On a rainy January day the prospect of hanging clothes out to dry on the line is remote, and an e-mail from a company that sells rotary lines with covers, started me thinking about washing again, I won’t dwell on how often you should change your knickers this time, that resulted in some interesting feedback!
I know time is a big factor in peoples lives – and faced with a family load of washing at the weekend it is so much more convenient to bung it in the tumble dryer, but the cost of the energy they use, particularly inefficient models, is astounding with the annual running costs of the least efficient being nearly £160 per year according to sust-it, the energy efficiency website for electricals, that is more than the appliance costs to buy! I find it surprising that 45 per cent of households now have a tumble dryer and a further 15 per cent own a washer-drier. With 26.3 million households, that’s a lot of energy being used, the average cycle uses around 4kWh, and a lot of CO2 created. Perhaps house builders could be encouraged to design covered outdoor spaces or flats with balconies, include indoor drying equipment or offer covered rotary lines. It may take more than this to change our behaviour, but it would be a start.