mommygraham]

Originally Posted by KLeeCW I am astounded at how high the cost of electricity is for some of you. We pay around $0.035/kwh ($0.053 in the winter) where I live. Our electricity bill for August before DD was born was $35.69. Since she was born mid September, I won't use that month for comparison. Our bill for October was $36.81, and that is full time cloth diapering with daily washing (pre-rinse, wash, cold rinse) and using the dryer for everything. We haven't gotten our water bill yet, so unsure how much that will be, but our water is pretty inexpensive too.

Unreal. I'd love to pay that!

Originally Posted by marisolstice Interesting site. I like this one better: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/laundry.html because you can customize all the variables. Also, I only wash when I have a very full load (usually at least 3 dozen diapers); can't imagine washing every day!

That is a good one too!