A family from Co Mayo have been sharing their money saving hacks online as they document their progress on their self-build.
Sinead Byrne and Padraig Early have been active on their social media platform for a couple of years now, and like most families across Ireland, they are feeling the pinch when it comes to managing their household.
Irish families have struggled to cope with the ever-rising rate of inflation, which has fed into the cost of living crisis around Europe.
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However, the couple may have the solution for you after they recently embarked on a new project on their garden that has taken off some financial pressure.
Padraig and his dad built a drying shed in the couple's back garden.
Despite them building the structure from scratch, they managed to get it up and running over a weekend.
The pair have two children, a two-year-old and a three-year-old, so the constant stream of laundry that needed to be got through was a big part of their monthly utilities, especially when using the tumble dryer.
Sinead told RSVP Live: "When we heard about the prices of electricity going up, we wondered what were we going to do next?"
"We were looking at ideas online, and Padraig came up with this one himself. But It was in our heads when we built the house, but we didn't really have the expense."
"It took him and his Dad a weekend, and it was up in a weekend! That was the idea behind it, we were spending a fortune on the dryer as well."
"We also have underfloor heating, and our electricity bill was high. I thought this might help the situation and bring the energy bills down a bit, and it has!"
A drying shed is essentially like an all-weather clothesline, which prevents the rain from getting in while allowing heat and air to circulate to dry clothing.
Padraig and his father, Joe, were able to get the structure up over two days, with Padraig's father having building experience while Padraig was "pretty much winging it."
"He's a handy fella. He can turn his hand to anything at all. Himself and his Dad did a lot of the house themselves. They work together, they farm together, and then they threw their heads together and did this!" said Sinead.
The materials Padraig and Joe used were all purchased at the local Co-Op, which came out to a cost of roughly €1500 to complete the project.
Despite the up-front cost, the family expect the drying shed will have paid for itself by the end of the winter, having already seen deductions of hundreds from their last energy bill.
"Two months ago, our ESB bill was 480 for the two months, and we were like 'what is going wrong,' so I would say in three months it will pay off. We have not used the dryer once since it's gone up!"
"We're hoping this is going to take a couple of hundred off our ESB bills. We have noticed the difference already. The drying shed has only been up a few weeks, but the bill is already a lot better than it was."
The family also saved money by DIY-ing their drying shed, with professional drying sheds coming in at the €2000-€3000 mark for professional installation.
Sinead said that another handy element of the drying shed is that it dries clothes overnight, as the corrugated plastic sheeting keeps heat in while protecting the clothes from dew and overnight unpredictable weather.
"If you hang clothes out at night, they're dry the next day, so it's class, it really is. The side sheets attract the UV rays to dry the clothing," Sinead said.
Even in the last week or two, when the weather has taken a cold, wet turn, the clothes have been bone dry and ready to be taken into the house whenever Sinead has gone to take them in.
"The clothes have never been wet, nor has any rain gotten to them yet - though I don't know how it will fare in the snow!"
Padraig hung an extra dense line in the drying shed to support the weight of heavy-duty items like sheets and towels, and there is "no difference" in the shed's effect compared to normal line drying.
The couple also wired up the shed so they can use it at night time with no issue.
"He also put up a solar light. So let's say it's night time and we're walking out towards it. The solar light will come on. But he also wired it so that when you go into the drying shed, you can turn a light on as well," Sinead explained.
"That's the only thing to it is it's not part of the house, so we have to go outside to use it."
Padraig provided a breakdown of costs and materials needed to build the 16x12 foot structure:
· Uprights - €40 each (240 altogether)
· All sheeting Inc the capping and flashing €1000
· Gutters and fascia €160
· Timber €70
· Tec screws €18
Total cost: €1500
Follow along Sinead and Padraig's journey with their self-build via their Instagram page @faurgreenshouse.
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