Challenge 2: Clotheslining energy waste

It’s apparently a revolutionary idea.
The linear solar drying device.
The Ontario government caught on to the concept a few days ago when Energy Minister Gerry Phillips announced the province would end most prohibitions on its use.
The device is a technology for drying laundry. Here’s how it works: String a line outside; attach clothes to it with specially designed wooden or plastic pins; let the sun and breeze remove moisture; bring clothes back inside.
Indoor models are also available. Call them “linear ambient-air drying devices.” For some ideas, see this Yahoo site.

Okay, it’s just a clothesline. My mother used one way back in the 1960s: I helped to load and unload it from time to time. These days at home, challenged for space to string lines, we’ve come up with artfully crafted inner-city adaptations: the shower curtain rod, door knobs and, for small items, the drawer pulls on the dresser.
It’s an environmentally friendly, pollution-free technology. (Peter Ormond, of Hamilton, also points out how ludicrous it is, in winter, to shoot warm, moist air from a dryer into the great outdoors while a furnace burns energy to warm and moisten incoming air.)

Even so, judging by the shrieks of horror from many builders and suburbanites, you’d think it was the Devil’s work. Unsightly. Death to property values. Too much work. Such an evil blight that it’s banned in many housing developments. Underwear? Ugh!
So, the fact it’s making a comeback could be seen as revolutionary.

It's also as much message as solution. We’ve come to rely on gadgets to reduce our environmental footprint. Often there are simpler, cheaper options. The clothesline requires more time and effort than tossing laundry into a dryer. Most of the alternatives, though, simply demand a bit of thoughfulness.

Which brings us to this week’s Green Life challenge.

Challenge: Reduce the energy consumed by the four major appliances in almost every home — refrigerator, stove, washer and dryer, either by purchasing new energy-efficient models or taking low- or no-cost steps to make better use of what you have.

Motivation: As always, cut your energy consumption, and bills.

Process: The fast way to the biggest savings is to simply buy new, energy-efficient versions of these appliances. Fridges and washers come in Energy Star versions. Stoves and dryers don’t — there isn’t a big enough difference among the various models to justify the labelling — but modern ones are more efficient than older vintages.

But this is a big-ticket item. It costs at least $3,500 to replace all four. The savings are expected to be substantial if you compare the new appliances to those from a decade or more ago. The actual payback period will depend on what happens to electricity and natural gas prices. An Energy Star label, by the way, doesn’t mean an appliance is the most efficient, period. It simply means it’s better than others of the same size and with similar features. For buying tips see my post Buying Tips. Check Energy Star Canada for a list of appliance ratings, Look here to see how appliances have imprroved over the years.

The list of energy-saving tips is long. You can find a good one at Eartheasy or see my tips post. Remember that these apply to Energy Star models as well. In fact, it’s important to beware the common tendancy to use ssomething more simply because it’s more efficient. When you do that, the environmental and economic benefits fly out the window.

Whether you have new or old appliances, the challenge is to try these steps:

Refrigerator:

• Check the seal by closing the door on a $5 or $10 bill. If you can pull the bill out with the door closed, you need to replace the rubber gasket. While you're at it, make sure the fridge temperature is between 35 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit and the freezer is at 0 and 5 Fahrenheit. If there's no temperature readout, put a thermometer in a jar of water and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, the temperature should read 35 to 38 degrees F. (1 to 3 C.) If it doesn't, adjust the setting.
• If there's empty space in the freezer section, fill empty milk jugs, or other plastic containers with water. Place them outside until they freeze, then put them in your freezer. This will fill the empty space and reduce the area to be kept cold.

Stove:

• Always use the burner that’s the closest match to your pot size, and use lids on pots and pans so you can cook at lower settings. Avoid using pots and pans with warped bottoms -- they require 30 per cent more energy.
• Use a separate oven thermometer to ensure your oven control is accurate, and make sure the door seal is tight.

Washer:

• Match the water level to the size of your load. Don’t fill the whole tub for a few items. Use warm or cold water for the wash cycle and cold for the rinse.
• Check how much detergent you're using. Oversudsing makes your machine work harder and use more energy.

Dryer:

• Dry multiple loads back to back, since the dryer will already be heated, and clean the lint screen after each use. Lint build-up greatly reduces efficiency.
• Buy and use an indoor drying rack and commit to an outdoor line for summer. Energy Minister Gerry Phillips says people could save $30 a year if they hung just a quarter of their laundry on a line.

