Chris

If it works, run it until it doesn’t. No point replacing it for the sake of replacing it. A newer appliance will be more efficient but the savings accrue over years, not weeks or even months, of use. If you want to use your existing machine as efficiently as possible, de-scale it (if you live in even a moderately hard water area, and most people in the UK do), find out which is the most economical programme and use it whenever possible, and never do part loads.

As we’re about to get new stuff in our new house I’ve been doing some research and discovered that the price difference between the most efficient and the second most efficient machine, from the same manufacturer, is about the same as the difference in running costs over a decade. In other words, it’s never worth the extra outlay just to achieve energy savings. Don’t be taken in by the little A/B/C/D stickers they put on them. When the time comes, buy what you can afford to lay out on the day, and no more.