Hung out to dry

Who says apartment dwellers can't hang their laundry to dry?

Soon after we moved into our home, I strung a line of nylon cord from one side of the balcony to the other. Several months later, I added a second line. We also use a collapsible rack to hang dry smaller items inside the apartment.

Almost all of the articles and books I've read about energy conservation point to the clothes dryer as an energy hog in the average American household. According to the Consumer Energy Center, "A dryer is typically the second-biggest electricity-using appliance after the refrigerator, costing about $85 to operate annually." Our apartment does not have washer/dryer hookups, so we use the community laundry rooms for $1.30 per wash and $.30 per 14 minutes in the dryer. I'm currently running our loads for 28 minutes in the dryers and hanging the items that didn't dry completely in that time. In the future, I'd like to use the dryers even less.

If you're looking for ways to use your dryer more efficiently, WorldWise lists some here. If you have any tips you'd like to share in the comments, please do!