Incremental Iterations

Inspired by the East Bay Green Home Tour, we’re playing around with some low-tech (and low cost!) ways to make small, incremental changes. First, the laundry, or more specifically, the dryer.

Electric heat pumps for home heating and cooling, water heaters and dryers are popular in the climate action community. So popular that significant rebates are available for homeowners who choose to upgrade. This high efficiency electric heat pump dryer retails for about $1,500. That is before taxes, shipping, installation, etc. We already have an Energy Star electric dryer, so I don’t think we’ll be making this upgrade any time soon. However, reducing or eliminating energy use is even better!

Behold what I’m affectionately calling my “increased effort direct solar dryer.” While I could have pulled a rope out of the garage and strung it up across the yard, this nifty setup - including the Brabantia Lift-o-Matic Rotary Dryer - cost me just $81 and holds up to 5 loads of laundry at a time. It spins around and raises and lowers, so I can stand in one spot and even turn it to keep the white load in the sun and dark loads in the shade. It comes with a spike to stick it in the lawn, but my long, narrow driveway is where we get the most sun. By adding this umbrella stand I didn’t have to drill into concrete and I can collapse the whole thing and roll it out of the way if I want the space. The clothespin bag was just for fun, but isn’t it cute? On a day like today the laundry was drying just as fast as it would have taken in the dryer. What are those big pink things on the side of the driveway, you ask? Why, that’s the Venus and the Aphrodite - two erstwhile watercraft that haven’t been used much since we joined the Sausalito Cruising Club. A side benefit of spending extra time out on the driveway is the reminder that I want to spend extra time out on the water!