A Line on Saving Energy

[panthera]

Well,

Andrew - I bought it cheap, "as is" second hand, army surplus and there seem to be a few screws lose somewhere. When I took it in for repairs, the guy said it was a "slipped gear" problem, whatever that is...

 

[gyrafoam]

Oooooh---I know that's right. (Eyes to ceiling).

Andrew, I feel just like you do, HOWEVER--- now that I moved from the big-city and all that air pollution I am thinking I might start hanging out clothes----it's fresh mountain air after all. And I can always throw them in the dryer to air-fluff and de-lint for 10 minutes. But it IS a hassle.

Years ago in Florida I used to hang stuff out---but one had to be carefull------in Tampa, there used to be horrific thunderstorms every late afternoon during the depths of the summer. But it got so hot, I found that if I were to hang the clothes out by 10AM---even Jeans were dry by noon. Not bad.

Now, Miami was a different story-----in a typical tropical weather-pattern---storms drifted in from the ocean all the damned time---sometimes two or so an hour------they didn't last long but were a problem especially in the (long) summer season. If you could just get a couple of hours of sun, though, everything would dry fast.

Anyway, I too, enjoy the speed and convenience of a dryer, however I think I'm going to try hanging my wash out for a while and see if I can make an adjustment to the cost-savings.
Couldn't hurt.

 

[pturo]

Vera Donovan had another way of being a bitch..

"Now everyone knows, a sheet smells better dried outside than baked in a Maytag. She had a dryer, too. A nice big one. But, we were forbidden to use it unless there was 6 days a rain in the fo'cast, even in the winter. Miss kiss my hind cheeks needed her sheets line dried with 6 pins, not five, year round. By the time January ended, your fingers were cracked and bleeding with her at the window watching. Use six pins, Dolores, not five-you know how I like them."

I think people in the Northeast should get special dispensation on energy saving things. People in Miami and Phoenix can hang thier clothes out year round and also drive golf carts instead of SUV's with 4 wheel drive, which are a necessity in upstate NY. Gasoline, Electricity and Natural gas should be much more expensive in areas of the country that have practical alternatives that use much less energy.

 

[maytagbear]

Again,

What is appropriate for one person is not always appropriate for all.

It is important, I think, to make the best decisions for your life, your region.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[andrewinorlando]

See Keven, you can do it!! I knew you had it in you!! LOL....

Now if I lived in the mountains and had some leisure time, I might actually give it a try.

 

[panthera]

Good,

Now that I've proved I have one, can I put it away again?

I grew up in Colorado. When it is hot - and it often gets very hot indeed, it is seldom humid. Ninety degrees Fahrenheit at 20% humidity is pleasant. Ninety degrees at 95% humidity is not.

It wasn't until I spent a summer in Dixie when I was 18 that I understood the difference. Yikes! Never, ever again criticized air conditioning.

Unfortunately, when it comes to applying the natural sciences to the problems facing us, the ongoing culture wars in the US have left the country in a bad position.

Politicians in the European Union are pretty much all on the same level as the dim-bulbs running FEMA in the US. At best. But they are grounded in the hard sciences and are open to ideas newer than the late middle ages.

Solar energy is not only price competitive over here, it makes a genuine profit in the capitalist sense of the word. Same for wind and wave energy in the North Atlantic. The Norwegians are sitting on more oil than the could use in a billion trillion years...yet they are at the forefront of creating jobs and making people wealthy with new energy technologies. In the US, current assessments of "proved" oil reserves are being repressed until after the elections...

Well, that is too close to politics and I did promise, so enough of that. You don't need a clothes dryer in the Arizona dessert, but I'd love to see some of the folks who are most critical of Texans' energy wasting ways survive a Galveston summer without air conditioning.

 

[andrewinorlando]

I think you should take it back out....

 

[7080swashertalk]

I hang dry 1/2 the time already.
I have the same wooden, foldable hanging rack I bought in 1988?
Wow, 20 years....

shirts hung on hangers straight from the dryer (and spaced at least a couple of inches apart) dry overnight and the weight of the wet cloth tends to have them dry without wrinkles.

I have to admit, there is something quint about a dryer. I don't know what it is. Maybe it is the warmth. maybe the simplicity. ...hmm.

screw it.

Those of you hanging your clothes, good for you. But...
I am throwing my clothes in the dryer and am busily writing to my congress person about the urgent need to build more power plants.
I GOTS CLOTHES TA DRY, DAMNIT!

 

[whirlcool]

After we received our latest electric bill, we decided to hang a clothes line in the yard.
We went to Wal-Mart (2 of them) out of stock on clothesline and clothespins. Went to Target, same thing.. Hmm.. Went to Lowes, no luck, out of stock. Went to a Dollar store, all sold out.
FINALLY went to an ACE Hardware, and they had a few lines left and a few bags of clothespins. The salesguy there said that people have been buying them up lately. I noticed around our subdivision today that a lot of people have clothes hanging out.
So we did some sheets and t-shirts and hung them outside. My goodness, I forgot how wonderful clothes smell after being hung outside in the sun!

 

[oldhouseman]

To each his own

As said earlier, what works for some may not for others.

I love my dryer but there are times when line dried clothes are great. There is a certain scent of sunshine to line dried sheets.

I plan on putting a clothes line up in my backyard. I have one over my garden tub and I have the dryer. Some things are quick and easy to wash out by hand and hang up to dry overnight over the tub. I plan on keeping options open to different areas.