In collaboration with MoneySuperMarket.
For the last week we have been challenged by MoneySuperMarket to give up one electrical appliance that we, as a family, use almost every day, and to document the impact and experience we have had and how much money we have saved.
After much thought (could we give up the internet and all screens as a family for a whole week? I was tempted!) we decided to give up the tumble dryer.
We’ve had a tumble dryer now for about four years – it was a wedding gift from my father and when we originally got it we were only going to use it during the winter months when it was raining. The mould and condensation in our house caused from hanging laundry to dry indoors was getting a bit out of control and so the tumble dryer really helped.
But we got lazy.
We had some major renovation work done on our house last year and our clothesline was taken away while the builders renovated and landscaped. We never got around to hanging the line back up…. until now.
Day 1:
As bad luck should have it it’s going to be peeing it down with rain with heavy rain and gales for the next three days. Lovely. Thank goodness for the old fashioned pulley I have hanging from the ceiling above the stairs, usually reserved for non-tumble-drier-clothes (ie: Smartwool socks and thermal underwear).
Unexpectedly, the weather ended up clearing and so my husband finally got around to putting up the clothes line that’s been sitting, unopened, in its original packaging, waiting to be hung since November last year when the builders finally cleared out from our garden. I bought three packets of hurricane storm force clothes pegs to replace our ancient plastic storm pegs that used to keep snapping as the plastic was that old.
On the up note – I opened the washing machine to find a pencil (?!) and a £1 coin. The washing machine has paid me! We’re off to a good start!
Loads of laundry washed and dried: 2
Day 2:
The weather cleared again come midday when it was supposed to be bucketing it down. In fact, there were cloudless blue skies for the whole evening. Managed to get a few loads of towels washed and dried (gosh we go through a lot of towels…). Line dried towels are definitely softer than towels dried upstairs on the drying rack, but they’re not nearly as soft and lovely as tumble dried towels, that’s for sure. The word sandpaper comes to mind. Great for exfoliating the skin – let’s look at the bright side.
Loads of laundry washed and dried: 3
Day 3:
Again rain was predicted but the sun shone (BBC weather app I’m starting to not trust you!) and there was enough of a good breeze to get loads of sheets and towels washed and dried. Came home from work in the evening to find the eldest son (bless his cotton socks for thinking of the laundry while I was out!) frantically trying to take in the last load of towels in a brief rain shower so these had to be hung up to dry again on the rack upstairs.
Loads of laundry washed and dried: 4
Day 4:
No laundry! The bottom of the basket can be seen – it’s empty! Yay!
Day 5:
The sun was shining again today and there was enough of a breeze for me to get some loads of bedding and towels washed and dried. How do five people go through so many bath towels?! Went for a bike ride the sun: 17.6 miles, training for my epic 250 mile mountain bike cycle this summer.
Loads of laundry washed and dried: 2
Day 6:
One load of laundry shoved into the washing machine before heading out for a 30 mile cycle ride. Sun’s shining, I’ve got better things to be doing with my time than housework! Must go play! Saying that, I only own one pair of cycling trousers and these had just been washed. I did (against the advice written on the storage heater) attempt to quickly dry them by placing them on said heater, but this was rather unsuccessful so I just wore wet cycling trousers outside instead, letting the wind dry them. Note, if you look carefully, the odd socks I’m wearing in the photo below (the results of half dried laundry). 25 mile cycle.
Loads of laundry washed and dried: 1
Day 7:
The laundry basket has filled up again. Went for another cycle ride in the afternoon. 30.2 miles.
Loads of laundry washed and dried: 3
THE RESULTS
Well, that actually wasn’t that bad. We’re back into the habit of using the clothesline instead of the tumble dryer. The challenge has been over for a few days and I came home from a course yesterday to find a load of laundry hanging up on the line – someone (I’m assuming it was my eldest son as the laundry was hung up all wonky!) hung the laundry out without being told to! Progress!
According to the user manual our tumble dryer uses 3.4 kWh per cycle, and according to the Scottish Hydro website our electricity costs 15.61 pence per kWh. We did 15 loads of laundry this week, and doing the maths that means we have saved £7.96.
This represents an average number of laundry washes in a week, so if we went back to using just the clothesline we would save £413.92 in the year. That’s a pretty remarkable amount of money! In five years that would be £2,069.60 – enough for all five of us to go on a family holiday!
For more information on how small lifestyle changes and shopping around for the best prices can save you money visit MoneySuperMarket.
This post is in collaboration with MoneySuperMarket, but all thoughts are our own. This is a paid post.
Jazz Infused Smoked Salmon and The Balvenie Craftsmen’s Dinner
i actully queried my bils with electric and gas last week and they said considering our family size our gas is very low but our electric is ridiculously high , i need to learn t turn things off im terrible for tunmble dryer though its just laziness
I think this time of year is more than realistic to think you could give up the tumble dryer. Its those hard winter months when you realise that the school uniform is still wet, that are the challenge!
Great idea to get that clothes line back up again! I didn’t realise that running a tumble dryer was quite that expensive in the home. At uni I try to avoid it because I have to pay about £4 per load and it often comes out a bit damp! I end up hanging random clothes all around my room for a few days xD
Wow this is a pretty cool challenge that seems like it is cost efficient and well worth it. I definitely could not do it though, I just love wearing fresh shirts out of the tumble dryer since I work at my desk most of the day. haha!
