Household tumble dryers cost American households roughly $7.7 billion every year in electricity and gas bills, according to a 2025 University of Michigan study. That works out to about $131 per household per year — money that goes straight into heating air and spinning it through your clothes, not into your savings account.
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That same study found that dryers use about six times the energy of the washing machine paired with them. In the UK, where just under 60% of homes have a dryer, the pattern is similar — a household running a typical condenser dryer three times a week is looking at roughly £100–£150 a year in electricity costs, depending on their tariff. Over the 16-year average lifespan of a dryer, those charges add up to more than the machine itself cost.
The research compared standard gas dryers, electric dryers, ENERGY STAR models, and the oldest method in the book — hanging clothes on a line. What it found upends the usual advice about upgrading to a more efficient appliance. If trimming your household bills matters to you, here’s what you actually need to know.
A tumble dryer is simply a machine that pulls in air, heats it, and forces it through wet clothes to evaporate moisture. The study from the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, looked at the full lifecycle cost and emissions of every common drying method across different US regions. The lead finding: the cheapest and lowest-carbon option is always the load you don’t put in the machine.
What Different Drying Methods Actually Cost — In Cash and Carbon
The numbers from the study are straightforward, but the trade-offs between them matter more than any single figure. A standard gas dryer running for 16 years produces about 2,443 kg of carbon pollution over its lifetime. That’s roughly the same as flying from London to New York and back. The table below lays out what each approach costs and saves.
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| Drying Method | Cost Impact Over 16 Years | Emission Reduction vs Standard Gas Dryer |
|---|---|---|
| Full line drying (all loads) | Saves ~$2,100 | 100% (zero emissions from drying) |
| Partial line drying (mixed use) | Saves ~$262 | 41–67% reduction |
| Upgrade to ENERGY STAR gas dryer | Minimal net savings after purchase cost | ~16% reduction |
| Switch to electric dryer (clean grid region) | Varies by electricity price | Up to 91% reduction |
| Switch to electric dryer (coal-heavy grid) | Varies by electricity price | Up to 223% increase |
| Off-peak electric dryer use only | Modest electricity savings | ~8% reduction |
The swing between a 91% cut and a 223% increase for electric dryers is driven entirely by where you live. In regions where the grid relies on hydro, nuclear, or renewables, electric drying is cleaner. In areas powered mainly by coal, it can be worse than keeping an old gas dryer. The same study projects that by 2044, as the US grid gets cleaner, switching to electric dryers could cut pollution by 17% nationwide — but that’s still decades away.
What the table also shows is that the middle ground — partial line drying — isn’t a half-measure. Cutting emissions by 41–67% while still using the dryer for the loads you can’t hang is, as the study’s authors put it, “the second most economical and eco-friendly option.” A simple way to save money around the house turns out to be one you can start this afternoon.
Where Most People Get Dryer Savings Wrong
The upgrade trap — buying efficiency when behaviour costs nothing
The instinct when energy bills climb is to look for a more efficient machine. But the research shows that an ENERGY STAR gas dryer reduces lifetime emissions by only 16% — and after the purchase price of the new appliance, the net financial saving can be close to zero. A household that spends £600–£800 on a new condenser dryer may never recoup that outlay through lower bills, especially if their old machine still worked. What I tend to notice is people treating an appliance purchase as a “green” decision without checking whether a £20 drying rack would do more.
Assuming you need a garden or good weather
The study’s lead author, Zhu Zhu, line-dried during his college years in a small apartment. Indoor drying racks, ceiling-mounted pulley systems, and even a simple clotheshorse placed near a radiator or in a well-ventilated room handle most of what a dryer does. The common belief that air-drying requires a sunny garden stops people before they’ve tried it once. A single load on a rack costs nothing and takes about the same floor space as an open umbrella.
