Drying laundry indoors and excessive moisture

Arfa__

Just reading this BBC news item, about negative affects of drying laundry in the house. No massive surprise really. But I was wondering what tactics to people employ to get their laundry dry, now the weather gone too crap to stick it outside.

We have a old style drying rack hanging above stair well, which hoist up. This works well as it's high up, where all the heat has risen too.
Also have a couple of clothes horses which get stuck next to radiators or in conservatory.
My will also just drape clothes directly on the radiators, although I'm not keen on this as it prevents them heating the room and drying everything else.

To help, we have a dehumidifier that runs all day this time of year. Prior to getting this the bedrooms were getting terrible mould on the outside walls. I'm emptying a good 2-3ltrs every day or two from this!

We also have a washer/dryer, but the money saver in me is loath to use it except when desperate with a back log of wet washing.

Anyone else have any good tips?

sunshinetours

Is a dehumidifier operating all day cheaper than a spin in a dryer?

We have a utility room with an extractor fan and radiator where we try and put much of the washing otherwise some goes in conservatory and try and keep a window open.
We usually have multiple windows round the house open at all times of the year even if on locked open position

Nan_Dingle

Is a dehumidifier operating all day cheaper than a spin in a dryer?

I'd hope it has a humidstat to control when it runs, otherwise £££!

tanith

Open trickle vents on double glazed windows and open some windows everyday.. I'm still drying washing outside on nice blowy days...

SplanK

Dehumidifier - 24/7 (and yes it does have a humidistat!). We run this in the kitchen. We do not have space to install a dryer so have no other option (have considered a washer dryer but decided against it due to potential increased running costs/more parts to go wrong!).

I turn up the stat when there are clothes drying and "seal" the room as such by ensuring windows and the doors are closed. Once clothes are dry, I then turn the stat down to a sensible level. This keeps any heat in the room, and also allows the dehumidifier to do its job quicker.

Seems to work for us and not notice huge energy bills!

During summer, we try to dry outside as much as poss, or at least have outside doors/windows open. Where this is not possible, the dehumidifier continues to do its job.

Not had a single damp problem by doing this, not has it set of my asthma!

scottishblondie

I always use my dryer (no garden). I have an electricity monitoring thing and it really doesn't cost that much to run.

Valli

I do peg washing out as much as possible; I HATE having it hanging about in the house - and I have sheets on the line as I type; it's sunny here.
I do use the TD; my menopausal body, no longer capable of a straight through 8 hours, enables me to nip down stairs and plug in in overnight on E7; I also run the DW at night and the WM (and I DO have smoke alarms).

As it's bright and sunny here I have windows open, to air the house. I usually open my bedroom window every day for that reason.

We moved here 14 years ago. The surveyor was 'concerned' about condensation, previous occupants ran a dehumidifier; dried washing on the rads and had mould in the bathroom and round the back bedroom window (where it's shadier);

cyclonebri1

Still many good drying days at this time of year.

Otherwise vented tumble drier.

No point in creating damp air and then using a dehumidifier to remove it, that is simply crazy and expensive.

Valli

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Still many good drying days at this time of year.

Last winter we had some very cold days which were also very dry, IIRC. So I pegged out my washing - it froze BUT because the atmosphere was so dry it dried!

Arfa__

Yep, humidifier has a humidistat, think it defaults to 60, but I usually peg it up to 70. To be fair, the house gets pretty humid even without washing hanging up. Our bedroom always got worst mould on walls, so dehumidifier is usually in there. With no washing hanging up, doors closed, we often wake up with the thing reading ~85 humidity. Dunno what that says out the two of us in bed!

Lowering humidity is good in general, the more water in the air, the more energy you need to warm the air. i.e. a house with low humidity is easier to heat.

Not actually compared electric usage between dryer and dehumidifier. Definitely be interesting to compare though.

Yep conservatory has several windows open on the crack (and locked such). Washer/dryer is in kitchen, with no access to outside (now conservatory is in place). Don't have the luxury of a utility room etc.