With the cost of living crisis squeezing budgets, households are looking high and low for ways to cut back on their energy use, particularly when it comes to tumble dryers.
Although the appliance is a godsend when clothes are slow to air dry in winter, dryers are high energy users. Brits will be weighing their convenience against soaring fuel bills, but those reluctant to cut them out completely can still make savings.
According to one electricity expert, dryer balls - which can be picked up for just a few pounds - reduces drying times by up to 20 percent. The simple hack works by making the warm air circulate better, helping save both time and money, reports Plymouth Live.
On TikTok, Irish Colm, from energy saving products shop purchase.ie, explained: "Tumble dryers typically use about a euro an hour when they're on.
"But these are dryer balls, and you put them in with your laundry. Instead of the clothes getting stuck together, this helps to separate the clothes and distribute them around the tumble dryer better.
"This means the clothes are able to dry faster. They can reduce drying time by up to 20 percent. So for every hour you use your tumble dryer, you could be saving up to 20c an hour."
There are number of benefits to using dryer balls, including:
- reducing drying time
- shortened drying time saves energy, making laundry less costly
- eco-friendly due to lower energy use
- reduced static and lint build up, as well as a reduction in creases and wrinkles
- no more need for artificial chemicals
- re-usable, saving you money on fabric softeners.
Irish site RSVPLive reports that, depending on your tumble dryer, using the balls could take up to 20% off your annual energy costs.
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