How much energy does a clothes dryer use?

I'm looking at switching from my dryer to using a drying rack/clothes line, and I'm wondering how much energy would I save? Even if I have the energy efficient dryer?

No such thing as an energy efficient dryer.

the solar clothes dryer we use is very efficient, takes no electricity, and if it does not rain they stay dry, if you forget to get them in.

ours is similar to this one,
http://whatthehay.wordpress.com/category/house-stuf/

http://energyboomer.typepad.com/energyboomer/2007/06/drying-clothes-.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_4473881_build-solar-clothes-dryer.html

In my opinion I suggest two posts on the ends, or a good heavy one as some times with the "T" design one will have some sage as the T twists,

I would dig down at lest 24" for the posts, not the 12" suggested in the third link,
I used a dead man anchor to instead of the brace on the inside like on the first link,

1800-5000W. In short - they use a lot!

Just to add my two kopecks: Years ago when the world was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth, my then-wife and I used a clothes line to save money. We were in Kansas at the time -- home of the brown recluse spider. My ex-wife was/is phobic about spiders, and the thought of having to deal with brown recluse spiders would send her into a tizzy. Which is why, when she found some common gray spiders in the sheets after bringing the laundry in, that was almost the end of our enviro-friendly experiment.

What we wound up doing was to bring the laundry in, then throw everything in the drier for 10-15 minutes (depending on the humidity). That would kill and toss out any and all creepy-crawlies that had decided to latch onto our clothes, while still keeping that fresh-air smell.

I have been working on a design which beats those nice outdoor solar models.

Sure, those are super-efficient and dry clothes quickly. But my dryer, under certain circumstances, will not only dry your clothes, but also air condition your house. If you live in hot & dry, hang the clothes indoors - evaporative cooling will cool the house and add just the tiniest bit of humidity, which can feel good in the desert. 3 functions in one!

yukkuri_kame wrote:
I have been working on a design which beats those nice outdoor solar models.

Sure, those are super-efficient and dry clothes quickly. But my dryer, under certain circumstances, will not only dry your clothes, but also air condition your house. If you live in hot & dry, hang the clothes indoors - evaporative cooling will cool the house and add just the tiniest bit of humidity, which can feel good in the desert. 3 functions in one!

Great idea

I'll remember that on dry/hot days though we don't have too many up here...mostly muggy in the summer.

I'de imagine you could save quite a lot not using a dryer, unfourtunately we have a neighbor who feeds the pigeons and they in turn leave "gifts" on anything I attempt to hang outside

I miss being able to do that.

We sold our dryer and got some good money for it.
They are among the MOST expensive and energy consuming appliances one can use.

They cost a lot in electricity.
If you notice they need a special plug with double the normal voltage (USA).

They greatly shorten the life of clothing because of the heat and agitation.

Fabric softeners are among the most toxic chemicals that enter a home.

Attached are two photos of what we use to dry clothes. One is a rack over the stairway.
The other is a walnut wood rack I made from the urban timber we cut on our sawmill.

Dryers use a tremenduous amount of energy. They also quite inefficiently heat up the house.

I got a new washer and dryer after getting this house many years ago, but always hang my clothes outside and never use the dryer. The 2 heavy duty metal (T) poles were originally where I wanted the garden, so I dug them out, smashed the 120 pounds of concrete on each pole (they'd overdone it), and moved them to the other side of the yard. If it's going to rain, then I wait till it's dry to wash clothes. I rinse my running togs in a shallow bowl in the shower before washing, and hang them on a 6 foot rod at the top. I had put one of these rods across the top of each shower/tub, and can use them for drying any other clothes but that's rare. Usually I use the clothesline outside. The purchase of the dryer was a waste, as I never use it.

The total cost for electricity this past month, the bill came today, was $5.93.

I would rather have solar, but haven't yet found it to be cost effective.

Campy,

Did you make the pulley thing?

Yes, I made the pulley thing and fastened it to the joists in the ceiling over the stairs.
These are common in some parts of Europe as that space over the stairs is large enough to dry sheets in.

The pulley parts came from a big box store.

we hang our clothes up

but still run the dryer with the gass off to get some off the lint off. Hot showers are great unless your "clean" towel covers you in dog hair and lint .

Campy in Nashville, Tennessee, USA wrote:

They cost a lot in electricity.
If you notice they need a special plug with double the normal voltage (USA).

The plug being a 220 plug does not affect the amount of electricity used.
1000 watts at 220 is the same as 1000 watts at 110, its still 1000 watts..they would use the same amount of power just a different voltage. Many countries use 220 for all residential wiring, and they are not using twice as much electricity just because they have a funny looking plug.

I like to hang out clothing (outside) whenever possible. I still have an electric dryer. Sometimes I have to use it.

One of the the things I have to use it for is sheets I use for massage. It is considered not safe practice/good hygeine to hange them out in case someone were to have some sort of contageous skin condition so they are to be dried in a hot dryer.

other times I just use it to get the wrinkles out of shirts then hang them on a hanger. Another reason to HAVE to use it is if you had a mountain of laundry you Had to get done and it was raining outside.

I have set up a small indoor clothesline above my washer and dryer. It can dry the small stuff like hand towels, t-shirts, socks, underware. This also is nice as I don't have to worry about the neighbors seeing my undies out to dry in the warm months

I will to post a picture of my indoor dryer.