Researchers at the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU) at the Glasgow School of Art have found that drying your laundry indoors, if only to save on fuel costs, is not only detrimental to one’s health but also doesn’t achieve the objective of saving money either.
In summing up the study’s finding, a Professor at MEARU, Colin Porteous, said, “Because of increased awareness of the energy consumption of tumble dryers many people are choosing to dry clothes passively within their home. This results not only in a severe energy penalty, because of increased heating demand, but also a potential health risk due to higher moisture levels.”
The study, which was conducted in the West of Scotland amongst a wide demographic of residents, reviewed their laundry habits while also analyzing air quality as well as energy consumption.
While the conclusions pointed to the deterioration of economic, health and environmental conditions what was also observed was that most homes in the UK were smaller and built to be airtight – which made things worse.
As the study found, when people dry their clothes passively, and usually put them on radiator to dry, it accounts for a third of the moisture in the air, creating ideal conditions for the formation of mould spores and for dust mites to thrive and this leads to the triggers that cause asthma.
Yet that’s not all as there is an increase of cancer-causing chemicals from the fabric softener in the air due to indoor drying. As for the inability to conserve fuel, the reason for this is because people turn on the radiator and in some cases, leave the windows open as well.
Researchers are recommending that people dry their laundry outdoors, use energy efficient tumbler dryers as well as upgrade homes according to a design guide prepared by them.