4.26.2009

Energy savings so far (sans dryer for five months)

Our Staber washer spins clothes and towels much drier than the old Whirlpool top-loader. This has been quite useful since the old dryer quit working in November. We decided to hold off on buying another dryer and see what it was like to just hang everything to dry. Why not save some more energy, at least for a few months? The dryer is electric, so the savings are shown on this chart of our electricity use (in kWh).
Electric_use_without_dryer

The wood drying rack we set up as needed in the master bedroom for delicates was no longer enough, so Santa brought us another one like it. We've been hanging shirts and pants to dry right on their hangers and perching them on the molding above the closet. Everything has dried just fine, except the old, thin towels which become like cardboard. The newer, fluffy towels are soft after air-drying. We noticed a little bit of added humidity in the bedroom, which was very welcome in the cold, dry months. We may move the drying clothes to a bathroom or the kitchen or possibly outside if the humidity becomes bothersome as the weather gets warmer.

This updated chart shows our natural gas use (in Therms) for heating over the same period.
Gas use update April 09