Jump Start to Green - Dry Back to Back
Posted on October 8, 2007 by
We all know that hanging clothes on a clothesline saves incredible amounts of energy, but does that mean we all hang our clothes out to dry all the time? No.
Rain, freezing temperatures, overly damp conditions, or unenlightened homeowners association codes can get in the way of hanging your clothes out to dry. If you have to use your clothes dryer, use it wisely.
Jump Start to Green says doing back to back loads of laundry saves energy. The heating elements in your dryer don’t have to heat up from cold for each load. Jump Start to Green says this can save up to $15 a year in energy costs. Not a lot of money, but every little bit counts, right? I’d rather spend that $15 on some great green moisturizer or a nice organic meal. And when you pair this energy savings with the savings from changing your lightbulbs, using draft stoppers, making the most of passive solar energy, and all the other simple changes you can make around your house, it adds up fast.
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I never use the dryer to dry my clothes. I’m 5′10″. The only thing harder than buying clothes when you are short (you can get them tailored) is buying clothes when you are tall. If I put my clothes in the dryer chances are I’ll be showing an inch of skin that wasn’t there before. My family has had a clothesline since before I was born, but when it’s too wet/cold to hang stuff outside, I throw them on a drying rack. No energy required.
During inclement weather I use drying racks. One gets put in the tub, another in front of the toilet, and two in the bedroom. For sweatshirts and the like I hang them on hangers then on the shower curtain rod.
Since most of my laundry’s done at the laundromat, I try and use a dryer that’s adjacent to another one being used. I always figure that some amount of heat is being transferred through.
I never thought about that, but it’s a good idea. Fortunately, my new energy-efficient dryer is pretty big, so I can usually fit ALL my wash loads in at the same time. Which makes me want to make out with my dryer.
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