Getting Clothes dry in Winter

Rikand

Lyle Lanley wrote: »

My solution was to move to the Carribbean. .

Glad to see you got out of North Haverbrook relatively unscathed

lazeedaisy

We bought a condenser dryer over 4 years ago, really need to take it out of the box, it's still in the shed!

Nettle Soup

I always found Tumble dryers absolutely ruined clothes.

citytillidie

What about those heated clothes horse does anyone have one of those?

Dubh Geannain

From 2013 so needs adjustment for inflation

Almost everyone has appliance anxiety about using their tumble dryer. ''It costs a fortune" your dad would say when he caught you using it to dry your favourite jeans. This adage stays with you into your adult years and plays over and over in your head every time you dare to use it.

So was your dad right? How much does a tumble dryer actually cost to run?

Typically a Tumble dryer costs 50 cents to dry a 5kg average load of clothes. For the same 50 cent you can....

Cook your roast lamb in an electric oven for 3 hours
Boil two full kettles of water each day for 8 days
Watch TV for 4 hours per night for a week (modern large screen TV)
Use the hairdryer for 10 minutes a day for 2 months

Making a couple of assumptions, I guess our tumble dryer is costing us € 7 a week. So € 56 to our bi-montly phone bill probably at worst (14 loads per week).

Vodafone just today were looking for me to pay an extra € 60 every two months for their television package.


As a exercise you could measure the value of your spare time versus the cost of running the thing and perhaps include what you would expect to get paid for an hours work.
Its very subjective and depends on how efficient you are are at hanging out the clothes, taking them in and ironing them. But you'd do well to get all 14 loads done in an hour. If you did though and you're paid more than € 7 an hour then it comes down to a case of how much you value your spare time. I'd imagine 2 hours and therefore € 3.50 is more realistic.

I know the logic is a little simplistic because it doesn't account things like thinking green, clothes wear, enjoyment of ironing, cost of running the iron, extra calorie intake required due to more physical exertion, smell of clothes, religious beliefs etc.

Just food for thought and I certainly don't apply this logic all the time especially when it comes to the likes of DIY :rolleyes:


TL;DR
Been using a tumble dryer for over a decade in two different houses. Never lost a nights sleep over the electricity bills. I'm more paranoid about the central heating ironically.

SCOL

I was going to build a shed out the back something like a car port, just a roof no sides for drying.

gozunda

SCOL wrote: »

I was going to build a shed out the back something like a car port, just a roof no sides for drying.

^^^^ This. In Ireland it makes sense to have some form of covered washing line. Personally I wouldn't use a tumble dryer - largely based on energy consumption/ cost, fire risk and damage to clothes.

I may be showing my age - I remember these were in use when I was growing up. Basically an electrical heating unit housed in a metal cabinet which had wooden slats over which clothes were drapped

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/retro-flatley-clothes-dryer-1950s-542686686

Elmer Blooker

I'm old fashioned, I wait until theres "a good drying" day - in other words a good northwesterly or even better, a northerly. Even if there are showers they blow over very quickly. It won't get clothes completely dry as its winter and theres no strength in the sun but it will do most of the work. It makes the job of finishing them indoors a lot easier.
Warm sector Tm conditions .... don't even bother hanging out anything on the line! Tomorrow and Friday will be good drying days btw.

NicsM

citytillidie wrote: »

What about those heated clothes horse does anyone have one of those?

Yup, got one in Aldi a year or so ago as our place doesn't have a tumble dryer. It's decent for sheets and lighter clothes, while the bars do get really hot, it's not enough to thoroughly dry jeans and towels quickly.

Amazon have newer tall versions which come with covers and they're meant to be really good. We have night rate electricity so we tend to put ours on overnight and it does speed up drying so can't complain!

PixelTrawler

No tumble dryer here. Our wood burning stove in the living room has two fans. At night we just go to bed and leave the clothes on a clothes horse in front of it. Stuff is always bone dry in the morning.

We dont put any extra fuel in, you get warm air for a few hours as the steel box of the stove is hot plus the room temp easily reaches 27 to 30c with just a few logs. The air is super dry and warm. Even heavy jeans are dry.

Gonzo

just standard clothes horse in the living room and light the fire every evening, it get's the job done during autumn/winter and early spring.

Mr.Wemmick

citytillidie wrote: »

What about those heated clothes horse does anyone have one of those?

