Relative told my to get rid of my dryer.

[User573836483737]

probably the most pointless post today...

I get, dryers are expensive. I'm not denying that and many people are trying to save energy, if you can do without a dryer - excellent, I wish I could use mine less. Mine is a relatively new and should be a more energy efficient model compared to older models . Not sure how much it's costing exactly though. I line dry as much as I can. Getting a smart meter in soon so be interesting to see.

Relative is generally hot on not using much energy anyway, even before all this energy crisis. For years they've not turned on heating or used a dryer (despite owning one). Over the years she's come over when it's tipping down with rain and told me to turn the dryer off and put the washing out on the line - in the rain. Or on another occasion she came over when I was recovering from major surgery and told me to stop being lazy and put my washing out on the line despite that I wasn't meant to do be doing much, it was easier to shove everything in the dryer.

now she's telling me I won't be able to afford it this winter and get rid - if only. She seems to hate on dryers.

for me a tumble dryer is a life line, due to the lovely weather we've had I've not been using it much but come winter I will be for sure.

I have two kids, they are both disabled and create a lot of laundry. drying everything indoors on airers is not feasible, for one the amount of laundry I have to do each day (full load at least every day) and we don't have a lot of room and already have a damp problem. Our heating system is on the blink - need a boiler so it would be impossible to dry and would remain damp and smell.

I don't put everything in the dryer. Many things aren't suitable or I don't want to shrink so I use an airer for quite a lot of it, just not all. It's ideal for pants, socks, PJS etc. things like school shirts etc I air dry!! Jeans I usually put on airer for a day or so then finish off in the dryer!

I get the whole 'well we coped without years ago'

but yes anyone else rely heavily on a dryer? And would find it impossible not to use one? Even in an energy crisis??

it's probably the worse thing that could go wrong in my house. Last year my old one went wrong on the coldest days of the year and no dryer for a few days was hell, nothing was drying. It's up there with the machine going wrong!

and yes I must be boring to post about tumble dryers 😅

Thanks all. I hate confrontation and tend to just laugh it off and carry on. It doesn't really bother me like that, I will just carry on using it but was made to feel like no one will be using their dryers this year but tbh she's made comments for years. She owns one herself - it just sits there unused! She has a regularly used dish washer though, I really don't know what the costs of running them are as I've never had one. In my case a dryer is more useful than a dishwasher! My washing pile is never ending!

she doesn't come around often but it's always seems to be when the dryer is on. I've even turned it off before if I knew she was coming 😅

Exactly what I was going to say. It’s not any of her business. She’s not the boss of you so I don’t know why you’re even paying it any mind.

Tell her that you’re going to use it as much as you need to and that you’d like her to keep her opinion to herself.

No not at all. She's always hated on the dryer even before all this. Ironically her energy bills were higher than ours when we've discussed before (no idea about now). Admittedly she has a bigger house but we spend less overall which is bizarre as she rarely has the heating on either!

I was surprised to learn that my very efficient dryer is cheaper per hour than my dehumidifier! 2 hours to dry a load in dryer was 0.6kwh total. Dehumidifier is 0.6kwh per hour on laundry mode, and would take a few hours.

Not all dryers are this efficient though, and some dehumidifiers are better than mine. You really need to know your specific appliances to compare.

Tell her to do one OP. I couldn’t manage without mine in winter. Wet clothes hanging up causes damp, which is a much more expensive problem to resolve and is terrible for respiratory health.
To all the people talking about how people used to cope before dryers and central heating etc, how there was ice on the inside of windows and we just got in with it. Here’s the thing. No you didn’t. Old people died of hypothermia and kids developed breathing issues like asthma and COPD and long term heart problems. It’s infuriating!!

I wish I had the space to use it less. I don't have any spare space. We in a small 3 bed house. I have one airer in kitchen and no other empty space for it. Don't have banisters either! I've not used it much at all recently due to the prolonged dry weather.

Plus we already have a damp problem.

youngest has severe allergies too and her bedding needs to be regularly washed and i
have to dry that in the dryer rather than outside.

I honestly couldn't survive without it 😩

This reminds me of when one of my relatives was incontinent and the washing was incredible! if you have two disabled children that create a lot of washing then you have to do what you have to do for your sanity, so the dryer it is! I use my dryer a lot as I don't want damp clothes hanging around the house. We generate a lot of washing but that's a choice really.

