I thought of this when I listened to a speaker who said a modern front-loading washer gets clothes more dry than older models because it spins faster on the spin cycle. Therefore, they need less time in the dryer to get dry. Something that has bugged me for decades is that you can\\'t set the drying time on most dryers in apt/condo complexes, you can only set the heat level (normal, perm-press, and delicate). I don\\'t want to over-dry my clothes, because I burn my hands when I take them out of the dryer and, more importantly, it \\"locks in\\" any stains that you don\\'t get out in washing and wears out the clothes. I found that even if I select \\"delicate\\", the normal cycle (60 minutes) over-dries the clothes. So I go back to my unit, set a timer for 45 minutes and, when it goes off, I go to the laundry room, open the dryer door (to stop the cycle), and leave it open. This is awkward, because I must stop whatever I\\'m doing and go down to the laundry room (usually two floors down) to avoid over-drying the clothes. Most people don\\'t go to the trouble of doing this. They just let the dryer run until it shuts off by itself. If we had time-settable coin- or card-operated dryers in apt/condo complexes, they would probably save hundreds of dollars a month in electric bills because tenants would soon realize they could use a shorter cycle and still get their clothes dry enough. It appears the apt-house laundry companies, such as Mac Gray, have not yet figured out that they should set the dryers to use a shorter cycle when they change over to modern front-loading washers. The result is that people are over-drying their clothes even more than they did before. The technology to make a time-settable coin- or card-operated dryer is a no-brainer. The problem is to persuade the industry to do it.
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There is probably some way to set the dryer to sense when the air in the exhaust drops to low or zero moisture content so the dryer would stop when the clothes are dry. That way a lower heat might take longer but would protect sensitive fabrics. Time may not be the best indicator in this.
Most non-commercial dryers I've seen offer the moisture sensor that sand mentioned above. They work for about five years, then when they break, you go back to time-based. Not cost effective to fix.
I've always found irony in the knob that controls it--it says 'more dry' and 'less dry' on the two extremes. Seems to me there aren't actually degrees of 'dry'--it's dry or its not.
Also, since you're paying, it would seem to me wise to set your own timer to remove the first load--like you mentioned--and start the second load drying on the same nickel. But I suppose most people aren't as cheap as me.
Where I've dried in a public setting, I would never let my clothes out of sight--I lost too many clothes in the college dorm that way. I'm surprised you leave the room.