One common energy saving tip is to dry your clothes outside rather than using your tumble dryer. Sunshine and breezes will naturally aerate your clothes, dry them evenly, and keep them smelling fresh. But here in the UK there’s no point denying that it rains—sometimes a lot. So when drying clothes inside is your only option, here are some tips to run your tumble dryer more efficiently and still get perfectly dry clothes.
1. Clean the Lint Filters
You hopefully already scrape the fluff off your lint filters each time you use your tumble dryer. A build up of lint obstructs the air flow in your machine, meaning your dryer has to work harder (and may well overheat). As well as cleaning the filter, it’s a good idea to regularly check the vent hose and outside vent of your machine for fluff and debris too.
2. Invest in Energy Saving Balls
The simplicity of energy saving tumble dryer balls makes it hard to believe they reduce the drying time of your clothes by up to 25 percent. But by separating and aerating clothes during drying, these balls do indeed save you energy, with the added bonus of softening your fabrics without the use of any chemicals.
See also: Energy Saving Tips
3. Untangle Your Clothes When Loading
Scrunched up jeans or bundles of clothes tangled up by tights will take much longer to dry. Take a few moments to separate and shake out your clothes before transferring them to the dryer. Your clothes will dry quicker, saving you money and for tumble drying emergencies, they’ll be ready to wear sooner too.
4. Dry Similar Fabrics Together
Towels and thick jumpers will take longer to dry than t-shirts, pillow cases and underwear, regardless of the drying method you use. Tumble dry light garments separately to heavy ones to avoid wasting energy drying clothes that are already dry.
5. Don’t Add Wet Clothes to Dry Ones
Similarly, if you’ve ever started your tumble dryer, then realised there’s a stray wet t-shirt or loose sock left at the bottom of your washing machine, don’t add the wet garment to the half dry clothes, whatever the temptation! If you do, you’ll have to keep aerating the full load until that one stray item has been dried. Best to just hang it on a radiator or clothes horse instead.
6. Fasten Duvet Covers
If you leave your duvet cover buttons undone, socks, underwear and all sorts will probably get bundled up inside and not dry properly. Some duvet covers are so large and hard to tumble dry that it may be better to leave them out of the dryer completely and either let them air dry or use the industrial sized dryers at the laundrette.
See also: The Energy Efficient Home
7. Do All Your Drying in One Go
If you’re drying multiple loads, dry the second straight after the first. That way the second load will benefit from the air that’s already heated, so your machine won’t have to warm up twice. Make sure to take the first load out as soon as it is dry though, as modern machines will continue to spin as the air cools down to minimise creasing.
8. Plan Your Washing Loads
If you know there’s no chance of hanging your washing up to dry outside, plan ahead and wash the right amount of clothes to fill your tumble dryer. Choose a high spin speed on your washing machine to remove as much water as possible too. Spinning clothes uses less electricity than heating air in your tumble dryer.
9. Choose the Correct Setting
It sounds obvious, but the wrong setting for your load will waste energy. If you’re ironing your clothes choose the iron dry setting as clothes don’t need to be bone dry to iron. The auto-dry setting lets you avoid over drying more easily than a timed setting. Keep checking if your clothes are dry and if you’re not wearing them straight away, there’s no need to leave them in the dryer until they’re warm.
10. Position Your Dryer in a Warm Dry Room
Vented tumble dryers take air from the room they’re in and use it to dry laundry. So if the air around your tumble dryer is warm and dry already, your dryer will use less energy heating the air to dry your clothes.
Now that you have some handy tips to help tumble dry your clothes more efficiently stick to them! Drying your clothes in the tumble dryer will be a much more convenient substitute to drying them outside and you will also save money on your energy bills too.
Want more tips to help you save money on household appliance running costs? Visit the eSpares Advice Centre for more free advice and eSpares.co.uk for replacement parts from the UK’s largest online parts store to keep your home and garden appliances running at their best.
See also: All you Need to Know About Solar Energy