Its amazing how the little things can make all the difference. We don’t have a tumble dryer anyway so all our washing goes out or on airers – suppose we’re saving ourselves quite a bit lol
That’s a great challenge and perfect choice of an appliance to give up. Wish there’s always a good weather as natural drying is always the best option.
From my personal point of view right now I can afford to run my tumble drier. I have some chronic illnesses meaning I would struggle to actually carry the washing up the garden and the fact I can’t raise my right arm means I couldn’t actually hang the washing on the line.
I also love fluffy towels straight out of the tumble drier way too much!
I prefer using the clothes lines when it’s sunny as the dryer (I have a washer-dryer) takes a lot of time and it’s pointless of using it when the sun is free and I can have another load in to wash.
It’s great you did this experiment and you are going to continue with it. £2000 in 5 years is a lot of money, even if you save half of it, it’s still amazing.
Your cycling training is going really well! We haven’t had a dryer in years now and it’s amazing how much we save. We put our washing over banisters and radiators!
Wow that’s a great yearly saving i didn’t expect it to be that much.
I havent had a tumble dryer in years! I love seeing how the money can be saved over time.
It’s amazing how much money you can save by not using your electrich appliances
When you add it up like that, the savings are amazing I have to admit and it is definitely something to think about x
Impressive! so much laundry and CYCLING! We don’t have a tumble dryer at home for the same reason, so far so good.. 🙂 Lovely pics by the way! x
Well done on saving all that money, I am a big fan of Money Supermarket:-) Love the shot of the shop and the hills:-)
I think if we did this wed give up using the dishwasher. Although what we’d dave on energy we’d probably increase in water!
Good on you for doing this. I’m inspired to do the same! I’ve never hung washing on the line before. I didnt realise we had one until I fell over the prop in the garden last year! xxx
I wish I could see the end of my laundry basket more often. It’s always loaded.
I’m afraid the savings aren’t big enough for me to ditch my tumble drier. I’ve health issues and carrying a basket of laundry then standing to hand it out can be killer on a bad day for me. Plus by using the tumble drier I rarely iron. Standing to iron out washing mountain is not beneficial to my health. Plus I love fluffy towels!
I can’t believe how much you could save! H x
That’s a great saving – I can’t really relate as I do not have a tumble drier – I have an airer indoors for wet days and washing line for dry days 🙂 Great challenge. Kaz x
Our tumble drier hardly gets used these days, it is so old it isn’t that good now anyway. I love hanging clothes out and the smell when you fold them when you bring them in.
I can’t believe a tumble drier costs that much to run!! We don’t have one, but we do use a heated airer, which supposedly costs 8p an hour to heat (and we usually use it for about 8 hours per load). Luckily there are only 2 of us so we only do about 1 or 2 loads a week!
I have never owned a tumble dryer and have always thought about getting one but then I always love freshly dried washing from the line plus in the winter we have continuous communal heating which means we don’t have to worry about added heating bills so it’s never been a need. It’s amazing how much you saved already and how much you can save in the long run xx
It’s crazy how much energy things consume and how much we rely on them. We don’t own a tumble dryer or dish washer or tv but if you asked me to cull the Internet I would probably cry! In fact we lost Internet a few months back, didn’t have it for 1 week and a day, it was hell! I wrote 3 blog posts on it! I’m going to check out your cycle challenge…
It’s interesting how the little things add up – I was always told that tumble driers were terrible for using electricity, so I’ve always tried to avoid using ours (unlike my husband, who turns it on rather than hanging anything on the airier!) Unfortunately we haven’t been allowed to have a washing line in our garden (silly lease restrictions on rented properties) but I did sneak some towels outside in the sun at the weekend and it makes such a difference.
I have to admit I lived for years and years without a tumble dryer, we had a washer dryer the start of last year and I’ve not looked back. But I do have mobility issues and carrying a basket of washing out to the garden just isn’t possible for me anymore. But I would definitely use it less if I could.
I never really thought about it saving me money not to use it. I have only had a tumble dryer for 18 months, when we moved house and could fit one in. I found it a lifesaver with 2 children and one of them a newborn, seriously how many clothes to they go through. I too have become lazy with it and should make more effort now summer is here to hang it outside x
Great challenge. We use a dryer and it helps as i’m never well enough to physically hang the laundry etc but… it is a money saver when you can use the sunshine!
You don’t realise how much money you can save just leaving out the use of one appliance. Impressed that your sun put out the clothes without being asked to, but I definitely think it’s time you got another pair of cycling trousers! x
Chuckles – I know! I’m getting there, I’ve got as far as thinking about browsing Sports Direct (I really do hate shopping!) 😀
I haven’t used my tumble drier for FIVE days! I cant actually believe it myself. Not that I’m doing this energy challenge but the weather has been lovely and I love seeing my line full of washing. The washing has pilled up again because it’s been raining the last two days but it’s nice today and I’ll catch up 🙂 Well done on your challenge, saving money (THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY!) and all the cycling! 30.2 miles! Goodness. WTG! xx