Hi all,
Further to the information supplied by Min, here are the local calculations from Consumer NZ, albeit 2017, for laundry use and give the break down between the front loader, which is the only one capable of warm or hot washes (.13c per load) and the two cold water only top loaders. (.04c per load) Even with any adjustment for power increases the large cold water machines in the laundry, (these models are only 165w as opposed to 500w mentioned in the first email) there seems a gap between $1 per load and inflation adjusted .13c or .04c per load.
However it is about more than the cost of power. To me it is much more about encouraging a shared use of resources. We chose to put only cold water into the laundry, so that the laundry facility was available without cost to anyone.
In the cohousing literature other than shared meals, one of the main places where the serendipitous, community glue conversations took place was at the laundry.
Liz mentioned that she had understood from our discussions - so relatively recently - that the laundry use would be at no cost. We talked at a group meeting about a cost for the donated drier use, which had not originally been part of the laundry plan, and we agreed to that charge. This new charge for washing machine use, has not been through due process, nor put in a context of what we are trying to achieve as a community. These are ongoing discussions we need to keep having over many issues, because we all no doubt have different ideas about how to achieve our aspirational sustainability goals.
Catherine
On 8/07/2021, at 11:07 PM, High Street Cohousing <ucoldunedin@gmail.com mailto:ucoldunedin@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all,
Toiora has been committed to providing washing facilities in the laundry - that has been my understanding from the start. Having a washing machine in an individual unit is a personal choice to opt out of that, but the laundry is part of the commons.
The sauna does not belong to Toiora. The washing machines do. (Even if currently they are gifted by individuals)
The drier is trickier, just because it uses inordinate amounts of power. (And clothes dry in 24 hours max in our units - and with Dunedin's low rainfall, getting half-dry outside is an option as often as not)
We will need to work on a replacement plan for common appliances - the commons development fund is probably the place for that if it's not considered maintenance.
I use the top loader washing machine, which is cold wash only on a 45 min normal cycle - on short wash it's less time. If 1.5 hours heating water costs 60- 80c, then half the time without any water heating must be about 25c?
Anne
On Thu, 8 Jul 2021, 10:31 pm Y Lee, <yblees685@gmail.com mailto:yblees685@gmail.com> wrote: Hello all For discussion at the next group meeting in 2 weeks (22nd July): Proposal to have a $1 charge per use for the shared Washing Machines in the laundry container, to pay for the electricity consumption.
The dryer has a charge of $1 for 30 minutes And the Sauna has a charge of $3 per use I feel it is fair that washing machine users pay their own electricity use.
The electricity rate for a load of washing is calculated like this: From Google, washing machines generally use around 1500 to 2000 watt on a warm water wash (although the new energy efficient ones can be as low as 500w on a cold water wash). For a wash time of around 1.5 hours, and at $0.27 per kWh, this comes to between $0.61 and $0.81. So it seems reasonable to have a charge of $1 per wash, which also makes it easy for me to calculate every month.
Note that the washing machine charge as proposed, is not intended to include any replacement cost of the machine, although extra cash collected above the amount needed for electricity consumption could certainly be put towards a fund for new machines.
Also please note that the Long Term Maintenance plan does not currently have any amount for replacing appliances. There is a sum of $2500 pa for maintenance and repair of the interior of the common house, including chattels, but this sum is primarily meant for plumbing, electrical and building repairs, and not meant for buying new equipment.
People can send me their thoughts on this before the next meeting. But I do not intend to conduct a discussion over email, so may reply only briefly to your message
Regards Min
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