Cost: Apart from the minimal cost of a clothesline, the energy-saving tips are free. Energy Star appliances tend to cost at least $800 each, and the best are hundreds more.

Savings: The clothesline saving is already cited — $30 a year for a quarter of your wash, or $120 for the whole thing. The says you’ll save $71 a year, and about 275 kilograms worth of carbon dioxide emissions if you use warm water rather than hot to wash your clothes and cold water to rinse them. That’s if you have a natural gas water heater. The savings doubles with an electric heater. Savings from the rest of the tips are hard to predict, but since the steps cost nothing, anything is a gain.
As for new appliances, the savings and payback period will depend on the cost of the new item, the age and efficiency of the one it’s replacing, and the cost of energy where you are, now and in future. Carbon Busters estimates, for example, that a reasonably priced new Energy Star fridge will pay for itself in energy savings in just five or six years if it’s replacing an early ’70s model, but up to 30 years if you already have a recent conventional version.

Let us know if you have any other ideas, and how you do with this challenge.

--Peter Gorrie

Comments

[Michelle Rotteau]

I was shocked when I moved to Toronto and was told by my building superintendant that my drying rack on my balcony (not visible to outside world) was illegal. I lived for 5 years in South Korea where only the very wealthy have dryers but everyone has a washing machine and a drying rack in their apartments. It seems the height of stupidity to make it mandatory for everyone to use the wasteful appliance for the sake of not seeing a few t-shirts hanging on a rack for 24 hours. My clothes last longer and are in better condition because I don't dry them not to mention I save money by not using the over-priced dryers in my building. If we are truly committed to be environmentally conscious it should not be just in measures that the wealthy can afford (hybrid cars and new appliances) but those that everyone can.

[Jim]

Fahrenheit - what's that? Oh yes, its a non-metric measure of temperature. But wait, we are in Canada, a metric country, aren't we?

Peter replies --

Indeed we are in Canada, Jim. But most of the fridges, stoves and other appliances we buy are made elsewhere, and, alas, they come with Fahrenheit readouts and controls. Just wanted to spare you all a bit of conversion work.
And just to show how metric we are, I saw Peter Mansbridge on the National recently talk about ice thickness in the Arctic. As he described it, on one side of a ridge it was ix metres (cant' remember the exact number); on the other, x feet.
It seems to be our own form of bilingualism.

[Patti]

This Canadian is most happy to see units of measurement she grew up with used instead of that metric stuff that was imposed on her and she still doesn't relate to. And no, I'm no one's grandmother, I'm still in my 40's.

[jnaz]

I love hang drying clothes, and did so whenever possible when I lived in Toronto. (luckily no one reported me!) I did my best to make them not visible though. I'm a firm believer in the "Broken Window theory" which suggests that the environment you live in can affect what you think is acceptable behavior. For instance, a messy looking neighbourhood might inadvertantly promote littering. By the same theory, I would argue that a cleaner city is a safer city. Whether laundry on every balcony will change that, only time will tell.

[Patricia MacDonald]

When I switched to an energy star refrigerator, about 7 years ago, it cost several hundred more than non-energy star. However, that was recouped the first year when my hydro bill dropped by HALF. I don't have a dryer, but I do have a new boyfriend who is talking about it. Guess he's getting tired of seeing the sheets draped on clothes hangers drying in front of the wood stove - no other heat here. A new one to educate...

Gang switches on the entertainment centre keep those stupid lights from burning all the time; you know, those ones on the dvd, cassette, video, and satellite boxes that shine even when they aren't turned on, I suppose to let you know the electricity is still working? Also have a gang switch on the computer here, don't need my high speed internet box burning a light all the time either.

Meanwhile the (compact fluorescent lights) are doing well, now into their 5th year and no burn outs yet. Got a government sponsored energy rating a few years ago, had more insulation piped into the attic and put under the house in the crawl space. The government paid me back $800, well over half the cost. Only thing left to do is replace the windows. Like what has been said here, the only thing slowing people down is to get started.

[Jan]

Hey Catherine and Peter, I really like what you're doing with this blog. This section on appliances made me think of a question, what about dishwashers? I don't have one myself, but wonder whether I'm saving or wasting water by doing dishes in the sink instead. The people I know who do have dishwashers seem to rinse everything off before loading the machine, so my guess is I'm automatically ahead - where they rinse, I actually wash, and so then I'm done by the time they start the machine. Could you look into that in a future column? Jan

[Marco Tremblay eng.]

Please be careful with the energy saving numbers you throw at people. I see some highly exaggerated and often wrong figures in this blog. Here is an example taken from the section regarding replacing the incandescent light bulbs by fluorescent lighting.

