Will drying clothes in an air-conditioned house save electricity?
However, drying clothes in a clothes dryer uses electricity and warms the air in in the laundry room, again creating extra work for the a/c.
Overall, will hanging your clothes up in an air-conditioned house use more or less energy than a clothes dryer, and by how much?
Answer:
Sidestep the question entirely--hang your laundry outdoors (if it's legal where you live--if it's not, then change the laws). Or at least put the drying rack in the garage or on a porch/patio/balcony.
In any case, the extra humidity is not going to add nearly as much load to the air conditioner as doing a load in an electric dryer would add to your electric bill. On the other hand, if you put the clothes in a dryer, you would have to pay for the huge amount of electricity the dryer used, plus for the additional load the heat would add to the air conditioner.
In order to make exact calculations, you need to be more specific about your situation. Much will depend on the type of air conditioner and the climate where you live. Do you have a dehumidifying AC, or a "swamp cooler"? Do you have a window unit or central AC? If it's central AC, is it on a zone system--could you hang the laundry in a zone where the AC is turned off? What is the wattage on your AC, and your dryer? (Usually an electric dryer has one of the highest electric draws of the entire house.)
that depends on where your dryer is in regards to your thermostat.
the AC will condense the water in the air, so I am not sure that it will add any extra work for the AC, the humidity will lower the temperature of the air near your clothes, then the AC turns the water vapor to liquid and hopefully (it should) drains it away.
in the winter I will let my clothes line dry inside, then run a dehumidifier to raise the temperature of my place when its night time, I know that this saves money on my power bill, because I have seen it.
try it for a few months and see if it drops your power bill.
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