Results of Air-Drying Laundry

I mentioned in a previous post that I had finally started back air drying my clothes instead of using the dryer.  I don't believe at the time I had any concrete numbers as to how much money it was saving us.  I'm like everybody else, I want to save money whenever I can, but the main reason I air dry is for environmental purposes.  

Well, we have gone through one complete electric cycle and received the bill, and our electric went down $15!  Our heat runs on gas, but has electric blowers, so any decrease in using the heat would be mostly reflected in our gas bill, with perhaps a bit of a decrease in our electric.  But we had cold weather during the last billing cycle so the heat pretty much ran its usual amount.   I'm fairly sure the decrease in our bill was due to not using the dryer, except for sheets and dog covers.  

Other benefits to not drying clothes:

-As I mentioned before, more humidity in our house during the winter, which means less static electricity and the ensuing shocks, and less dry skin.  I do what I can to keep moisture in the house during these cold months:  clothes air drying, letting steam from the shower "be" instead of using the exhaust fan to get rid of it as I do in the summer, and little things like taking the lid off the kettle to let the steam escape and opening the dishwasher during the drying cycle and letting that steam out.  

-Your clothes last longer.  What gets trapped in the lint filter of your dryer, after all, are fibers from your clothes.  (And dog/cat fur if you have any pets.)  

-You don't heat your house in the warmer months.

-Less noise pollution.  No matter how quiet your dryer is, it's still going to make some noise.  

-Smaller chance of creating a fire hazard with your dryer.  

Clothes drying on our guest shower rod.