Which of your household appliance is the most expensive to operate; the air conditioner, oven, dishwasher? Taking into account all of the associated costs it just might be your clothes dryer.
Starting with the heating element, in most dryers it’s electric and electricity is the most expensive way to generate heat. Depending on your usage energy costs for a typical dryer will range from $75 to $150 per year, but that’s just the beginning.
When it’s running, your dryer is pumping inside air outside. In winter this means that the air that your furnace just heated is being forced outside to be replaced by cold air that you pay to heat again. A typical dryer will replace all of the air in a 2,000 square foot home every three hours.
Consider the lint trap. Lint in this case is the appliance manufacturer’s euphemism for the fibers that used to be part of your clothing. Steadily, inexorably, your dryer is dismantling your favorite shirt, blouse and pants, not to mention your unmentionables, socks and jeans. Ever wonder why holes appear in places that don’t get repetitive wear? It’s because dryers don’t discriminate against knees and elbows. They wear out clothing evenly and reliably. Clothes that aren’t exposed to a dryer often end up being donated to charity long before they show wear.
We tend to forget that clothing dries very efficiently on its own particularly in our dry climate, it just takes a little longer. Remember clothes lines? Today drying racks serve the same function? These simple, environmentally-friendly devices have no motors, plugs or wearing parts. You open one up, drape your damp clothes over the rungs and go do something else.
Instead of heating air to 120 degrees and blowing it over your tumbling clothing you let the ambient heat in your home do the work. In winter this adds humidity to your environment and the energy comes from your central heat, most likely economical (compared to electricity) natural gas. If you happen to live in a condo or apartment where the heat is part of the rent or fees, the drying energy is free. In summer you will actually be cooling your home while drying your clothes.
You can get a basic rack for $10 or the classier chrome model for about $30. Three or four of these can do a week’s worth of wash and will last a lifetime. For pants and skirts there are hangers that grip the waistbands. For shirts and jackets try the wide plastic hanger covers that eliminate the shoulder dimples that narrow hangers can cause.
Save your dryer for the things that make sense, like sheets and towels. For everything else, do a warm-up in the dryer for a few minutes before hanging and your clothing will dry wrinkle-free. The extra time you spend arranging things on a rack is returned to you when they are dry and in the perfect shape for folding. As a bonus almost nothing needs ironing, yet another energy-consuming, clothes-destroying appliance.
And finally, as it runs for three or four hours every week the dryer is wearing itself out which, with installation, means close to a $1,000 investment every few years. All things considered your dryer may be the most expensive appliance in your house. Reducing its usage is doubly green; money-saving and environmentally friendly.
Andy Youtz lives in Denver. EDITOR’S NOTE: This online-only guest commentary has not been edited. Guest commentary submissions of up to 650 words may be sent to openforum@denverpost.com.