Underestimating what partial drying adds up to
People assume you have to go all or nothing. The study found that even occasional line drying — say, hanging delicates, towels, and bedding while using the dryer for heavier items — adds $262 in savings over 16 years. That’s a free takeaway meal every month for a decade and a half, just for splitting your laundry routine. The mistake is treating it as a binary choice rather than a sliding scale.
Missing the timing lever — off-peak use
Running the dryer during off-peak electricity hours — typically after 10 pm or before 7 am in most tariff structures — reduces emissions by only 8%, according to the study. That’s modest. But if you’re on a time-of-use electricity tariff, the cost saving can be more significant. The error is not checking whether your provider offers cheaper night rates. A simple timer plug, like those available through a basic timer plug, can automate this shift without you staying up late.
How to Make Air-Drying Work — Indoors, Outdoors, Anywhere
Choosing the right drying space for your home
You don’t need a balcony or a clothesline. A collapsible drying rack in a spare bedroom, hallway, or even the bathroom works for 80% of loads. The key is airflow: open a window slightly or run an extractor fan to prevent mustiness. For UK homes in particular, where outdoor drying can be unreliable, a heated airer — essentially a rack with a gentle electric heater — costs about 10–15p per load to run, compared to 40–60p for a condenser dryer. A decent heated clothes airer pays for itself in about six months of regular use.
What to hang and what to tumble
Not everything air-dries well. Towels can stiffen — a quick 10-minute spin in the dryer after line drying softens them without using a full cycle. Delicates, synthetics, and work shirts dry faster and last longer on a rack because they aren’t subjected to mechanical wear. Jeans, jumpers, and bedding are ideal for air-drying because they’re bulky and take the most energy to tumble. The practical rule: if it doesn’t need to be dry within two hours, hang it.
Building a routine that sticks
The households that saved the most in the study simply made air-drying part of their wash cycle. Wash a load before bed, hang it on a rack overnight, and it’s ready by morning. For larger families, running two loads back-to-back and hanging everything at once keeps the system efficient. The behavioural shift matters more than the equipment. A cheap foldable rack and a handful of plastic hangers are all you need to start.
What the future of drying looks like (and why waiting doesn’t pay)
The study notes that as the energy grid gets cleaner — the US projects a 17% nationwide cut in dryer emissions by 2044 simply from grid improvements — electric dryers will become less polluting. But that’s two decades away. Waiting for grid changes before changing your drying habits means leaving hundreds of pounds on the table in the meantime. For households wanting to map out where else savings might be hiding, services like those on JustAnswer Finance can help run the numbers on energy use, tariff switching, and broader household budgeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does air-drying really save enough to matter? ▾
What if I live in a flat with no outdoor space? ▾
Will air-drying make my clothes stiff or smell musty? ▾
Is it worth buying a heated clothes airer instead of using the dryer? ▾
Does running the dryer at night actually reduce emissions? ▾
Should I switch from a gas dryer to an electric model? ▾
The One Change That Still Pays More Than Any Appliance Upgrade
The study’s most practical finding is that behavioural change — hanging clothes instead of drying them — consistently outperforms technological upgrades on both cost and emissions. Buying a more efficient dryer reduces pollution by 16%. Switching to a clothesline eliminates it entirely. The same pattern holds for your bank account: the machine you don’t run costs nothing. If you’re looking for a single household change that puts money back in your pocket starting this week, this is it.
Remember: this article is general information only. For advice on your specific situation, speak to a qualified professional.
If this was useful, you might also want to read The Savings Challenge You Need: 52 Weeks to Financial Freedom.
Sources and Further Reading
Savings vs Investing: Where Should Your Money Really Go? — Helps you decide what to do with the money you save from cutting your energy bills.
University of Michigan (2025). “Saving money and the climate? A simple solution may be hanging your laundry out to dry.” 🔗
Zhu, Z. & Miller, S. (2025). Resources, Conservation and Recycling. “Comparative life cycle assessment of residential clothes drying technologies and behaviors in the United States.” 🔗
