Am I taking a step backwards?

Trying to reconcile living more gently upon the earth 

with 'modern conveniences'

It's been about 10 years since I've owned a clothes dryer. For many of those years, I also did not own a clothes washer...well, at least not a TYPICAL washer.  Let me explain:

In an effort to  a) save money   b) save water   c) save electricity and d) live more gently upon the earth, I opted for a Wonder Wash (I'll call it a WW). When I wasn't simply washing my clothes in the tub with me (!), I would wash clothes in the WW.  I am happy to report that the WW is everything I hoped it would be. I could put everything except blankets (too big) in there, and so THOSE would be washed in the tub.  It was easy to use and lasted me a good several years before the crank broke. I could have fought with Customer Service to get another crank, but it happened to coincide with our move to this larger apartment. This larger apartment has a washer and dryer hook-up (unlike our old apartment). This was 3 years ago. Now, granted, I had found a washer on the side of the road once and hooked it up in the living room of the old apartment and used it for over a year before it broke.  

ANYWAY, so even though I had broken down and gotten a clothes washer, I STILL had not broken down to get a dryer. I've used drying racks (and, as of 3 years ago, I also now use a small clothes line outside in nice weather) ALL THIS TIME!!! For 10 years I have air-dried my clothes!!

I'm sure you are seeing where this post is heading.....

We're on the cusp of buying a clothes dryer. Now, here's why.....

Dirty clothes get backed up too badly because  a) I can only dry 1 or 2 loads at once   and  b) unless the weather is sunny, warm and/or windy, the clothes will not dry properly and often become moldy/musty.

It's becoming an issue that our bathroom is overrun with dirty clothes, not to mention our bedrooms.  I often have to re-wash items that become too moldy because they were not able to dry fully in humid/rainy/cold weather.  Our weather here in Maine has just been so rainy this year that I am lucky if I can get 3 loads of laundry fully dried each week.  For a family of 5, that's not quite enough to cut the mustard!  

So, why do I feel so guilty about buying a dryer? I cannot shake the feeling that somehow I'm 'selling out'. I'm taking a step backwards if you think about energy self sufficiency!  I've prided myself on not having a dryer for so long, and here we are about to buy one!

I am trying to console myself with the fact that if the S*** hits the fan, I COULD easily go back to washing clothes in a tub and hanging them to dry without a problem. Also, I still plan to continue to dry a load (or 2) on nice days. It's just that....I'll (hopefully) be able to really keep on top of our dirty laundry, and I won't waste energy redoing moldy laundry.  Sounds great...but, I can't help but feel mixed about it! I hope Gaia will forgive me!