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Solar Clothes Drying is Free: Save Energy, Reduce Carbon Emissions says the Dryer Vent Repair Wizard of Chicago

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Dryer Vent Wizard of Northshore Chicago

Most Americans see the automatic clothes dryer as a necessity; however, more are becoming aware of the huge amount of energy this appliance requires to run.  The clothes dryer is among the top 5 energy users in most homes.  Air-drying clothes with drying racks or a clothes line can reduce the average household's carbon footprint by over 2,000 pounds per year.

 

Other Benefits of a Clothesline

 

Over 15,000 house fires are caused by a clothes dryer each year when lint builds up in the dryer vent system and ignites.

 

What is dryer lint?  Where does it come from?  All that lint in your lint screen after each load of laundry is your clothes wearing away!  The clothes dryer actually shorten the life of your clothes by over-drying them. 

 

Enjoy being outdoors, hanging laundry on the clothesline, rather than cooped up in a hot, humid laundry room.  The sun naturally disinfects and gently bleaches whites; the fresh air leaves laundry smelling fresh.  This saves you money fragrant laundry supplies and chlorine bleach.

 

Don't Give up your Dryer

 

This isn't to say you should throw out the clothes dryer, just use it less to save money and reduce the impact to the environment.  There will be times when the weather isn't right for hanging laundry outside. 

 

You might also use the dryer for some of your laundry and the clothes line for some.  Some people choose to tumble their clothes for a few minutes to shake out wrinkles and then hang it to dry; others will prefer to tumble clothes after they have dried if they feel stiff.  Part-time use of your clothes dryer will help save energy too.

 

In any case, if you do use your clothes dryer, even part-time, dryer vent cleaning and proper maintenance is required to keep it operating safely and efficiently.  Your clothes dryer works very similar to the clothesline, drying your laundry with heat, forced air and tumbling action.  Both require airflow; unlike the clothesline with unlimited airflow, your dryer ducts and dryer vent system can become clogged with lint.  Lint blocks airflow, overworking the clothes dryer and increasing drying time.  Lint clogged vents can eventually lead to a dryer fire.

 

Mory Matias owns Dryer Vent Wizard of North Shore Chicago; Dryer Vent Wizard specializes in all dryer vent exhaust issues.  They provide dryer vent repair, cleaning and installation while educating consumers on dryer fire prevention and energy saving tips.  Visit http://www.dryerventwizard.com to learn more.

Comments (1)

Anonymous
Corey

Good point about the dryer lint and fire hazard. Many people think all you need to do is clean the lint trap, and forget about the dryer vent and even lint inside the dryer itself.

Spin dryers such as at http://www.laundry-alternative.com/drying.htm are another way (in addition to the clothesline) to solve the drying problem. They don't produce any lint and are about 100 times as eco-friendly as conventional clothes dryers.

Nov 09, 2009 07:56 AM
#1