Save energy in Drying 
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If you're currently using a tumble dryer, there are some huge gains awaiting you. Why? Because Mr. Tumble Dryer is the gas-guzzler of the house…
Yes, that innocent looking white box could easily double your electricity consumption on the days you use it. And if you are powered by conventional electricity, this means you are putting out heaps of CO2.
Looking at it from the other way though, and all this represents a huge opportunity for finding other, environmentally kinder ways of drying the clothes… So if there’s only one thing you get from ZapCarbon, read on!
How it works:
What the tumble dryer does is two-fold: First it uses an electrical heater to warm up the damp clothes to encourage the water to evaporate more easily.
Then it removes the water vapour, pumping it out through the tube in the back of the machine along with a load of hot air.
Unfortunately evaporating water (aka Drying) takes loads of energy. Typically the energy used in a tumble dryer can be considerably more than the energy taken to wash the clothes in the first place. So what can we do...?
POSITIVE STEPS:
Spinning:
Whatever way you dry the clothes, giving them an extra spin (if they’re ok to be spun – check the label) gets more water out of them with very little extra energy use, and really speeds up the subsequent drying. If you're tumble drying, the energy used to spin out the excess water is much less (around ten time less!) than trying to evaporate it off electrically in the tumble dryer.
Clothes line:
Whilst the tumble dryer may be the most energy thirsty machine in the house, it’s great to know that someone has invented a device to dry clothes powered by 100% renewable energy.
Even better, this solar and wind powered device is currently on sale at bargain prices. Yes, the magnificent Clothes Line – a masterpiece of fossil fuel saving, drying your laundry by sun in summer and wind in winter.
The wonderful thing about the clothes line is that each time you use, you can feel truly great in the knowledge that you will be making some of the deepest savings possible in the home.
Each time you will be replacing a highly energy intensive and costly drying process with one that is powered by free natural power-requiring just a little help from your own nimble fingers.
Look out on a happy line full of washing and the planet really will thank you - and your pocket will be pretty pleased too!
There’s also a real freshness to line-dried laundry that is lost in our tumble-dried world, and all that flapping in the breeze shakes out creases meaning less ironing (a double-whammy in energy saving!).
Overall then, at ZapCarbon we love the clothes line. It’s powered by renewables that are available in your back yard year round, and if you buy one today you will be recouping your investment before you can say “condensing tumble dryer” !
Clothes line Tips
- Orientate your line so that it catches the most sun ... if you peg it East-West, the clothes will catch the most sun
- If you prefer not to have the line up all the time, you can get retractable ones that coil back into their case when not in use.
- Peg things out so that they billow like sails - my dear mum was a fanatic for this – making sure the breeze can blow through, then both sides can dry at once.
- Plan your laundry on the weather forecast - Apart from serious rain, the only days that are no good for drying are foggy ones and ones when the temperature’s below about 5’C. No matter what the temperature, a breeze will always be good news for drying.
Try this for the best UK weather forecast we know of. Enter your postcode to see how the weather is changing near you every 3 hours. Ideal for planning when to do the sheets...
>> Click for your detailed Weather Forecast
And finally, the Bonus tip...
During the summer steal a lead by checking the forecast for the night before - If it's looking good enough, do the washing and peg it out before bed. Then drift off to sleep knowing that it's drying naturally & for free all night long... Zzzz