Saving money, one penny at a time!
We have an electric clothes dryer, but I’ve been wanting to put up a clothesline. The upfront cost of a clothesline will probably run around $15 (Free husband labor is nice, isn’t it!), and I bought a foldable drying rack for $10 to set on the dryer.
How much will I save by drying the clothes outside? Is it worth the effort? How long before I hit break-even on the clothesline purchase?
First, I need to find out how much it costs to dry a load of clothes.
According to the Web, a dryer uses 3.3 kW per 45 minute load, which is 4.4 kWh (kilowatts per hour).
My dryer takes 60-70 minutes to dry an extra large load (and the loads are all extra large around here!)
I currently pay 16.5 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour), but for the next 6 months I’ll be paying 11.5 cents per kWh (look on your electric bill for this info.)
So, a 1 hour load this winter cost me $ .73 per load. (4.4 x $.165) (Holy Cow! I thought it was closer to a quarter. I don’t know why, I probably read it somewhere!)
This summer, it will cost $ . 51 per load. (4.4 x $ .115)
Figure out how much it costs YOU to run your dryer! If a dryer uses 4.4 kWh, it uses .073 kWh per minute.
Multiply .073 x (minutes per load) x (cost of your electricity) = cost per load.
These figures don’t take into account the heat created by the dryer/additional house cooling costs.
I do 10-12 loads of laundry per week, so by eliminating the dryer I’ll save at least $5.10 a week this summer; it will take about 5 weeks to recoup the cost of $25. However, in Houston, you can pretty much line dry year round so, by Father’s Day, the true savings will be realized and never stop!
Although I will probably be doing more laundry after the new baby arrives, and I haven’t taken that into account. Why do newborns generate twice as many soiled clothes and linens than people twice their size?
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I want a clothesline!! I had one when I lived in the country. I am jealous. I know that is a sin, but what can I say?
When the humidity is low I line dry when it is high I don’t. It seems to make our clothes smell so bad if it is humid. Like a musty smell.
And I agree babies make lots of laundry. Especially now that we are cloth diapering. But I wash the diapers with towels, cleaning cloths (only use homemade cleaners) and whites.
oh laundry….
Right now we are doing ours at a laundromat. I had no idea that it was so expensive to use a laundromat! We are spending around $20 a week. And the dryers are my huge pet peeve. We too have a baby (he is 4 and half months) and we cloth diaper. It costs $1.25 to dry my load of diapers and then about a quarter of them still are not dry so I bring them home and hang them around the house to dry (still cheaper to do cloth than disposable). So… on hubby’s project list is to make a clothes line. Sadly, it is a few down on the list. Lots to do right after moving
Millie,
Often laundromats turn the heat down on the dryers to get a few more rounds out customers.
When our dryer was on the fritz and I couldn’t have a clothesline, I hung most of the clothes on hangers, then hung them throughout the house (shower curtain rod, doorjambs, curtain rods.) You can fit a lot more in a little space that way!
I’ve often wondered how much these machines cost to run. Looks like I need a clothes line. When driving I’ll sit through multiple lights to avoid a toll road, but then I’ll do multiple loads in my dryer. We sure are a mixed up world:)
Happy New Baby!
After electric bills began soaring, I made up my mind to dry our laundry outside. Our little neighbor pulled our line down, so I hang ours on the deck railing. Sure, some pieces blow down, but by then they’re usually dry. Coupled with using fans instead of A/C, our electric bill went down by over half! Today, I had clothes on the deck, went on errands and the rain began pouring. Will leave clothes out, rewash and try again tomorrow!
It is definitely more time-consuming.
Hi, just found your site when Googling “food stamp challenge.” Thanks for the helpful links! With respect to line drying, what do you know about line drying in Houston and folks with allergies? It seems like someone said to avoid line drying to help with allergies?
I have heard that highly allergic folks do better using an indoor dryer, because pollen can be trapped in the fabric when dried outside. I think it really depends on what you are allergic to, and what your symptoms are. (i.e., if you allergy is to shellfish, line drying probably won’t bother you.) If you have seasonal allergies, definitely take that into consideration! BTW – you CAN line dry inside. I did in a previous home that didn’t have anywhere in the yard for a clothesline, when my dryer broke. I hung clothes on hangers, then hung in the bathroom (you can run the vent fan if moisture becomes a problem).
A little white vinegar in your wash cycle will make a great substitute for the expensive (and chemical laden) liquid blue fabric softener.
“According to the Web, a dryer uses 3.3 kW per 45 minute load, which is 4.4 kWh (kilowatts per hour).”
No, you are completely misquoting me. I didn’t say a *dryer* uses 3.3 kiloWATTS, I said a *load* uses 3.3 kilowatt-HOURS. That is, I already provided the kWh figure up front (3.3 kWh). You don’t multiply by anything to get the kWh figure, since the kWh is what I already reported.
Also, kWh is “kilowatt-hours”, NOT “kilowatts per hour”. There is no such thing as “kilowatts per hour”. That’s like saying pounds per hour, or acres per hour.
I added the multiplier because my dryer takes longer than 45 minutes. If a load in the dryer takes 3.3 kwh for 45 minutes, I figured it took 4.4 kwh for a 60 minute load (33% more time, 33% more kwh)
You can find some quick stats on different machines and water/energy consumption on the MLA website.
Yes, you can certainly adjust for your dryer taking more time, but this statement is just not really correct:
“According to the Web, a dryer uses 3.3 kW per 45 minute load, which is 4.4 kWh (kilowatts per hour).”
The problems are:
(1) Dryers don’t use kW per load (or per minute), they use kWh per load (or per minute).
(2) There is no such thing as “kilowatts per hour”.
If you want to account for your dryer using more time, then you’d say,
“According to the Web, a dryer uses 3.3 kWh per 45 minute load, which would be 4.4 kWh for a one-hour load.”
I explain the difference between kilowatts (kW) and kilowatt-hours (kWh) on this page: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity
Also, I updated my dryer calculator so that it now allows you to choose how much time it takes for your dryer to run (and it gives the results in dollars and cents, not kWh, since electrical terms are confusing and since what everyone wants to know is just how much it’s costing them anyway). See http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/dryers.html
However, what is probably more useful is my new deluxe laundry calculator, which figures the complete cost of laundry — water, electricity to run the washer, energy to heat the water, detergent, and energy to run the dryer. See that here: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/laundry.html
I know about the MLA, and in fact I cited them as a source.
Finally, I want to thank you for going dryerless and for sharing that news with your readers. It’s one of the easiest steps most people can take to slash energy use.