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Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry ( Forum Locked)
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Topic: savings from not using dryer?

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insegnante
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 12:19pm \| IP Logged

Just moving this over from the good stewardship thread in case more people who might have an answer might see it

Could anyone give me a rough idea of how much money is saved monthly not using a clothes dryer? I'm sure it varies by how many clothes you have to dry, where you live, etc., but just a rough idea! We've been thinking about it, but since it would probably involve some kind of monetary investment however small and I'm not sure how quickly it would pay for itself, and would certainly involve a change in routine, it just hasn't been a top priority. I should probably care about this for environmental reasons too, but I admit that saving $ would be most motivating right now, especially since it seems like we might spend the rest of my third trimester with the central air conditioning set to 73.

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ctrivette
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 12:59pm \| IP Logged

My dryers energy guide shows average use at around 950 kWh per year. I probably do at least as much laundry as average, although I don't know how much that really is. I have read that the dryer costs about 44cents per hour to run if your kwh cost is 9cents (but I don't know exactly how to determine that). Ours is much more, so I would say that it is almost a dollar saved for every hour that the dryer is not running. A dollar an hour is not a great wage ;) but since I am going to be outside anyway, and a penny saved is a penny earned, I think it makes financial sense here. So, the closeline was paid for with about 75 loads of laundry...that didn't take long :) There is also a thing that you can plug into the outlet and then plug in the appliance that will tell you just how much electricity is used over a given time. And then figure the cost from that.

Jess
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 2:57pm \| IP Logged

I have heard that it costs about $1 everytime you dry a load, can't remember where I heard that though. My stinky old dryer has to run 1 and a half times sometimes to get the load dry so I'm sure it is not economical, but as I said on the other thread, clothes hung out where we live smell bad. So I guess we have to weigh the cost against being stinky

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SusanMc
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 5:00pm \| IP Logged

I just started using a clothesline this past month. I was all excited that I'd be saving beaucoup money since my youngest is still in cloth diapers. About halfway through the billing period I realized that we have a GAS dryer though. Doh!

All the same we saw a moderate savings and I'm sure it will pay for itself in time. All in all it cost us about $45.

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Posted: June 13 2008 at 5:09pm \| IP Logged

I line dry two loads per day on average- inside or out, year round.
But, since I have been doing this (line drying) since we got married, I don;t have anything to compare it to savings wise.
one hint is to wash/line dry your darks inside out to prevent any bleaching by the sun.
we've had the same brabentina dryer from Lowes for 6 years now, and it is still in great shape!!

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Paula in MN
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 6:37pm \| IP Logged

In the summer our electric bill drops almost $30 each month that I use the clothesline instead of the dryer.

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juststartn
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 8:12pm \| IP Logged

I am having a hard time determining that myself, but I figure anything is better then nothing. Esp given the fact that we already have the a/c off, but we were having to use heat lamps and a large box fan for the chicks in the chick room...so that added to our cost. But we'll see how this month goes. We've line dried everything but the loads I had to do on rainy days, and we had to have the fan on due to a chick we had to quarantine (now deceased). We do use the ceiling fans, but we turn them off when we aren't in the rooms. I'm hoping to see a dip in the bill, though. Last month it was just a touch over $200 (we used the a/c for over a week).

Rachel

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Michaela
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 11:10pm \| IP Logged

There are a few variables in the total cost (or savings to be had) such as your dryer's efficiency, what your electric co charges, and if they include any demand charges. Some companies charge more if use your electricity during certain times of the day or if more than one major appliance is running (demanding electricity) at the same time.

However, you should be able to get a rough idea of the cost to run your dryer.

Take your dryer wattage and multiply it by the amount of time you use it on an average day. The dryer wattage, which is located on the inside of your dryer, is the MOST it will ever use, but the dryer may use less.

The dryer that was in this house when we moved in was inefficient. I'd have to turn it on three times (60-90 minutes each time) to get a load dry. The new dryer takes one 60 minute cycle at the most (heavy loads like jeans or towels).

My mother told me that the electric company in my town has a reputation for being "cheap" compared to the one she has. After implementing the changes I mentioned in the other thread, this month's bill was $112 compared to about $250 a month since we moved in last October.

So, I'm unable to compare last month's usage to the same time as last year.

I didn't like spending more money to buy the drying racks, but our bill this month is less. However, it includes all of cost cutting measures I've taken in the last month.

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Posted: June 14 2008 at 12:01am \| IP Logged

When we moved provinces and had to buy new appliances as we were moving out of clergy housing we decided to skip getting the dryer- I figured if it wasn't there then I wouldn't use it!

It works out great but I find it is so so cold and dry here in the winter it is easier to dry everything in the winter than in the summer and spring (as the basement is damp then and we have to be creative with the drying spaces if we aren't hanging it outside in the rain!)

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insegnante
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 12:17am \| IP Logged

Thanks for the info. We got a pretty cheap washer and dryer but five years later we haven't had any problems. (My husband wonders if anyone whose wash is taking a very long time to dry in a machine needs to check the dryer hose and vent for lint or blockage.)