I have.. but the jury's still out, I'm afraid.

I have mine stationary in a corner of the conservatory which in Winter is a tad on the damp side so don't think the heated dryer works particularly well in a humid environment. I prefer the normal clothes dryer I have is better as I can move it about and put the clothes outside for a spell, if needs be.

A friend has her heated clothes dryer/horse in her laundry room, which has a dry and warm environment, so she swears by it and loves hers.

So, don't just take my word for it. My one is from Lakeland.

George Sunsnow

Fierce good drying out today!
Put clothes out 90 mins ago and they’re bone dry now!

waraf

Tazio wrote: »

+1 for the dehumidifier. Can get 2 load done in a day.

+2 for the dehumidifier. I find that tumble dryers tend to shrink my clothes over time.

Jellybaby1

This site also had a long list of posts on the same subject but the posters have photos of different systems available. Just thought I'd mention it.

http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=72789

joujoujou

Despite having a tumble dryer I'm all against it. Destroying clothes when used regularly is the main factor.

I use clothes line outside in most cases (love the smell of clothes dried that way), in case of rain use clothes horse placed near radiator, no more than one night to dry.

Ms jou has similar opinion, and I must admit we actually used tumble dryer alright. Twice, in last 10 years.

Mountainsandh

I have an awning and hang clothes under it, but I find I'm using the dryer or a clothes horse inside most of the time at this time of year.
Even with an awning, there are days when drying simply doesn't happen, when humidity is such that your clothes still feel very damp 2 days later.

So most of the time, if I feel ambient humidity is bad, I won't bother hanging outside.
I need a fast turnover with uniforms, don't normally have the time to hang outside to partially dry then finish in dryer.

I'm definitely going to look at dehumidifiers in light of comments on this thread as I am conscious of humidity in the house (it's an oldish house).

Meteorite58

We use a drying shed that I made about 6 years ago. Needs to be strong as not far from the Kerry coast so heavy gauge metal poles set into concrete. Get a lot of wind and rain here but can leave out clothes in all weathers up to about 80 km/h winds . Great for leaving the clothes out all night or if heading off for the day. It has 4 lines using pulleys and cleats . Could add a couple of more lines if we needed. We use the dryer just to air the clothes quickly. Not keen on hanging clothes indoors to dry as conscious of raising the humidity in the house causing damp and mildew. I was looking at the costs others had posted and would think that the shed paid for itself maybe after a couple of years ( plus it is great for the kids to play in when it is wet and for me to use electric saws and the like doing a bit of woodwork )

flazio

No one use the radiators around their house? We have a heated towel rack in the main bathroom and it's great for the socks

joujoujou

flazio wrote: »

No one use the radiators around their house? [...]

I do, on a daily basis. But it's so obvious thing (for me) that I didn't even think to mention.

highdef

I've only got rads upstairs but from a personal perspective, I find clothes on rads as rather unsightly so have never done this. Plus this is yet more time spent bringing clothes around the house and hanging them and then taking them off when done. Time is money and the few cent the drier takes to do the job, I'm saving money on time.

Having said that, I do hang dark coloured clothes on the line in the summer. Whites always go in the drier, no matter what time of year it is.....can't beat those super soft towels!

Mountainsandh

I use the rads too, especially for woolens and delicates that can't go in the dryer. Lately I've had to keep the stove going exactly for that purpose, to get particular things dry for the morning. The stove goes to the rads, but the children upstairs have been slowly cooking on those nights as they're earlier in the loop and heat really stays up there. I think they're nearly done

ballyharpat

I would not dry clothes in the house, unsightly, moisture/damp, the dhemicals from fabric softener etc, is terrible also.
I hang them on the line, I have one outside and one in the shed, when they are nearly dry, I put them in the drier, it softens the towels and also takes off any bits of hair or other fabric that may be on the whites etc.
I think e2 is an awful lot to spend to dry clothes, but I don't have any children.

lazeedaisy

Im sitting waiting for bed linen to dry, using one of those washer dryer facilities outside my nearest tesco. Summer duvets can go into storage, they won't fit into my washer.

Great facilities I if you can get them local.

wayoutwest

I use my greenhouse for propergating veg + indoor tomatoes ......so its' free from October to March for drying washing. Needs door fully open and also top window open for it to work, so I have to remember to shut them if there are any gales forcast. The combination of shelter, airflow and solar gain seem to work very well.
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