Laundry Energy Conservation Tips

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1. Use a clothesline instead of a dryer when possible. The sun kills mites, whitens and deodorizes, and doesn't use electricity. I find hanging clothes on the line on a beautiful sunny day is a relaxing experience.

In busy times, I have to admit that the dryer is a time saver, and line hanging clothes in the winter or on rainy days is not appealing. So here are more laundry energy conservation tips...

2. Only run the clothes washer and dryer when fully loaded, but not overloaded because then it will take more time to dry the clothes.
3. When possible, use cold water to wash clothes.
4. Clean the clothes dryer filter after each load.
5. Do not over-dry clothes; use minimum amount of time necessary to dry them. Some new dryers have moisture sensors that automatically turn the dryer off when clothes are dry.
6. Dry lighter items together and heavy items together. If you have a lot of laundry you can even dry
different fabrics dry at different rates.
7. Run loads in succession to capture residual heat of the previous load.
8. Use the cool-down cycle to complete drying.
9. If you like how your towels feel after coming out of the dryer, try using it for only ten minutes or so and then hang dry.
10. Vent your dryer to the outside to avoid moisture and lint build-up in the house.
11. Eliminate tight turns, or elbows of your outlet venting duct. When there a bends and turns the lint builds up at elbows, which slows airflow out of the machine, increases drying time and creates a potential fire hazard.
12. Use rigid venting because it is better than corrugated flex venting. It keeps air moving and avoiding blockages.

13. Avoid kinking or crushing the vent material.
14. Don’t exceed 25 feed of vent length (or per manufacturer’s instructions).
15. A front-loading washer spins out clothes better, reducing drying time.
16. If your clothes tend to take longer to dry than they used to, perhaps the thermostat or heating element has gone bad. Are the clothes hot but not dry? Check the venting system.
17. Never vent a dryer into a crawlspace or attic.

Can you image all the energy you save if your children do science fair projects about energy conservation?