Hang Drying Clothes: Economic and Environmental Benefits

Does hang drying clothes have economic and environmental benefits? Although I’ve been an environmentalist for years, this is a question that I want to explore from a scientific basis.

Early on, my parents and grandparents and faith community taught me to respect the Earth, to be Earth partners. Although at Spirit Tree Farms we explore more of the spiritual, creative, and emotional aspects of loving Nature, I want to throw some numbers at a practice I enjoy doing just for the fresh smell: hang-drying clothes!

Hang Drying Clothes = Math + Science

This post will be an on-going study. You are invited to disagree, throw alternate thoughts, quote studies, peer review. In fact, I welcome all respectful and thought-out disagreements or alternative thinking. I also must point out that I am NOT a research scientist! My thoughts, observations, assumptions and conclusions may have significant flaws in them. Still, I think it will be a fun exercise.

To start, here is my hypothesis: Under certain conditions and environments (such as what we have here at Spirit Tree Farms in Northwest Georgia), hanging clothes on a clothesline in the sunny, warmest months will not only decrease dryer usage, but will also shade the house from afternoon and evening sun (similar to shade trees). Both of those actions will simultaneously save money (cutting electric costs) while helping the environment (cutting electric usage of both dryer and air conditioning).

Sunshine and house facts and assumptions (which may be adapted depending on where you live and what your individual home circumstances are) include:

• Our two-story home at Spirit Tree Farms faces east-southeast/west-northwest
• In Northwest Georgia, the hottest part of the day is typically between 1 and 6 p.m.
• The hottest months of the year are from mid-June, July, August, to mid-September
• Although we have trees around our property, during those summer months our house is fully exposed to sunshine from approximately 10:30 a.m. to approximately 7:30 p.m.
• In the summer, the east-northeast side of the house (which fortunately has no windows!) gets the full brunt of the sun until about 2 p.m.
• The front porch protects the four lower-level windows and the front door window and window panels from indirect sunshine until about 1 p.m., and from direct sunshine until about 3 p.m.
• From about 3 p.m. until about 7:30 p.m., the western windows face blazing, bright and hot Georgia afternoon sun

Here are some facts and assumptions about hang drying clothes:

• Our single clothesline runs across the northern half of the westward-facing front porch
• When we’re hang drying clothes using the clothesline, the clothes cast a dense shadow on the lower-level western windows from 3 p.m. until at least 7:30 p.m.
• We can dry at least two loads of laundry during a typical summer day
• During the summer, our average is about eight loads a week
• When we’re hang drying clothes, we’re not using our electric clothes dryer (stating the obvious, but someone had to!)

Hang Drying Clothes, Shade Trees, Energy Conservation

To support my hypothesis, I’m going to make two major assumptions (both of which have been backed up by scientific research):

1. Providing any type of shade onto any part of a house — especially where there are windows — will keep the house cooler, thus reducing the need to run air conditioning, which in turn reduces energy consumption and cost. (This has been proven by several scientific studies regarding the effectiveness of shade trees, including this Auburn University study.)
2. There are economic and environmental benefits to hang drying clothes and NOT using a dryer, as highlighted in this article.

Saving Money and the Environment by Drying Clothes Naturally

As pointed out in the article above, most of the world hang dries their clothes. Do we always? No. If we’re in the middle of a Georgia gully-washer, we’re not hanging up our clothes. Same goes for if we have the missionaries over for lunch: I don’t want them to see my just-washed underwear flapping in the wind! And in the winter, (shrug), it just takes too long for clothes to dry.

But in the summer, why not hang them out to dry? Besides the fresh Georgia woods’ scent, I figure (according to the articles above, and other research I’ve done) we’re saving:

• At least $.25 to $.75 a load in electrical costs
• At least 10% off of our air conditioning bill
• During a year, that can average as much as $10 a month, or over $100 a year!

Not only that, but what does that save in environmental costs? It would save ____ KwH (kilowatt hours) a year. (I’ll do the math later).

I know some folks will say that’s not a lot but look at it this way: If every HOUSE in Georgia had a clothesline, and experienced similar savings (most would save more, because we only have three people in our house, AND we live in the coolest part of Georgia), the total electrical savings would equal _____% reduction in Kilowatt hours.

That would equal the production (output) of ___ # coal-burning plants and their corresponding emissions.

Numbers to think about!