Back to the House of the Future debate: How do you dry clothes sustainably? It's mild at the moment and we don't need the heating on but we're having to run it for 20 minutes or so twice a day just to dry nappies and clothes. The clothes are out on the washing line at the moment but there's not much wind and the air is very damp so they just hang limply for the few hours of dreary daylight before coming back in again. It looks like this weather is set to remain for the rest of the week and into the weekend too. I guess this is where a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery would be of benefit but they're not an easy retrofit option. Maybe I need to turn the garage into a drying room by adding a load of vents in there.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
We're fortunate in having a big carport. Dry under there but it forms something of a wind tunnel so things tend to end up pretty dry. We then stick them in the conservatory on airers to finish off, occasionally with the assistance of a fan heater.
@wild edges, Damp clothes equals a damp unhealthy house. Much better to dry clothes in a tumble dryer during the winter months and more economical in the long run than turning the heating on. Why on earth are you using cloth nappies anyway, I thought they went out about forty years ago.
Where have you been @Lizzie27? It is a well known fact that "disposable" nappies are no such thing and take decades, if not more to break down and as for the wipes, not biodegradable and they clog up sewers, septic tanks and drains.  Cloth nappies are far more ecological.
As for drying clothes indoors, it only makes a house damp if it's already badly insulated, heated and ventilated and has no damp course.  Tumble dryers consume huge amounts of electricity which is expensive and wasteful.  I gave away my tumble dryer nearly 40 years ago and have dried everything on airers for decades until we moved here with reliable sunshine and warm air to dry washing outside.
I beg to differ @Obelixx. If I remember rightly Which did a comparison several years ago between disposable nappies and cloth ones and came to the conclusion there was very little in it. Wipes yes, I agree with you on those. I do use some of those which get disposed on in general kitchen waste.
As for drying damp washing inside a house, I was always taught it was an extremely bad idea, both for the building and the humans who lived there, especially young children and particularly when the house was NOT heated or ventilated. Modern tumble dyers do not use huge amounts of electricity and are very economical to run. I would love to dry washing out in warm air and sunshine but that just does not happen in a British winter.
Fortunately we do still have a couple of packs of lateral flow tests so not in any panic to get more. I did however just check the gov.uk site and they said to collect from your local pharmacy and provide a helpful box to enter your postcode. I did that and was informed that there is no pharmacy available within 30 miles. They didn't even list any which are further away.Â
We dry our clothes on the radiators or on a clothes horse by a South facing bay window. No damp or health issues that we've noticed. But then our house is far from hermetically sealed ( which I think is the more unhealthy)
I will need to replace my tumble dryer soon, and will buy a heat exchanger model. They use very little electricity, and our house would not benefit from having damp washing hanging on radiators or airers. I’d have to spend more money using the dehumidifier or running the heating to dry out the walls.
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@Lizzie27 and @Lyn - there is no need to jump to Boris' defence. He has plenty of mega rich supporters who pay for him to represent them in government: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/revealed-secret-cash-put-boris-johnson-number-10/
As for drying clothes indoors, it only makes a house damp if it's already badly insulated, heated and ventilated and has no damp course.  Tumble dryers consume huge amounts of electricity which is expensive and wasteful.  I gave away my tumble dryer nearly 40 years ago and have dried everything on airers for decades until we moved here with reliable sunshine and warm air to dry washing outside.
Wipes yes, I agree with you on those. I do use some of those which get disposed on in general kitchen waste.
As for drying damp washing inside a house, I was always taught it was an extremely bad idea, both for the building and the humans who lived there, especially young children and particularly when the house was NOT heated or ventilated. Modern tumble dyers do not use huge amounts of electricity and are very economical to run. I would love to dry washing out in warm air and sunshine but that just does not happen in a British winter.