Most efficient dryer setting: high, medium, low or no heat?

[laohaire]

If you have heat, it takes less time to dry (that's my assumption anyway).

But heat takes energy.

I have mine set on Medium for now. What's the most efficient setting?

And I do know that the MOST efficient "setting" is on "dryer-rack" : but humor me here.

[JesiLynne]

: Curious about this too.

[Limabean1975]

There was another thread about this recently, but I never saw if there were any answers. I want to know too! I use an indoor clothesline now and outdoor in spring/summer/fall, but I do use the dryer for some things (thicker towels or sweaters that seem to get sour-smelling if air-dried indoors).

[Tangled Hill]

:

[CariOfOz]

I'd guess that there's not *that* much difference between running it on medium and running it on hot. If you have it on med you'll just have to run it longer kwim? No heat is cheaper I'd say, but what's the point might as well just hang em on a rack, although at least cool tumble knocks out a few wrinkles

I'm an outdoor clothesline all the way kinda gal.. except days like today where it's bucketing down! The laundry will have to go in the dryer because even if it weren't raining the air is too humid to suck up any more moisture :

[sunnysandiegan]

I personally use low heat when I dry fabric in the dryer 90% of the time. I find clothes, especially, last a lot longer this way. Also, anything with elastic (if I cannot air-dry) does much better with the least amount of heat. Except for mattress pad covers, I pretty much toss everything into the dryer for a few minutes (5-10) before air-drying the rest of the way. This softens things up and DH doesn't really know the difference if I air-dried or not. The only things I dry on high heat are jeans and towels, but even those I do not dry completely in the dryer...just long enough to get the WET out.

In any case, I choose "low" heat more from a preservation viewpoint than from an energy-saving viewpoint. If I were to go completely energy-saving, I would need to do it gradually for DH and I would stop using the dryer altogether. Without a yard and no wish to turn our small townhome into a laundry facility, that may never happen. By drying for 5-10 minutes in the dryer and then hang-drying right in our closets or back on the towel racks and other such space-saving methods, I save a lot of wear and tear on the fabric items and cut the air-drying time more than in half. We live in a mild climate that is on the drier side.

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

I personally use low heat when I dry fabric in the dryer 90% of the time. I find clothes, especially, last a lot longer this way. Also, anything with elastic (if I cannot air-dry) does much better with the least amount of heat.

I totally agree with that. About the only things that go into the dryer regularly are smalls (I hate pegging out undies & socks, it takes forever ) I usually chuck them in on high and don't worry about it. But when I throw things in to knock the wrinkles out I use warm or air fluff...and even that is only for maybe 15 mins.

[aniT]

I loved my clothes line when we lived out in the country and my laundry was in the garage. Now my laundry room is upstairs and my back yard is taken up with planter boxes. There's no room for my clothes line. I actually found it relaxing to hand the clothes on the line and take them down. Call me strange.

Now everything goes in the dryer on low except towels and diapers. Even on high however I generally have to run them through twice. : (I think I need to have DH check the hose for clogs.) If they are clothes I don't want to go in the dryer, I just hang them on a hanger in the doorway until they are dry.

[janasmama]

I dry my clothes on low except for towels/rags I put on med.

And I would think that the efficiency goes beyond the immediate electricity or gas usage and would include how long clothing would last.

[sedalbj]

well, first, i have found a front loader washer takes SOOO much more moisture out of the clothes before they even hit the dryer.

i pretty much hang everything outside in the summer and inside in the winter but still dry towels in the dryer.

a friend of mine and i both firmly believe that putting a DRY towel in the dryer with your wet clothes makes them dry much faster. it must distribute the moisture more evenly or something. i have a white towel the just always stays in there.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by sedalbj

well, first, i have found a front loader washer takes SOOO much more moisture out of the clothes before they even hit the dryer.

i pretty much hang everything outside in the summer and inside in the winter but still dry towels in the dryer.

a friend of mine and i both firmly believe that putting a DRY towel in the dryer with your wet clothes makes them dry much faster. it must distribute the moisture more evenly or something. i have a white towel the just always stays in there.

I have a front loader but I always turn down the spin setting to high rather than extra high or whatever it is. When I have it on the highest setting it sounds like that thing is about to take flight. And it vibrates the house ridiculously bad.

[Leta]

I have several clotheslines, indoor and outdoor. However, in the winter, I use my dryer a lot- I live in the U.P., people! If you're north of 45, you get reprieve for those : six months out of the year!

aniT, you aren't alone. For me, spring has not arrived with robins and crocuses, but when I hang that first load of laundry outside... ahh.

Anyway, back on topic... I agree that the lower the heat, the longer the clothes last. I have a few things (delicate undies, all bras, some of my more expensive clothes, anything handmade, etc.) that never see the inside of a dryer.

I have never owned a gas dryer. I worked at a laundry for a while that had all gas dryers, and they were kind of crappy- new or old didn't seem to impact the crappiness. We had an old, old, old electric dryer that finally took a crap last year. In that dryer, we, too, had a towel that was just in there all the time. When we got our new dryer- which is a lower end model, about $300- we could not believe the difference it made. It dried so fast, (like a full load in 20 minutes), created less lint, and our electric bills went down. Having the towel in there only seemed to make a difference with prefold diapers. The big, obvious difference was that this dryer got HOT- the old dryer that took forever and ate up electricity only ever got warm. Oh, and, FWIW, our washing machine is still old, old, old and doesn't do the greatest job getting the water out of the clothes.

So for me, the environmental compromise is to line dry outdoors whenever possible, line dry delicates inside, and use a hot dryer because it uses less energy.

HTH

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by aniT

I have a front loader but I always turn down the spin setting to high rather than extra high or whatever it is. When I have it on the highest setting it sounds like that thing is about to take flight. And it vibrates the house ridiculously bad.

So does mine! Whenever it hits the spin cycle my 2 yo askes "what dat?" when he hears the noise.

But it sure does take out the moisture! I rarely use the drier (only for undies/socks, towels and rugs), but it doesn't take long to dry them on medium. I hang the rest of our laundry on a line in the basement (because my yard is too small for one and it rains/snows too much of the year here).

[sedalbj]

Originally Posted by aniT

I have a front loader but I always turn down the spin setting to high rather than extra high or whatever it is. When I have it on the highest setting it sounds like that thing is about to take flight. And it vibrates the house ridiculously bad.

Chances are your washer isn't level. All four feet should be on the floor and it shouldn't be at all tippy. If your floor isn't level it could make it harder but you should still be able to get it level. Put a level on top and adjust the feet up and down.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by sedalbj

Chances are your washer isn't level. All four feet should be on the floor and it shouldn't be at all tippy. If your floor isn't level it could make it harder but you should still be able to get it level. Put a level on top and adjust the feet up and down.

It was "professionally" installed. It should be level! And when I had a repair person out for another issue he said all of these washers do this when they are on pedastools. The laundry room being on the 2nd floor doens't help.