I guess there are some modern conveniences upon which I'm quite psychologically dependent. The idea of not having a dryer at all is scary to me! I guess all I'd have to do would be organize to make sure there were always some "emergency clothes" that weren't wet in addition to whatever we were wearing at the time. I have a really small wardrobe though. I was thinking of hanging a lot of wash if we get a clothesline but still probably using the dryer on a pretty regular basis -- kind of like how I'm thinking my second try at cloth diapering will probably go.

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Michaela
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 12:31am \| IP Logged

insegnante wrote:

I guess there are some modern conveniences upon which I'm quite psychologically dependent. The idea of not having a dryer at all is scary to me!

Me, too! That's why it isn't all or nothing for me. When I can or when I want to I will, but I never planned to give up my dryer completely, at least not yet.

Small steps add up, too!

I'm very impressed with Lisa who wrote she has been hanging clothes since she got married.

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Willa
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 11:04am \| IP Logged

Our dryer broke and it took us a year to replace it.

I rarely, rarely missed it. And I'm no housework-diva. It really wasn't that difficult to hang things up.

When my washer breaks I panic, though

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JodieLyn
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 11:51am \| IP Logged

you'd be surprised how easy it is to manage without a dryer when you don't have one.. when you have one there's a definate awareness that you can fall back on it and may be less on top of things because of that.

But I do a mix anyway.. I like being able to choose that my towels are dried in the dryer (cause I like how they feel better) but can dry denim skirts or such on the line that come out truly nicer (no hem rolling) on the line.

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insegnante
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 2:25pm \| IP Logged

Maybe I'm assuming things take longer than they do to dry. We have a few things that are supposed to be hung or lain flat to dry, like certain sweaters that if not washed till late Saturday evening and then set up to dry in a room overnight wouldn't wouldn't necessarily be fully dry in time for me to wear them to the 10:15 a.m. Mass. Sometimes I see the laundry of the people next door hanging outside while it rains and think about how they're going to have to start all over again. Obviously people can function without dryers though.

OT, but for some reason this discussion is making me want to go finally find the cloth diapers we didn't end up using very much after buying them for our second child and start getting them ready for the new baby...

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Theresa
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JodieLyn
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 2:29pm \| IP Logged

it will depend on a lot of things (wind, humidity, etc).. but yeah.. clothes often dry on the line faster than inside.. air movement and all that..

But also, when you know ahead of time that you don't have the option of the dryer.. you're washing Sunday's clothes no later than Friday

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Red Cardigan
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 6:40pm \| IP Logged

Hi! I thought this website was really interesting!

According to the little calculator widget, if I run the clothes dryer for an average of 2 hrs/day in TX the cost per year is about $444/year, or $37/month--which further breaks down to about $1.20 a day. If I go up to 3 hrs/day, the cost becomes about $1.81 a day ($672/yr, $56/month).

So, in order for me to want to haul a significant amount of laundry outdoors I'd have to consider my time a good exchange for that $1.20 or $1.81 a day!

I do "drip dry" a lot of clothing items just because they last longer that way or aren't supposed to be put in the dryer, but when it comes to things like towels, sheets, and unmentionables I'd still rather pop them in the dryer and be done with them!

Some reductions in dryer usage may be worth it, esp. in the warmer months when things dry pretty fast inside (let alone outside) but I'm not ready to give mine up completely.

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Philothea
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Posted: June 14 2008 at 6:51pm \| IP Logged

In our area, I'd be concerned about musty mildew smells, with the humidity being what it is. Spring and fall are one thing, but summer? Tell me, Virginia gals, wouldn't that be asking for odors?

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Posted: June 16 2008 at 7:24am \| IP Logged

ok, I've been contemplating having my dh work on an outside line for us. I do have a silly question...we have a lot of birds - which we attract and feed for nature study - do any of you have problems with birds pooping on your clean clothes??

I'm also thinking of getting an indoor thingy to just hang a few things on. Can you find those at walmart or somewhere similar? I'm in a very small town and that is about all we have around here.

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insegnante
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Posted: June 16 2008 at 1:00pm \| IP Logged

Philothea wrote:

In our area, I'd be concerned about musty mildew smells, with the humidity being what it is. Spring and fall are one thing, but summer? Tell me, Virginia gals, wouldn't that be asking for odors?

That never occurred to me as a risk, but I can see it being one unless someone who knows more about the biology of it can explain why it's not. Mildewy smells are definitely not something we need to be dealing with any more than we already are

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insegnante
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Posted: June 16 2008 at 1:07pm \| IP Logged

Red Cardigan wrote:

Hi! I thought this website was really interesting!

So, in order for me to want to haul a significant amount of laundry outdoors I'd have to consider my time a good exchange for that $1.20 or $1.81 a day!

--snip--

I do "drip dry" a lot of clothing items just because they last longer that way or aren't supposed to be put in the dryer, but when it comes to things like towels, sheets, and unmentionables I'd still rather pop them in the dryer and be done with them!

Some reductions in dryer usage may be worth it, esp. in the warmer months when things dry pretty fast inside (let alone outside) but I'm not ready to give mine up completely.

We could use even small savings -- ours might be more like $13 a month, though I did a lot of guesswork at that link -- but it would probably be a pretty big change in routine to adjust to right now. And we have a new baby coming in two months. We might just choose "easiest way to deal with cloth diapers which will make me most likely to persevere at using them and save money and landfill space on disposables" over imagined perfect ideal way to save money and tread lightly on the earth.

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