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Piwoslaw · 05-22-12, 12:27 PM

I've been collecting data since my son was born and did some calculations today:

When washing the reusable cloth diapers (cotton@60°C program) the new washing machine uses about 40 liters of water and 829 Wh of electricity (averaged over 19 loads, between 757 and 913 Wh per load),
Each load is 20-24 diapers, plus some of the kid's clothes,
This gives about 2 liters and 40 Wh per diaper. This is rounded up, not counting any other clothes into the average, so I won't count the miniscule amount of electricity used for ironing.
Factoring in the cost of electricity, water and sewage this amounts to a cost of 0.05 PLN (0.015 USD/0.011 EUR) per use per diaper.
The up front cost of each diaper is 30-40 times more, but it is used once every two days, and will be for at least a year, so this hardly raises the total cost.
Disposable diapers cost between 0.70 PLN (0.21 USD/0.16 EUR) for the normal types and 1.20 PLN (0.35 USD/ 0.27 EUR) for ecos. Our son would have to use the ecos since he got a terrible rash from the Huggies we got from the hospital. The eco-disposables were fine, but normal cloth diapers are the best

Summing up: Using cloth diapers is not only at least 12-20 times cheaper than disposables, but also much healthier

05-22-12, 12:27 PM	#19
Piwoslaw Super Moderator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 961 Thanks: 188 Thanked 110 Times in 86 Posts	I've been collecting data since my son was born and did some calculations today: When washing the reusable cloth diapers (cotton@60°C program) the new washing machine uses about 40 liters of water and 829 Wh of electricity (averaged over 19 loads, between 757 and 913 Wh per load), Each load is 20-24 diapers, plus some of the kid's clothes, This gives about 2 liters and 40 Wh per diaper. This is rounded up, not counting any other clothes into the average, so I won't count the miniscule amount of electricity used for ironing. Factoring in the cost of electricity, water and sewage this amounts to a cost of 0.05 PLN (0.015 USD/0.011 EUR) per use per diaper. The up front cost of each diaper is 30-40 times more, but it is used once every two days, and will be for at least a year, so this hardly raises the total cost. Disposable diapers cost between 0.70 PLN (0.21 USD/0.16 EUR) for the normal types and 1.20 PLN (0.35 USD/ 0.27 EUR) for ecos. Our son would have to use the ecos since he got a terrible rash from the Huggies we got from the hospital. The eco-disposables were fine, but normal cloth diapers are the best Summing up: Using cloth diapers is not only at least 12-20 times cheaper than disposables, but also much healthier __________________ Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.