Easy ways to save money when doing the laundry

Depending on the size of your household and the number of laundry loads you do each week, cleaning clothes can put a huge strain on your budget.

According to EnergyStar.gov, one way to save energy and money is to turn the temperature down and wash laundry in cold water. Adjust the water level, too. If the load doesn't fill the washer, the water shouldn't either.

The website also states the average American family washes about 400 loads of laundry a year. Because many households often have to dry the same load of laundry twice, families might dry as many as 800 loads. This might explain why dryers are the second most expensive appliance after refrigerators -- over its lifetime, the average dryer costs its owner $1,530.

All well-maintained dryers use about the same amount of energy, but homeowners can take steps to make drying clothes less expensive. Reducing the amount of clogged lint in a dryer can reduce drying times by 50 percent, giving many people one-cycle-per-load efficiency while extending the life of their dryer. Dryer Vent Wizard says clogged lint can cost homeowners an extra $18 to $24 each month in electric bills, not to mention pose a considerable fire hazard. In 2006, at least 17,700 home fires started in washers or dryers, causing $194 million in property damage.

Dryer Vent Wizard professionally inspects and cleans clothing dryers for homeowners as well as apartment and condo complexes. Aside from a professional annual inspection, Dryer Vent Wizard offers the following tips so that homeowners can reduce dryer costs:

* Always clean out your lint trap. A clogged lint trap will reduce air flow, making your dryer use more energy to do the same work. Additionally, lint is highly flammable and can easily cause a fire.

* Don't overload your dryer. You don't want to dry only a few items at a time, but neither do you want to overload your dryer. Dryers work by circulating air around tumbling clothes. If your dryer's packed too tightly, air won't circulate, and you'll have to run the dryer an extra cycle.

* If you're doing several loads of laundry at once, reload the dryer right away. The dryer will already be warm, so it will use less energy to dry that second or third batch of clothes.