Line Dry Clothes  

Posted by: Julie


I have begun hanging my clothes outside to line (or in my case, fence) dry.
It has been so sunny and hot I couldn't help but think of how much energy
I was waisting drying the clothes in the dryer.

I found a formula that helps you figure out how much it costs to run your dryer per hour:


An electric dryer uses approx. 4000 watts per hour. Therefore it uses 4 kilowatt hours multiplied by your local rate of electricity per KWH (kilowatt hour)


use this formula to determine how much your dryer cost to operate:

Volts x Watts x $per kilowatt hr.

Ex. If your dryer is 240 volt and it is rated at 20 amps then it will use 4800 watts per hr or 4.8 kilowatts per hr. And if you pay .10 per kilowatt hr then the cost will be $0.48 per hr.
You can find the Amps and Voltage on the back of the dryer


If I did my math right, based on my normal usage of my dryer, I could save a little over
$200 per year by line drying instead of using the dryer.


What do you think about line drying your clothes? Do you already? Would you consider doing it?

For more Frugal Friday, visit Biblical Womanhood.

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4 comments

I have a clothesline, and I even blogged about it recently! I've wanted one for years, but I didn't push the issue because my husband does so much else around here. But our electricity bill is through the roof, so one day I said, "you want to save some money? Hang me a clothesline!" I had one within two days. It's just a short one, but plenty enough to hold a load of laundry. I love hanging clothes! It's so much fun, and the smell is awesome. I still working on getting things like towels and jeans to not be so stiff--vinegar in the rinse cycle seems to help.
If you visit my blog, you'll see the cute clothespin bag an on-line friend (Debbie of Homemaking Dreams)made for me.

I grew up line-drying. It was a pain sometimes, but it does save money. I don't have a clothesline outside here yet, but I do line dry inside when I can using an extra shower curtin rod over the tub. I wrote a post about it a while back on my blog. I think it's worth the extra effort to do it because you can kind of make it like a little workout, too. Lifting, strectching, bendng, etc.

I have a clothesline and use it all the time weather permitting. We live in MN. It saves a lot.

My family recently completed a huge out of state move. When we went to set up our dryer in our new home, we found out that the electric plug is not connected correctly.... By the grace of God we have a wonderful large HOT walk up attic. We've strung up four lines and now have plenty of drying space, with no need to watch for rain!

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