Halcyon Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Anyone know how to figure this out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 (edited) How much do you pay per kilowatt hour? How many kilowatt hours on average does it take to dry a load in the dryer? Times that by 10. Times that answer by how much you pay per hour. So 4 hours to dry a load, times 10 loads is 40 hours times $5 per hour is $200. Yes, that is a rather crappy drying time. Edited July 26, 2012 by Parrothead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 well, you could go to radioshack and get a meter to monitor how much electricity the dryer uses and then do the math. Or you could turn all the other circuits in the house off except the one the dryer is on, unplug everything else, turn it on and watch your electric meter, if it's in a place you can reach it. But there may be costs you're not considering - for example, colors fade a lot faster if you dry them in the sun. This makes whites whiter and last longer, but colored clothes look faded very quickly. Replacing clothes faster could be an unpredictable expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 How much do you pay per kilowatt hour? How many kilowatt hours on average does it take to dry a load in the dryer? Times that by 10. Times that answer by how much you pay per hour. OMG. This is the kind of stuff I would have NEVER known. I learn something new every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 OMG. This is the kind of stuff I would have NEVER known. I learn something new every day! This is why the hive exists. :tongue_smilie: now i just have to figure out what we pay per kw/hour, and how much myndryer uses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I just did a quick google on this question and the first 2 websites I opened both estimated less than $.40/load. But this would totally vary based on your electricity costs and whether you have a gas or electric dryer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 IIRC I was reading last week or so that a load of laundry costs about 60c to dry assuming 10c per kwH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuzu822 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I line dry year round, in and out, and when I first started five years ago, we had a $30 drop in our electric bill that month. I've never done the math beyond that. I find the rhythn and ritual of hanging and folding laundry soothing, so I do it as much for that as the savings. :tongue_smilie: I've never noticed any fading from line drying outside. ETA: At the time I started, there were only three of us, and I did 8-10 loads per week including diapers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I've never figured it out but I just wanted to say that I turn my colored clothes inside out to dry. I don't have fading problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 To save yourself some time and sanity (unless you love pinning clothes outside) you could line the sheets/towels and large things like that, and dry the clothes inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I've heard an estimate of about 50 cents a load, and if it helps, we pay a bit over 8 cents per kilowatt hour. Of course, you have to consider the cost of the clothesline itself, which isn't probably too much, but it's there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2denj Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I started line drying at the beginning of the summer. I have saved about $40/month. There are 5 of us. 2 Adults, 2 Teens and a 6 yr old. I do ALOT of laundry!! =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemy9kids Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 We have stopped using our dryer completely this summer and save approximately $40 dollars a month. I'm sure we do at least 10 loads a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Is about 60p a load. Unfortunately, the weather has been dreadful this year up to the last two weeks, so I've used the dryer much too much. And now I work more and no one else in the house will mess with the line..... Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakersDozen Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 When we stopped using our dryer about 7 years (and quite a few family members) ago our monthly bill dropped by $25. I imagine we save a lot more than that now. ;) My dh bought a retractable clothesline for our bathroom, bedroom and garage/schoolroom so I can hang everything inside. I love this because it puts much needed humidity in our house and makes it smell so fresh and clean! The only things I use the dryer for are whites, towels and jeans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoLuRu Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Kill-A-Watt is the device you can use to monitor how much energy any electrical device uses. Some libraries have them for lending, but they can be found at Radio Shack, too. You can find the cost per kilowatt hour on your electric bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 When we first moved to the UK we had no dryer and no outdoor place to hang things. I have some great drying racks from IKEA. Even though I have I dryer now I still hang most things on my racks until almost dry. Pop them in the dryer and dry soft towels! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 We wear near exclusively cotton. I shake them good before hanging and my washer is HE so it gets out almost all the water, they aren't wrinkled. Now, if someone else hangs them ie dh, they might get wrinkled but knit doesn't stay that way long. I very rarely, iron(I have one skirt that I adore but is prone to wrinkling in the dryer or on the line). I hang dry pretty much all my clothes, I dried one in the dryer the other day and it was the first in months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Not sure of the answer for you, but when we lived in Louisiana I hand washed dishes and hung laundry and my electricity bill went down about $100. We were an all electric house with a well. We also had a front loading machine. For your question, the variables are numerous. Gas/electric, high humid area/low, price of gas/electric, towels/jeans verses sheets.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Glad I read this! I have been lazy about hanging laundry out to dry and figured the cost wasn't that much. After a $280 electric bill, I think you all just changed my mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I don't own a dryer, & would hate to know what owning would cost me in electricity. Having said that it would always save me between $30-$50 a month in the states Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I just wonder how people manage not to have super wrinkled clothes that way. I hate ironing! Shake them out well before hanging, and hang straight. I only wear cotton and I never iron. There are some things that I hang indoors in case of pigeons sitting on the line! Particularly nice or easily-stained clothes usually. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I line dry most things and when I started my electric bill dropped about $30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I haven't done the math, but our dryer broke months ago, and we just haven't bothered to fix it. Sadly, our bill didn't change - our rates went up at about the exact same time as the dryer dying! :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackson'smama Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 i tried to calculate the cost benefit a few years ago when we lived in a different house. it seemed to save nothing and I was seriously bummed! in our current home, i haven't run the numbers. i just assume i *must* be saving some money even if i'm burning time by hanging them. i will also add that i've found that by placing two dry towels in my dryer (and leaving them there permanently!) that my dryer time EASILY gets cut in half if not more (for when i do use the dryer) and there are no negative effects of drying with a towel that i have observed (many people would say certain clothing shouldn't be laundered/dried with something textured like a towel, but if i have a concern like that, i don't dry that item in the dryer anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy_of_4 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Our bill dropped $50 by just line drying clothes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punks in Ontario Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 IIRC I was reading last week or so that a load of laundry costs about 60c to dry assuming 10c per kwH. Aaacckk. Our costs are closer to 20c/KwH. On our bill, I have to average the total cost divided by the number of KwHs in order to get a true sense of the cost. Here in Ontario we pay for the actual hydro, transportation costs, a debt retirement fee :glare: and taxes. They are really trying to obsure the real costs. Besides the cost of the actual hydro, there's the depreciation on your dryer. To figure that, you need to take the cost, divide be the number of years you think it will last and then by the number of loads per year. It's not a big amount per load, but it's a real cost. ETA I usually figure I save about $1 per load, but that's before time of use metering. It's likely slightly more here. I like round numbers so that's just approximate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymonkeybug Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 OMG. This is the kind of stuff I would have NEVER known. I learn something new every day! Just don't learn anything new on a Friday or you will get a new wrinkle. An old wives tale from my Grandmother. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymonkeybug Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 You could save money by making your own laundry detergent also. For a little sweat equity making it, the savings are actually pretty darn good over buying detergent at the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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