"Incandescents also generate unwanted heat in summer, and it takes three times more energy to compensate for that by cranking up the A/C than it does to tweek up the furnace for their absence in winter"

This is totally wrong as a typical AC transfers about three times more energy out of the house than it draws. Your claim the opposite. Since in most parts of Canada, we heat our house a good part of the year and that we use very little AC, you do not save much total energy. The savings will not cover the increase cost of fluorescent lighting in their life time. Fluorescent lighting is useful in hot climates not in cold countries. Fluorescent lighting also require more energy to produce and have worst disposal problems than incandescent bulbs. Eventually, the technology of Light Emitting Diodes will replace both with a real gain in energy and very little disposal problems. Until then, Canadians are better off with incandescent bulbs, except for outdoor illumination.

Also, you seem to pay 25 cents per KWh. You must live in California. The current rate in Quebec is closer to 7 cents per KWh and less than 10 cents in most of the country.

I strongly support the energy and material conservation movement. I use geothermal heating for my house with grey water heat recovery. I believe that we are overtaxing our planet but do not agree with boosting the numbers or using false information to convert the masses.

I am available to double-check the info you intend to post on this site to help the truth prevail.

Regards,

Marco Tremblay eng.
Montreal, Qc.
Canada
----

Peter replies:
Marco,
Lots of interesting stuff in your comment, and I'm glad you're doing so many things to cut your energy use.
I think you're right about LEDs. In a few years, they'll take over and, I suspect, make CFLs look like Model Ts.
In the meantime, though, CFLs do take more energy to make than incandescents. But, it they have the life expectancy they're supposed to, they'll replace 7 or 8 incandescents, and, I'm told, more than make up for the added embedded energy and resources.
The business of heat from incandescents is complex. What I meant in my post (agasin, this is after interviewing experts, not my own scientific research) is that heating systems are generally three times more efficient than A/Cs and the generation of electricity to power them. Since, as you say, we do use heating much more than A/C, it's probably a wash, which means it's not a big knock against CFLs.
brtw, We use a rough cost of 10 cents /kw/hr, which includes the electricity cost plus all the other charges.
We try to be as accurate as possible, but we're always happy to be challenged.

[Gilles Lapalme, Sudbury]

About dryers: I also lived in South Korea for four years and I didn't own dryers like most Koreans. Not that they can't afford dryers but because they beleive the sun dries, cleans and purifies their clothes.
Here is something I have done for years, especially in winter when my house is dry: I remove the dryer vent from the outside connection, put it over a bucket of water(to collect the lint) and PRESTO, I have a humidifyer.

[Suzanne W.]

I have moved from Toronto to rural Ohio. In the summer all my laundry is dried on the 2 lines outside. (Yes I can "hide" the unmentionables" on the one line that is closest to our garage!! In the months when the heating is on, I use 4 drying racks (the large ones from Ikea are my favourite) and I use our radiators for drying our jeans. Using drying racks also increases the humidity in the house during the cold months. In winter I use the dryer for our towels only and in summer, as a backup when it rains for over a week at a time.
Having grown up in Switzerland and only ever seen frontloading washers, I was stunned to see the toploaders when I moved over here in 1981. We have had a frontloading machine since 1999 ( I told my husband when we married that this was the way to wash...) We just recently switched from the Frigidaire to a Bosch. I was/am very happy with both. By the way I would not recommend following the instructions on the detergent bottle. Detergent manufacturers want to SELL not save!!! for years I was using liquid Tide for HE machines. The bottle said it was good for 26 Loads - I got over 100 loads out of every bottle - and yes the clothes came out clean! I have recently switched to an eco-friendly brand and am very happy... We have not used fabric softener for about 8 years now. If you have a machine that rinses all the detergent out of the laundry, you do not need it.
On a different subject, just to let you know we are remodeling our house and all old nails, copper etc goes to the scrap metal dealer with all the pop cans that my husband collects at work. The money we earn finances our vacations.
We have installed the mini fluorescent lightbulbs in ALL possible fixtures a few years ago. The very next electricity bill was quite a bit lower! I have kept the packaging from the bulbs and on the rare occasion when there was a problem, I was sent a free replacement one after contacting the company.
Being aware of the environment is important to my husband and I. We realize that what we do is energy (ours) and time consuming, but we have a sense of satisfaction from what we do.
Before I moved here, my husband had already started the community driven recycling programm for our village. I'm really proud of him!!!
Keep up the good work, Peter!

Suzanne