Dehumidifiers are good. I used to live in a flat with no room for a dryer and no garden so everything was air dried indoors and it did help the washing dry and the severe damp issues!

No, we had a combined washer / dryer but the dryer broke, apparently because we didn't use it enough. I can't imagine what I'd use it for other than fluffing up towels for 20 minutes (and only because we live in a hard water area). Family of 4 with 2 kids. We use cloth nappies (although they shouldn't be tumble dried - just mentioning to illustrate how much washing we go through). For drying we use a combination of a heated airer and a Victorian ceiling airer, which works well for us. I can't imagine the electricity bill for regular tumble dryer usage!

I'd just smile and say "thank you for sharing your thoughts".
I also generally don't have people round my house that annoy me, relative or not.

It’s none of your relatives business OP and I woulf pay them no mind.

Our dryer cost £1.24p to do a full load the other day.
it’s also an essential item in our house, because we don’t have an airer due to previous house getting damp when drying clothes inside.

I’m usually pegging washing out on dry, windy days in Feb and will do for as long as I can but, i’m expecting to use mine between 2-3 times a week in winter, and hope I can cut back in other ways but if not we’ll have to take the hit as I won’t get rid and will be using it.

I use mine daily, family of 4 and farmers with lots of dirty clothes. Dh regularly asks me to try and cut down but we live in northumberland and this summer I've managed to maybe dry 10 loads on the line. Fitting it around work and the weather is a nightmare.

We are about to have a 3rd child in a small 2-bed flat where we have to use a condenser dryer for every wash load as we aren’t allowed to hang anything out. When “lovely drying weather” comes along I feel sick at the thought of washing sheets or drying anything as the heat outside is enough already and then the dryer kicks out more heat and it’s like an oven!
Tell her to mind her own or clear off

She is rude and it is none of her business what you do.

Nope. Tell your relatives to fuck off.
I've got a dryer and, with a family of 5, I'm not about to stop using it.

I generally hang 'big stuff' outside on the line, or on the airer when it's raining.
But, the pants/socks/pyjamas etc are going straight in the dryer, no questions asked.
Like fuck am I spending my time hanging up 70 socks every week, and 35 pairs of knacks.
No fucking way. Into the dryer they go, and I don't care who judges.

We don’t use one, never have!

I think I'd just tout the "opinions are like arseholes, every one has one but nobody likes them being thrust in their face" line over and over and over until she got the picture.

That or tell her if she carries on talking about dryers you'll just stop having her over.

I'm much too crotchety for people's bull.

She is BU to criticise you, just because people managed without their own dryers in the past. In the past, a lot more people used launderettes (including the dryers), plus even people with not much money often sent laundry out - it was much cheaper than now, in relative terms. You might do clothes at home but send out sheets and towels.

Have you considered just telling her to STFU? I’m (half) kidding.

Sounds annoying but presumably she has endearing traits as well?

Of course people are going to be using their tumble driers. Probably a bit less than they have but they aren’t that expensive to use even with energy price rises. I’ve probably spent less on energy for mine than I did on buying it in the first place. And they can make life a lot easier when you have a lot of laundry and limited drying room or limited time.

We are a family of 7 - me, DH & 5 children - and we’ve never had a dryer. We hang washing out while we can and when we can’t it goes on airers inside. We have so many friends who say “how on earth do you manage!”, but we just do and always have and now our children are growing up we won’t ever need to buy one.

Having said that, I certainly don’t judge anyone who has a dryer! Nor would I tell anyone - EVER - that they’re being lazy because they use one. Everyone’s circumstances are different and I wouldn’t presume to judge anyone else, I think that’s pretty cheeky.

You need to get rid of the relative, not the dryer. You are a carer. Tell her that and tell her to mind her own business or leave your house, the rude, self-righteous twat that she is.

You’re an adult, you don’t need permission from her or mumsnet to use your dryer.

We use ours quite a lot. Obviously for your bills and the planet, it makes sense to use it the least you can, I’m sure you know that though so 🤷🏻‍♀️

We had flatleys though. Lid off and they'd warm the whole room too. No idea of the cost to run, but I remember ours fondly. The wooden slats smelled lovely when they warmed up.

Is put it on when she came over if I needed to or not purely to piss her off

Family of four here and didn't have one for most of my kids childhoods. Managed fine and not 'in the olden days'
🤷
OP, up to you not your relative. But you could maybe try and save it for essentials - sheets and wet days ?