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I knew that hanging clothes was frugal but...  

post #1 of 42
7/7/06 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
I can't believe how much less our electric bill was this month compared to the same time last year. This year we used 295 KWH and last year 546 KWH! Our electric bill was only $19.77! I just stopped using the dryer in late May and began hanging so June's bill was 47.50. That's a heck of a lot of savings!
And we were worried about running three fans at night....
post #2 of 42
7/7/06 at 6:34pm
Hey, bathrobe goddess -- can you please help me???? How do you use so little kw per year. Our use is about 550 per MONTH! We don't use air conditioning. We have virtually all compact flourescent bulbs. We have a gas dryer, and we hang at least 1/2 of the loads. We are very careful about turning off lights. Is is just our older (10 years) refrigerator? I usually turn off my computer after an hour or use every day to save a bit. We do have some instant on type appliances like the tv that we seldom turn on and a cordless phone that draw our power. But I really, really think something in this house is just sucking the electric right out. What do you use during most days? Do you have an electric stove? This is driving me crazy!!!!!
post #3 of 42
7/7/06 at 6:57pm
Thread Starter 
295 KWH was just for the last 30 days so dont freak out too much

I bet it is your fridge...when got rid of our old one (it died actually...not planned) we cut our electric consumption almost in 1/2! It was really sucking the energy!

We also have a small house so we use one light bulb only in the evening...the one light in the living room.

Our stove is gas...Gas is way more expensive here now that electric though...our gas is around $40 a month in the summer and out of this world expensive in the winter!
post #4 of 42
7/7/06 at 8:21pm
Oh how I wish I lived in a place that didn't have HOA rules againt hanging laundry outside....
post #5 of 42
7/7/06 at 8:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdinaL
Oh how I wish I lived in a place that didn't have HOA rules againt hanging laundry outside....
This was a big reason we didn't buy a new house. All the new communities around here have rules against clotheslines. :


To the OP -- that is a great savings on your energy bill! Well done.
post #6 of 42
7/7/06 at 10:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthiegirl
This was a big reason we didn't buy a new house. All the new communities around here have rules against clotheslines. :
Wow that's incredibly Stepford. I love hanging my clothes out.
post #7 of 42
7/8/06 at 5:14am
i hang my clothes out inside actually since we can not hang them outside. It get sot be a pain sometimes but saves us a little. I just hang them on hangers from the top of all the inside doors. they dry prtty quick with all the fans running
post #8 of 42
7/8/06 at 10:25am
Every summer, our electric bill goes down approximately $20 when we start hanging laundry outside.

For the PP with a HOA...you can buy inexpensive retractable lines that you can install inside rooms during the day to hang clothing inside. My mom used to do this when I was a kid, in her bedroom in the wintertime.
post #9 of 42
7/8/06 at 10:32am
I'm going to start hanging out clothes when we sell our house and move into our new one. I can't have laundry all over the backyard when someone comes to see the house to possibly buy it!
post #10 of 42
7/8/06 at 10:53am
That's amazing! Congrats on your savings!
post #11 of 42
7/8/06 at 1:03pm
Our HOA does not allow clothes hanging outside, unless we have a privacy fence so no one else can see them hanging. Since we don't, I hang clothes in the laundry room. We have wire shelves in the laundry room, so I hang clothes on clothes hangers and then hang them from the bottom of the wire shelves. I also have one of those wooden collapsible racks as well. Between them, I can hang two loads of clothes at a time. I recently bought an extra shower curtain rod to set up in my shower so I can hang more laundry in there if needed. Since I don't have any space to hang larger items, I still use my dryer for sheets and towels.
post #12 of 42
7/9/06 at 1:21pm
oh my...down in sunny florida, my electric bill last month was $322!! I almost had a stroke. Our lowest in the winter when we don't use air or heat was $175 and I was THRILLED with that!
post #13 of 42
7/9/06 at 7:43pm
i am going to buy a line tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
post #14 of 42
7/9/06 at 9:19pm
You've got me excited -- I just hung my first load of laundry outside yesterday! Can't wait to see how much a difference the new clothesline makes in our electricity bills!
post #15 of 42
7/10/06 at 1:22pm
I keep asking my DH to hang me a line so I can try to save us some money. He just doesn't seem to want me to hang our clothes. I don't understand him. He isn't the one who does the laundry. I'm going to keep trying to get him to do it. Why not, if I don't mind doing it? Wish me luck!
post #16 of 42
7/10/06 at 2:22pm
I started hanging clothes a few months ago and was amazed at how much we saved . . . and I still dried towels, undies, socks, and gym clothes.

We have two lines in our basement and I use a portable closet rack thing to dry shirts on the hanger. We're going to put up something outside later this summer to take advantage of the sun and fresh air of the outdoors.

I even have it down to a science so it doesn't take to long to hang everything.
post #17 of 42
7/10/06 at 3:01pm
I just started hanging clothes last weekend. It's great! We can't hang outside per HOA rules (and we have a townhouse, so no backyard anyways), so I hang inside on a folding rack. I am going to invest in a 2nd folding rack. I did use the dryer for one load with sheets, because sheets are too big for my drying rack.

It adds maybe 5min per load to hang on the rack. Not a big investment at all, IMO.

Another thing to save electricity - we turned off the AC! I'm so excited about this - it was 95 this weekend and I was tempted, but we made it though and now it's cooler again.

We went though our old electricty bills and we average under 500 kWH a month, even with the dryer, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out. (Sadly, in months when we used AC, our electric usage doubled!! I never realized what a energy hog AC was.) I'm excited about this because I think we can install a solar system to cover our electricity usage for around $20k. Now I just need to do more research and see if this is something we want to invest in ...
post #18 of 42
7/10/06 at 3:27pm
I'm excited for you all, but not looking forward to my next bill. I'd been hang drying laundry outside for the last few months & not using the AC. We have solar panels, so last month's electricity bill was less than $5. However, the new baby came a few weeks ago, so I haven't been the one doing the laundry & it got hot, so we've been cranking the AC...
post #19 of 42
7/10/06 at 3:57pm
Dang, we used 2044 kwh (for a total of $117) this last billing cycle. Doing 3-4 loads of laundry a day + 1-2 loads of dishes + the AC for my dad in his room (he has to have it) + 2 computers + 3 TVs..... I wonder if my clothes would dry on a line (back yard is completely shaded by trees, very little sunlight gets through)... I think I'll go to the store tonight and get a line and try it out.
post #20 of 42
7/10/06 at 6:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommyangelx4
I keep asking my DH to hang me a line so I can try to save us some money. He just doesn't seem to want me to hang our clothes. I don't understand him. He isn't the one who does the laundry. I'm going to keep trying to get him to do it. Why not, if I don't mind doing it? Wish me luck!
Hang it yourself! I put mine up in 5 minutes. It's a nifty little retractable one.
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