Just signed up for Green Currents Program (renewable electricity)

[Gone4]

Originally Posted by Fudog1138

You can use a clothes line in the winter, just do it inside. Get a drying rack, or build one out of PVC (or recycled materials). Get a fan with a 24-30 inch blade and set it on medium. Your clothes are dry in a few hours. The fan runs at 100 watts or so, the dryer motor and if electric runs as killowatt plus for 45 minutes or however long. Gas dryers use less electricity, but use gas.
To do away with that stiff feeling dry them until their slightly damp, then toss them in the regular dryer for 15-20 minutes with a dryer sheet. They will soften up and you just used less electricity and gas (if you have a gas dryer).

I found that tidbit on instructables.com

I just built a clothes line out of some left-over 2x4's and braided nylon cord. It works pretty well just hanging them there for 24 hours by the baseboard heaters in my dorm apartment. I just shake them out before folding but maybe I'm not fussy enough about my clothing to care. It saves me $3.00 paying for two dryers during laundry time though.

[Fudog1138]

If it were just me I would just hang my clothes up. I'll be 37 in March and to tell you the truth, I don't ever rember using a clothes dryer as a kid. Not until we moved to the city when I was 9.
I have 3 kids (15 days out of the month) and I live with my girlfriend and her two kids. So we have laundry everyday. We wash in cold water with special cold water soap. I duct taped the dryer vent (electric dryer, never with a gas dryer) to the inside of a bucket with a few inches clearance, then poured some water in the bottom of the bucket to catch the lint. So I take advantage of the 2KW of heat that comes out of the dryer to help heat my 2,500 sq foot house.
Smells like laundry for a half hour or so, but its better than some of the smells that one experiences in life.

[bennelson]

Yep, if you are using an electric dryer, it's best to keep the heat in the house in the winter.

In the summer - cook outside!

I got to go to Maui a year and a half ago for a friends wedding. Everyone there has a washer and dryer OUTSIDE the house, usually on a covered porch.