Not Heating the Human but Drying The Clothes ?

eliza2811

Hi all,

I live in a old house (100+ years).  It has high ceilings, not very well insulated, etc.  Its a rental and we've been here more than 20 yrs.   As such, we're a fairly hardy bunch when it comes to the winter.   For example, myself and hubby use a quilt in winter that most people use in the summer/spring months. We have blankets, onesies, over-size hoodies, etc.  I go to other people's houses in winter and find them way too hot !!!  I'm also peri-menopausal lol and suffering hot flushes !!

 What worries me about the energy prices is drying clothes/bedding/towels in winter.  I line dry whenever possible, but its just not possible in winter due to the coldness/rain.   I have a condensor tumble dryer.  I know this drives the electric bill up a lot. I don't like hanging wet washing around the old house.   It causes dampness.  The gas central heating has to be on to create warm air to dry the washing if its hanging on the radiators anyway.   I have a rubbish heated clothes rack. 

Just wondered how other folks will dry their clothes cheaply this winter or just submit to the tumble dryer when absolutely essential.

Thanks all xx

QrizB

I've got a washer dryer, which is a condenser dryer when drying. A load of drying takes less than 2kWh, which is expected to be about £1 from October.

It's cheaper (uses less electricity) to dry laundry in the house while running a dehumidifier to deal with the dampness (this is what we did before getting a washer dryer) but is best done in a spare room with the door closed.

Dehumidifiers sadly aren't cheap but perhaps you can borrow one of buy a used example?

luvchocolate

The heated clothes airers sound ok. 
Try lakeland or Aldi sometimes have them 

doesntnotcompute

I've never had any problems line drying so long as it's above freezing and there's a bit of wind blowing, everything feels like it's a bit damp while it's still on the line but it's just the cold I think, it's fine once I bring it in.

Swipe

I have two washing lines rigged up in the greenhouse and use a dehumidifier to air them off.

TheGardener

I'm another fan of line drying even in the winter. After looking out of the window  - I work on the theory that if the heating isnt on then a load of wet washing won't get any drier inside and is unlikely to get any wetter outside so I gamble on it staying dry - most times I win the bet even if I have to put it in the tumble dryer for 10 mins to finish it off. 
My sister swears by a clothes horse in the spare room and a dehumidifier. 

JohnPo

The best investment I made this year was replacing my old Hotpoint vented dryer which was on its last legs with a Beko Heat pump dryer (which magazine recommended). From an energy use it's about a a third of cost of the old one.  I also use the delay start function as since April have been on a time of use tariff (Octopus GO) so washer and dryer are set to go on at 12.30am. 

Net effect of changing tariff with an EV, shifting usage and vigorously looking to switch unnecessary things off is my monthly electricity bill is about 25% higher than this time last year, when I had super cheap deal with Symbio, usage has dropped however by approximately 15%, less than hoped but now also heating hot water via immersion heater at night as cheaper than gas.

xeny

I've got a lakeland drier in the spare room with a large fan pointed at it and an open window on the other side. I don't generally turn the heating function of the drier on. In the depths of winter I accept that room is going to be chilly, but it dries clothes reasonably quickly.

PennyForThem_2

I concur with the 3 posts saying they line dry in winter.  Never had a problem unless pouring - when usually leave wet wash neatly folded until next day.  As long as air movement even if there is a drizzle it will mostly dry and then can finish off either on clothes horse or quick 5-10 mins in tumble drier.

Soot2006

I also line dry all year round. Never had a problem. Sometimes you get the timing wrong and -ahem- leave the clothes outside for a few days to get wet, dry off while I'm at work, get wet again by the time I'm home. In fact, I stupidly forgot to bring in my clothes yesterday in the glorious sunshine and now have awoken to a massive thunderstorm ... so they'll stay out until they're dry again.  It removes the need to iron anything too.

BTW, a good hard night frost on white sheets is like starching them!

Alnat1

I use my heat pump tumble dryer to dry my clothes. They don't need ironing. Line/rack dried clothes do need ironing.

Somebody did the maths on another thread. The energy used by a heat pump dryer (and I also use dryer balls which I've time tested and they cut drying time by 25%) is less than you would use to iron them.