Martin Lewis is urging UK households to not use one ‘demon appliance’ in order to save on energy bills but does it work and what can you use instead?
With more cold weather on the way it’s not an easy time to save money on energy bills but it is possible with a few compromises.
I’ve been avoiding using the tumble dryer in an effort to keep my energy bills down just like personal finance guru Martin Lewis recommends.
Martin calls it the “demon appliance” as it guzzles energy – and with typical energy bills costing the average household around £1,755 a year – you’ll defintely save money if you use it less.
More than half of Brits own a tumble dryer, but many of you are giving them a wide berth this year as they’re notorious for being one of the most energy-hungry household appliances, costing up to £1.76 per hour to operate.
READ MORE: ‘I’m a single parent – the single tax costs me £10k a year but you can beat it’
The silver lining is that I’ve managed to shave off some pounds from my bills by implementing various money-saving tips over the years, albeit with a few sacrifices. But not using a tumple dryer certainly does make drying the clothes harder.
However, one way round it is to use an electric clothes dryer like the JML DriBUDDI, which cost around £32p per hour, but did it deliver?
Assembling the JML Dribuddy was a breeze. Unlike a heated clothes horse, this dryer requires you to hang garments on hangers first, which I discovered allows you to fit considerably more items on.
After suspending the washing on hangers and positioning it on each arm of the DriBUDDI, you simply zip up the cover to create a pod.
It accommodates an entire washing machine load and it’s incredibly straightforward to select your preferred drying duration by turning the dial.
While I didn’t find that it dried garments particularly rapidly – I did value the fresher, less ‘musty’ aroma throughout the house.
I also discovered that it’s an excellent method to keep all the laundry in one spot rather than scattered around the home.
The JML DriBUDDI retails at £79 from Argos but MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis has proposed a far more economical alternative.
He recommends a dehumidifier which costs approximately five pence an hour to run.
He said: “If a dehumidifier does work for you, it will definitely have lower electricity bills, but, of course, you do have the initial capital outlay of buying a dehumidifier and see how that works for you.”
READ MORE: Samsung shoppers ‘very happy’ with new Galaxy phone for £140 in Christmas offer